Just wondering if anyone out there knows if the .00125 money factor and 59% for 39 months residual value has been extended for May. I missed out trying to get my first AMG due to unfortunate circumstances, but I am ready now. Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

Not saying it's gone for good, but they did pull the special Lease banner off the E55 homepage on MBs web site.

 

lease special is gone. probably wont come back.

 

Yes the lease rates have gone away.............and it seems like there aren't a ton of E55's left, i recently checked and there were only about 12 left in the bay area!!

 

dealer by be didn't have any, they did have an SL550, and 3 CLS55's....

 

Ya there are only about 10 2006 E55's left at all the dealers in Florida, I guess the lease program worked. I took advantage of it........0.00125 money factor is pretty hard to beat, especially on a AMG car!

 

Correct, the lease special has ended.

We ended moving up 14 E55s during March and April. We still have one left, Silver/Chracoal.

 

I understand the residuals went down about 1%, and the lease factors at least tripled! Wow. That's some difference.

I would think the remaining cars are going to be hard to move, and you'll see big discounts for cash pay customers, but those fantastic lease specials are gone.

 

I don't think the dealers are going to have a hard time moving the few remaining E55's...........considering the fact that the E63's will more than likely have a $5000-$15000 markup as usual.
Besides anyone interested in modding a AMG E-class is going to grab a E55 over a E63.

 

What makes you think the E63 will be priced any differently than current prices, maybe with a token annual bump? If it's priced at current prices, it willl give MB a better car to compete against the M5 and enable dealers to hold closer to sticker. But that means the '06 E55s are going to have to be discounted by $7,500 or more...maybe considerably more now that the lease special is gone...I figured that lease special was worth $10-15K in incentives.

While, they have cleared out a lot of inventory, there still are plenty of 2006s left around the region. I suspect there are 50+ within 300 miles of NYC, say from the DC area to New England, but I don't have a dealer scan.

 

The E63 will be priced very close to the E55, but as with all new AMG models most dealers add markups to the price of the the car. We just witnessed it with the new S550 and we will more than likely see it with the E63. I'll get the actual number of E55's left in your region.
Anyone will discount anything on any given day, but the money factor was a MBF gift and not a Dealer incentive.
Since E63's will be relatively scarce I highly doubt you will see any E55's selling for less than invoice, but if they were it will probably be in the east coast if there are as many as you say.

 

I hear what you're saying...that some dealers will price the E63s at a premium over invoice, while others won't look to gouge and will hold to sticker.

But, I know numerous dealers selling +/- invoice today on their remaining E55s. One traditionally "expensive" dealer I know is at invoice + $500 for a $93.5K vehicle, while others I know are $7-8K off ($90-92K MSRP).

 

Well there are 11 in NY state and 9 in New Jersey but like any type of horsetrading it all depends on how bad a dealer needs a sale on that particular day. One thing for sure is no dealer will discount a E55 more than 10-12 %.

 

Then there's MD, VA, PA, CT, MA, & RI, all proximate -- within 200-300 miles of NYC. So, that's where I get my 50+/- vehicle estimate.

I never said I thought people could do better than 10-12%, although I know of at least two recent instances of discounts in 13.5% range, where the dealer basically absorbed much of the gas guzzler tax/destination charges.

When referencing discounts, I am talking about discounts off the MSRP less the gas guzzler tax and destination charges to determine the base selling price before those two no-profit costs are added back in.

Here's an example of one vehilce with which I am familiar:

MSRP: $92,155 (lighting, premium w/pano,
Net MSRP: $89,710 (net of gas guzzler & destination charges)
Base Discounted Selling Price: $77,555
Discount of Net MSRP: 13.5%
Add-back of Tax/Desitination: +$2,445
Actual Final Selling PRice: $80,000

That was lst month...this month, I am aware of deals available on $90+k in the 8-9% discount range.

The best deal I am aware of is a new black $90+K 2005 E55 located in the Northeast for $75,000, which is about an 18% discount.

 

No doubt the deals being had on the East coast are and always have been better than the west coast. Cars have always been cheaper over there, and probably always will be. If a dealer does ever sell a E55 for more than 12.25% off MSRP then they have lost money on the deal.
But like I said its just steel and glass to them, they sell it and get another car allocated and hope they make a profit on the next deal.

 

You bring up some very interesting points:

1. Why is the market more competitive on the East Coast? Is there that much more supply than demand?

2. If a dealer sells for less than 12.25%, then they have exhausted their invoice and holdback...but what about:

A) Carrying Costs -- it costs a dealer more hold onto a car every day, so any day they can sell car, the stop paying finance charges; and

B) Capital Availability -- By turning vehicles, dealers free up floor plan availability and can bring in new/fresher inventory.

3. What about volume/performance thresholds? Dealers get performance bonuses/rebates/discounts/incentives for hitting various sales performance yardsticks which are obviously not tied to individual vehicle prices/margins.

As a separate matter, I find the reported differentiation between sticker and invoice ("markup") and invoice and "cost" ("holdback") disingenuous. It's all one big pot of dealer margin. The fact that it's divided into two categories is not relevant.

Some funny comments I heard from salespeople while shopping for a car below invoice (that are/were being sold by other dealers below invoice at the time):

* "The holdback is not for you -- that's what we use to keep the lights on."

* "We're not paid on that."

* "We sell all our cars at sticker."

* "No one will price at that level."

* "These are niche cars." (This is one of my favorites, as I heard that so many times...and I always knew it was going to be followed by an uncompetitive song and dance)

* We have to make some money." (As if these dealers are going out of business and don't make money.)

The best salespeople were the sales managers who knew how to deal and go to a legitimate bottom line price right out the door. Frankly, they are few and far between...but they exist and they deliver.

Other things that "bug" about the MB sales process:

A. The Live Chat feature on the dealer's web site goes to a remote call center that just collects data for a follow up call -- just try a legitimate live chat with a salesperson from this link!

B. Many dealers send initial sales calls to a sales logger who asks all sorts of questions and whose sole purpose is to record your data and qualify your call. When I ask to speak to a salesperson, I don't want to be sent to a call screener. Nor do I want to be asked 20 questions about my intentions, my existing car, my color preferences, my financing plans, etc.

C. Salespeople/dealers who like to talk monthly lease rates and not selling prices...also, I think some dealers are marking up the lease factor in their quotes.

D. Most dealers make it difficult to search their new inventory on line and then, if they do list their vehicles online, most don't disclose the options with those vehicles.

I have more pet peeves, but that's a good start.

Still, I love my car, so it's all worth it in the end.

 

Honestly, my theory is that it's Wall St. and politicians. Basically, the dealers in this area (DC/NYC - and correct me if I'm wrong, but this area is really where most of the good deals are, not New England, or Florida) bulk up their showrooms with a gazillion different versions of the latest model. They sell it at or above sticker to all the high falutin' people that don't care two licks what they pay for the car. At the end of the model year (or end of a model in this case), they're stuck with a few leftovers that they just try to completely liquidate to make room for the new models (re: E63), so they can get their next round of "I don't care what I pay"'ers.

Well, enough on that. I was a math major, not an econ guy, so I could be completely off base.

This is a great point, and one verified by one of the sales managers I talked to. The 3% holdback can increase with an increase in sold units. So, you may make an extra 1/4% on your entire stock, by moving that one car at a loss. Also, I think your pleasant experience with the sales manager is because they probably get bonuses on units sold, not commissions on a certain car. A regular salesman is the guy stuck trying to mark up the car so he can take home extra cake.