With my e55 only a few weeks away I am trying to decide if I should buy or lease the car through my company. I would usually lease this car but since my company moved offices my commute is a lot farther and I have been racking up miles very fast in my daily driver. I never keep my daily for more than 9 to 12 months but once these cars get to 12 or 15k miles they are a tougher sell. If I do lease it with 10k miles a year o down 36 or 39 months can anyone shed light on what the payment should be? Does MB credit have the most competive rates? Thanks in advance?

 

Duane:

With 0 down and 36 month-You're probably looking at 1500-1700 month + tax
(Depending on Final sticker price)
I've found US Bank in the midwest is the most competitive at Leasing these vehicles.

BTW - Mine was MSRP of $84,800- 48 Month Flex lease, O down and 1295/month + Tax

Enjoy the ride!!

 

Kens I think thats on the high side, when I purchased my cl55 I paid MSRP which was about 120k. I put 1500 down and the lease was $1760 tax included. If you go to lease www.leasecompare.com and put in a car with an $86390.00 window and selling price $83390.00 the lease for 39 months comes out to $1236 plus tax with 12000 miles per year. I only am going to do 10k per year and am thinking that Mercedes Benz Credit should be more competive than leasecompare.com. I will post the numbers when my sales guy calls me back. I am thinking around $1150.00 plus tax but not sure. Thanks

 

Duane,

I'd be interested to hear how your call goes with the sales guy on lease terms. I'm looking at roughly $90K for the selling price and the best terms I've seen for $0 down/ 12K miles a year are:

$1570 + tax for 36 months
$1469 + tax for 39 months
$1362 + tax for 48 months

On that basis, I thought KensE55 figures were right in the ballpark. I'd also be interested in the residual and money factor they are using now.

Thanks.

 

Found these numbers yesterday while browsing at some lease options. The table is off of cars.com but the information is from ALG.

 

Ok Guys I got some preliminary numbers. My car has a window of 88560.00 and the selling price is 85060.00. 3 Years No money down 10k miles with 7% tax is 1492 per month. If you go to 15k is goes to 1524 per month. I showed him on leasecompare.com that if you input the same numbers you can lease it for $1284.00 plus tax with 12k miles per year and for $1500 you can do it for 27 months. He said he Chase has a better program and he will call me with numbers tomorrow as well if anyone has a better program.

 

I believe that Mercedes credit is on the high side. My dealer said he could easily do better with an outside bank and did. I can't recall the exact numbers other than Mercedes was too high. We checked out Fifth/Third Bank and Huntington Bank...both in Michigan. I believe Fifth/Third is not a local bank but has offices in other states. They were the cheapest of them all. I also have a friend the high end car leasing business who says nobody is cheaper than Fifth/Third Bank. By the way, that is their name, "Fifth/Third Bank".

 

That's great to hear. My E55 is here in two months, and my bank is 5th/3rd!

The name does sound funny. Down here in Toledo, they sponsor the Mudhens' field. Try asking for directions to the 5th 3rd field and keep a straight face.

 

All these numbers fairly consistent with what I got quoted when I was doing the lease vs buy math in picking mine up last June.

Best I saw was 39 mos. $1,350/mo. 39,000 miles (New Jersey)

Even with negotiating about $1,500 off sticker I was still getting some initial figures well into the $1,400. They definitely try and make up the purch price in the lease if they can.

 

What option did you go with, Tiberius -- lease or buy? Did you take the 39 month lease?

Is the $1,350 with or without tax?

Thanks.

 

Bklyn,

I leased. 39months. Includes tax.

On PURE economics, it was not the right decision as the alternative I was considering is "writing the check" and I'm relatively conservative. But I will want something else in a few years, I'm not planning on major mods and like to avoid hassle of selling at end. So for me, when you factor all that in, the lease was just the easier choice.

I really wish dealers/lease companies would make a more attractive one pay option though (i.e. the PV of the lease at the implicit rate), but they make those things so prohibitively high that you have to go with the monthly.

 

Duane,

How did it work out for you? I'm very interested in getting the details as my car arrives in two weeks. Send me a PM if you'd like.

Thanks,

Marc

 

MB Credit has higher residuals, but their money factor sucks.. So its fine as long as you dont sell it or want to buy it at the end. Also, they charge penalties for early payoff. US Bank and Chase are great. I leased my M3 thru chase and no penalties, easy to deal with, etc. when I sold it after 7 months. The MF for MB is around .0035 +/-. Sometimes .00285, but not on the AMG. You should be able to get .00235 or so thru Chase or US Bank.

 

I just completed a 39 month lease on 2005 e55, cost was 87,340, negotiated to 86506. zero down, payment is 1389 per month including 6% tax. I too went to leasecompare.com, found out the lowest rate possible,
lowest residiual,(45,685) and asked MB to match or I would go to an outside bank, MB could not come close but the dealer used one of their other banks and matched the deal, but at the last minute, they said it does not include
gap insurance, I went crazy and threatended to walk from deal. They built the gap into the deal, about $499 and my monthly payment came out to 10$ more per month. I was not happy, but I really wanted the car and it was exactly the color I wanted, jade black with charcoal so I did it. also got the sales guy to throw in $200 in accesories...whatever.

Hope this helps...negotiate hard.

 

My E55 was 92k, I put down 3500.00 most of which went to tax and license. My payments are 1520ish plus tax..36 months 20 months left the buyout is 48k. Leasing is always better if you are writing the car off. You are less likely to be audited when renting this type of vehicle vs buying.