toro4me

i understand what you are saying.
although in my case, the only reason i am looking at a E55 is because its on "firesale" as the title of this thread says.
i fully understand how good of deal you can get, all depends on the dealer, the car and how badly they want to move it.
i am only asking for a general guideline based on ppl's actual exprerience, for those who actually bought or leased a E55 during the last month BECAUSE OF the special lease rates and the huge discount, what discount did they really get? the info will assit me in deciding if i should waste my time or not to go visit a dealer. thats the point of the forum, to help eachother out, isn't it?

WhiteTrash

i'm in the same boat - the fire sale might get me to pull the trigger - anyone close the deal based on this special/terms?

toro4me

Ok, this is the deal:

'06 E55, $81800
+ premium pkg $3650
+ destination charge $775
+ gas gazzler tax $1750
--------------------------------
Total msrp price $87925

Now, dealer has a bouns from MBUSA they will apply as discount, which is $2413.89. they also ask YOU for $3000 cap deduction.

So the new price of the car, that the lease is based on is:
$87925 - 2413.89 - 3000 = $82511.11

Now, THIS IS THE deal thats $999 a month, for 39 months, at 10k a year, with 58% residual, at 0.00125 money factory which equals a 3% APR interest rate.
THIS IS the work sheet every dealer has, and do deals on.

Now, as you might realized, the payment of $999 is calculated on $82511.11, thats only 5413.89 discount off the MSRP, out of which dealer covers $2413.89 and buyer covers $3000.
so, IF you can get the dealer to give an UNCONDITIONAL further discount, then your monthly payment will drop, thats simple math.

the question is:
HOW MUCH more will dealer drop?
i do not know about the 10k off msrp like some of you claimed. the dealer i visited, Rally MB, the largest volume dealer in NY, said they have NO E55 in stock, the next incoming on is due in 3 wks, there is NO WAY they will give 10k msrp.

Thus, if you know a dealer, who somehow will cut a huge discount off the msrp, then you ask them to still base the lease on the above equaion except using a less selling price because you got bigger discount, you will have cheaper payment.

The standard deal anyone should get is:
$4794 drive-off cost, with $999+tax/mo for 39 moths.

The better deal, i predict can know 100-150 off per month, so its ~$850-900 plus tax, per month.

Hope it helps.

Mr. Vanos

You can workout ANY deal you want...24, 27 or 36 mos lease as well (MF goes up with 24 or 27 mos terms) That deal above from MBUSA is a good deal, but definitely NOT the best deal by far versus what the dealers are willing to offer on top of that even W/O a down payment out of your pocket. They don't need to follow the exact deal offered by MBUSA...that's just a guideline to get the car at an attractive $999/mo which you can do W/O any further capitalized cost reduction with the right deal and options (you pay first payment + DMV fees...acquisition fee can be capitalized if you want). You can easily get $9-$10k off MSRP in SoCal so those deals ARE real. They may not be in your area certainly if dealers don't even have cars on the lot to deal with...then it is completely understandable if they won't give $10k off. But in SoCal where the LARGEST MB dealers exist, they are dealing. I'm glad to hear that your dealer acknowledged the $2413 rebate...most dealers are clueless or deny it. So you can have the dealer discount the $3000 you would otherwise be paying out of pocket as a cap cost reduc and then some!

toro4me

Yes mr. vano i know what you are saying.
if one can talk dealer down 10k off msrp, not only their 3k cap deduction is covered, the 999/mo will drop to like 850/mo. thats a KILLER deal, for anyone who wants a E55 and will keep it for 3+ yrs.
unfortunately here they dont deal aggressively cuz they dont have excessive inventory.

in any case, i am likely to pick a leftover '05 and try to get a big discount on it. it makes a good transitional vehicle for the next 6-9 months.

ajf1

there is no $2400 rebate, its a dealer participation, they come out of pocket vs the factory reimbursing them. the deal is the .00125 money factor and the high residual. By the way fyi I just found out the .00125 money factor does apply to 27 months and the residual with 10k miles is 68%, 12k miles 67%, 15k 65%, 7500 miles 69%.

clum553946

Mr. Vanos:

Which SoCal dealers are knocking that much off? I've been corresponding with Fletcher Jones & they act like I'm a leper asking 8K off MSRP. Should I be speaking with someone in particular over there?

metalica_23

The dealership I stopped at yesterday here in MA quoted me a 0.00175 money factor, which of course contradicts the $999/month deal, now that I'm home and have done the math. Can someone point me to the MB link that verifies the 0.00125 factor? Also, of these things, can I negotiate any other than the price I pay?

MSPR: 91,595
Resid: 58% (of MSRP less GG Tax)
Money Factor: 0.00125
Miles: 10k

Basically, I'm wondering if MB has the lease stuff set in stone, and I can't change the resid or money factor, and I can only "pay" for extra miles, leaving me to negotiate only the initial cap cost, or if I can try to negotiate all of the above which would likely lead to me getting a better deal.

Thanks all!

toro4me

i dont think u can negotiate on the residual, thats set by the MB credit.
the money factor of 0.00125, is over tier1 credit, i believe 730+ for fico store. thats a very good rate, its like 3% apr, now days u can put your money with most of banks for 5% apr.

