kingading

Have begun serious shopping for a lease deal on a new SL. Best I came up with on a 30 month lease is $ 1200/mth, before tax. (7500 miles/yr.) This is on a car with a MSRP of 113k. No particular hurry, current lease expires late August ('11 350 Cabriolet) so have time to "haggle". Think I might be able to do a bit better, but not sure. Any helpful comments would be gratefully appreciated. Thank you!

BigHat

Something on the lot or working a deal on a '14?

kingading

This was on a car in stock. Had we agreed on terms, I would have put 1k down to hold vehicle for a month.

red308

That's a pretty good monthly price at $1200. Although we don't know what your added tax would add to that.

Normally, MB has a lease return waiver if you want to turn the car in at 90 days or 60 days before current lease ends. They forgive the last few payments.

Is that waiver program not available for you?

kingading

$1200 doesn't include tax. With tax would be around $1270. Yes, I'm aware of the lease return waiver. However, still have 6k available miles, and plan on a few road trips this summer.

Wolfman

Not sure what the numbers look like to make this deal but it sounds expensive at 7500 miles and a lower Msrp. With a car in stock you should get $15k off ($10k stock incentive plus extras) to bring you below $100k. Then try to get a money factor close to the buy rate like sheepdog did (.00091). My money factor was just a bit higher but then the car was not there and had to be sent from a 1000 miles away...

sheepdog

As Wolfman mentioned - a discount should be somewhere between $15000 to $18000 depending on the dealer and the car. Without knowing what else the dealer included in the lease calculation (is the lease origination and/or doc fees, etc) it is difficult to tell you whether the deal is great or not. With a reasonable discount including the lease origination fee and MF, the lease should be well below $1100 before taxes and license with 0 down.

Let me know what the specifics of the lease are (residual, MF, discount, downpayment, and any extras included), then I can be more specific.

kingading

Thanks SD. the residual for 30 mth is 65%. Shooting for under 1200k/mth, no money down w/o tax for 12k miles/year.

Wolfman

At 12k miles a year, residual will be around 61% at 30 months. Just FYI

sheepdog

Still need to know the money factor as well as any costs included up front in the lease - as I mentioned "acquisition cost" "doc fee" etc (if included in the lease) as well as selling price before we can determine if this is a good price or not. Residual is set by MB but the money factor can vary by dealer as well as the other fees.

It is good to have a $/per month goal but don't jump at it until you understand all the costs associated and what negotiating room you might still have.

EuroDeliveryGuy

Let me give this conversation a twist. Quite frankly, leasing always leaves me cold. I think 90% of people who lease never realize all aspects of their "Deal." And when its over, they usually get hit with lots of misc. costs.

Right now, you can get a killer of deal on an end-of-season 2013 SL550. It is year #1 of a 6-year model cycle. I'll bet if you keep it 5 or 6 years, and then figure out what it cost you per month after BUYING and selling it, your actual cost will only be at around $500 - $600 per month.

I bought my 2013 SL550, and after getting the best price from the dealer, I got financing on my own for 0.99% (less than 1%). Try and get that as part of an almost impossible-to-understand lease deal, with lots of fine print, limitations on miles/year & other penalties, etc..

Wolfman

Not sure what your math looks like, but if you finance the car at $100k plus tax/registration with .99% at 72 months (the 6 year example you gave), I am coming up with around $1500+ a month. Now if you assume to get $30k for selling the car at the end I am still ending up with $1k plus a month...

Having bought most of our cars either outright or financed; given the low residual I never felt that it was a worthy deal at the end. Too much money locked up in a quickly depreciating asset.

Also, if you keep the car beyond the standard warranty period, extending the warranty is essential. Add that to your calculation.

IMO, the current SL will receive a facelift for the '16 model at the latest. Besides some improved headlight look, this should also include some updated Media interface (which sucks at the moment - it's much better even in the low-end A or B Class) and high-rez screen.

Technology just moves faster (in options like the new suspension in the S Class), so keeping a car for 2-3 years works for me...

BigHat

I think Wolfman is right. For me, the motivation to buy new in the last 12 years or so has largely been driven by technology advances...and the fact that when that technology fails outside of the warranty it brings tears to your eyes when you see the bill to repair it.

EuroDeliveryGuy

Sorry for my delay in responding to Wolfman's request for my math on buying vs. leasing. But, here it is! No one knows what the future will bring, so here are the HARD FACTS for my current car: a Lexus SC430 Hardtop Convertible (which I'm still happily driving until my EuroDelivery SL550 arrives; due in 1.5 weeks).

I purchased my SC430 in March, 2004. Window sticker (which I still have) is: $64,534. I paid the dealer $58,750. With $3,524 sales tax, doc fees, etc., my total price was $62,486. I paid this all in cash.

Now, in July, 2013, 9 years & 3 months later, my car has 67,000 miles on it, it is still in great condition and can be sold privately for about $24,000. So, my car has depreciated roughly $38,000. If you divide $38,000 by 111 months, you get $342 per month. Back in 2004, a 30-month lease cost $1,100. per month. Yes, interest rates, as well as other stuff, were different.