SoxFan

You can negotiate what you put down as capital reduction. The rate is 00125. The residual is fixed.

metalica_23

Perfect. Thanks all. So, basically, I can just negotiate the selling price. I agree the money factor is great. I just wanted to know what I can and can't haggle. If, I can get them to cover the acquisition fee and $3k cap cost reduction, so I basically just need to pay the first month's pmt, without seeing any increase in my monthly pmt, I'm in. Wish me luck, I've got a few dealers to email/call now!

toro4me

The standard $999 deal is an example, in that deal, you are only geting $2413.89 off the MSRP. now if you haggle another $3000 off, then that can be used as the $3000 cap deduction you were paying, and you will have same monthly payment but only pay ~$1794 drive-off cost.
now if you haggle even more off MSRP, that will start to knock down your monthly payment from 999.

Fast55

Talk to Brandon Hale. My '06 stickered at 97K and my payment INCLUDING tax is $1,100.00 with a total of 6K down. Do the math.

metalica_23

Did you put the 6k down or did they? If you did, then they only took $2,400 off the sticker (which is basically the "suggested" dealer contribution). If you didn't put anything down, then they took $8,400 off the sticker and you made a great deal. [in my best Howie Mandell voiceover]

Fast55

I actually put down 4K on a 97.5K car. The payment is $1,094.38 including tax. The rest was tx, lic. first mo. payment etc.

metalica_23

Fair enough, so in this case, the dealer contributed about $5k. If I use estimates of $97.5k, and $9k down ($5k from dealer, $4k from buyer), then I get a lease payment of ~$1,025. Add 7.25% (is that right for CA?), and you get ~$1,100. So, given that, it seems that asking for at least $5k off the sticker is not unreasonable. $8k is probably pushing it, but hey, you don't know if you don't ask.

They're always going to look to sell the car, regardless. So insulting offers and low balling is ok from the buyer side!

Fast55

Absolutely! The only stupid question is the one you didn't ask.
I actually could have done 2-3K better through a broker I had lined up, but most of the difference was eaten up in shipping the car to the other side of the country. I would definitely consider that in the future. At least 2 dealers in So. Cal. were adamant that the "deal" was the lease and I should not expect ANY further discount! I guess my deal was pretty good, but not "the best".

2K6E55

John,

You can buy the car anytime during the lease, however, I am NOT certain how they calculate the payoff value (you need to call their 800 #) but my MB rep told me I should wait till the end of the lease to buy the car.

SoxFan

That's the thing with leasing: you gotta wait until the end...so it's a risk. If you keep the car to the end, you come out ahead.

The best deal I currently see is the Flint Gray demo with a MSRP of $88,915 (lighting and premium package) for 10% off MSRP which should lease out for under $885/month with no money down (39 months/7,500), or $925/month with 10,000 miles.

toro4me

you can buy the car anytime, but you WILL get killed on the interest, the way its calculated is not the same as you pay off a loan early.
you ONLY lease if you are keeping it for the lease term. otherwise finance it.

SoxFan

I thought the payoff was calculated like a mortgage?

metalica_23

I'm not sure of how they do it, but it probably does something similar. But, because the money factor does not include compounding, the depreciation of the asset when treated like a mortgage doesn't actually hit the residual value at the end of the lease term. So, as an example, the resid value on a $91,595 e55 is $52,139 at 39 months. Let's assume that you get the car for $84,478.97, which magically enough gives you a lease pmt of exactly $1,000/month.

Ok, if you actually amortize that $84,478.97 at 3% with monthly pmts of $1,000, then you end up at $53,208.32 (using 30/360, not actual/360 int calcs, which would make the end result even higher). So, technically, you should owe ~$1,100 at lease end, just for not hitting the resid. Anyway, if you kill it early, I'm sure they charge some type of fixed early termination fee (like a cell phone), in addition to the loss in residual value.

The big key is that the drop in resid value occurs in reverse proportion to your "principal" payments on the lease. So, the vehicle drops in value quickly initially, while you are only contributing small amounts to the principal portion of the lease. Roughly halfway through, the amounts start reversing. But for at least the first half of the lease you are significantly upside down. As previously mentioned, if you're concerned about potentially opting out of your lease, get a shorter lease term and pay the small premium in monthly pmts.

Duane

Also keep in mind that Mercedes does charge a prepayment penalty if you get out of the lease early. I think its 5% of the payoff amount.

Duane

C55mOtiOn

oh jeez, i just read this.... thanks guys... maybe i'll get E55 instead of Cayenne S...

metalica_23

Yep, mine's getting delievered this week from out of state. There are still good deals abound if you look hard enough. I'm sure I didn't get the best deal, but I was able to get a price of $2k under invoice. Whether you lease or buy, it's a pretty good price (at least on the east coast).

Since it's a second car for me, I went with a lease. With a car that's pretty much loaded (except distronic and voice), I was able to get a pmt that was LESS than the MB "standard offer" of $999/mth and with ZERO in cap cost reduction. So basically, my money due at signing was only the first month's pmt plus a couple hundred in doc fees and registration.