As I reviewed this discussion on the details of leasing costs, it seems more technical to me than the eletronics in the 2013 SL550. Assuming I keep my new SL550 at least 5 or 6 years, I strongly believe I'll come out way ahead by buying.

Also, I financed $75k of this new car at 0.99% for 3 years. -- I beleive I'll make $30k profit in stock market trades using the $75,000 cash I still have in my account over the next 3 years (of course at reduced amounts as I pay off the loan). My YTD trading profit is 30%.

Sorry for this long post (which I admit is a bit boasty), but I needed to defend my position for doing things the old-fashioned way.

Wolfman

You are optimistic about the value of the Lexus, so good luck on the sale!
The SL will be worth no more than $30k after 6 years though the Lexus calculation may not apply.

Enjoy you new SL when it arrives. It is a huge step up form the Lexus

BigHat

As with Wolfman, good luck on the sale. Know we wish you the best, why wouldn't we? I admit to also thinking your resale on the Lexus was "optimistic." A quick check through the ads in my area reveals cars three years newer than yours, and with 75% of the mileage you cite, LISTED at less than your expected sale price.

Additionally, I think it a bit foolish to expect the stock market rate of return you note. I'll send you $500K if you assure me 9% return per year for the next 3 years. Deal? I could easily cite a scenario where professional money managers lost 30% not too many years ago that is equally as likely to be the result. As they make the brokers say "past results are no guarantee of future performance."

There's plenty of reasons to buy, lease, finance, etc. Often people forget the intangibles that make different people feel most comfortable. Just do what helps you sleep at night, no need to defend it here.

EuroDeliveryGuy

Thanks Wolfman & BigHat for your comments. I am clearly the newbie here.

Wolfman, I've read well over a dozen of your postings, and your knowledge of SL's is amazing! This website is lucky to have you as an active participant. You are right about the SL550 being "a hugh step up from the Lexus SC430." After driving my SL550 over 2k miles through Europe in June, for 30 days in 6 countries, I see it is far superior to the SC430. I wish I made the change sooner.

I like BigHat's conclusion about Leasing vs. Buying: "people forget the intangibles that make different people feel most comfortable. Just do what helps you sleep at night." I agree this decision is very personal.

My final comment: I view "leasing vs. buying a car" in the same way as "renting an apt. vs. buying a home." But that's me. Also, even if my SC430 has depreciated all the way down to $19k rather than $24k, that still comes out to only $567./month over 9 years of ownership.

I pray that my new SL550 will hold up over time as well as the SC430 did, and that maintenance repairs do not kill me (as I know they can). I plan to buy the extended maintence service. Personally, I can live without the very latest electronics. For me, it may take a few years to learn everything on my 2013 SL550!

mikey94025

Good luck with your new SL! Since you plan on keeping it for awhile, getting the extended warranty will be wise. It's doubtful that the SL will be as trouble-free over the long term as your SC, given the extra complexities of new electronics and it being a non-Japanese car.

Buying also definitely sounds like the right choice for you. I think leasing works out best, if at all, for people who don't plan to keep their cars longer than the lease term. In those scenarios, getting out a high-end new car after only 2 or 3 years can be difficult if you don't simply trade-in because there aren't a lot of private party buyers who'd spend a lot of $$$ for used cars and/or who don't need financing. So leasing a car (or "renting", which is really what it is) provides a guaranteed monthly cost and often other small benefits besides not tying up extra cash, e.g. not paying the full sales tax. But the down side is that getting out of a lease is usually expensive because you're upside down for a long time. (I'm surprised that Wolfman didn't need his gap insurance)

I also had an SC a few cars back -- It was nice but the SL, particularly the latest generation, is a big upgrade!

kingading

Deal! 24 mth. lease. 10k miles/year. $1167/mth. (tax included). MSRP is 115k.

Wolfman

More miles per year and shorter lease for less per month. Nice improvement.

Congrats! Show some pics

cloud

I am also looking to get into a 2013 SL & the best price I was able to get so far on a 114k car,7500miles,36 months was $1330.00,including tax. Can you give me the name of your dealer?

Beltfed

I'm most likely going the E550 route, but have the flexibility to consider a 2 seater.

Read the deals folks were getting so I went in and discussed with my salesperson. He doesn't know how people are getting $15k off + without fleet incentives. Unless dealers just want to give the cars away.

He's at $11k off and that's $1k deal, he said goes to take off another $4k...that's way below invoice.

24 months, $5200 OOP, 12k miles, $1300/month...$115k MSRP.

kingading

Monthly price is OK, particularly with the extra miles, but you should get it for no out of pocket, excluding origination, for that price.

silverclky

MSRP/Invoice spread of ~6%.
Dealer typically has another ~4-5% in holdbacks not published.
10% off is probably a good deal before any incentives/fleet.
MB has a Customer One rebate the dealer can use for another $4500 off.