My Take: Quick hits here…CL, pass. CLK, solid “lease-to-buy” since it has very low money factors. CLS, skip the AMG model. In all honesty, the CLK is probably the only model I would consider of the three. The 24-month term shouldn’t be considered at all, so stick to the 36-month or 48-month terms. Like most “higher-end” Merc models, you end up paying for most of the depreciation within 4 years, making it a good option to buy if the money factors stay relatively low.
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2009 Mercedes CL
2009 Mercedes CL550 4matic
24-month | 15k miles | residual 51% | .00275 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 45% | .00200 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 39% | .00200 base money factor
2009 Mercedes CL600
24-month | 15k miles | residual 43% | .00275 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 38% | .00200 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 32% | .00200 base money factor
2009 Mercedes CL63 AMG
24-month | 15k miles | residual 45% | .00430 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 40% | .00395 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 32% | .00395 base money factor
2009 Mercedes CL65 AMG
24-month | 15k miles | residual 41% | .00430 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 36% | .00395 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 30% | .00395 base money factor
2009 Mercedes CLK
2009 Mercedes CLK350 Coupe
24-month | 15k miles | residual 45% | .00028 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 44% | .00008 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 38% | .00008 base money factor
2009 Mercedes CLK350 Convertible
24-month | 15k miles | residual 51% | .00030 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 48% | .00010 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 38% | .00010 base money factor
2009 Mercedes CLK550 Coupe
24-month | 15k miles | residual 41% | .00028 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 41% | .00008 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 36% | .00008 base money factor
2009 Mercedes CLK550 Convertible
24-month | 15k miles | residual 48% | .00030 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 46% | .00010 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 37% | .00010 base money factor
2009 Mercedes CLS
2009 Mercedes CLS550
24-month | 15k miles | residual 54% | .00100 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 47% | .00051 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 41% | .00051 base money factor
2009 Mercedes CLS63 AMG
24-month | 15k miles | residual 52% | .00430 base money factor
36-month | 15k miles | residual 45% | .00395 base money factor
48-month | 15k miles | residual 38% | .00395 base money factor
Stupid question…
What’s “lease to buy”? Do you mean financing the CLK is a better deal or you should buy the car at least end? Thanks!
Lease to buy is when a car is leasing for a very low money factor (typically lower than what you can get financing) and the residual value is low as well, so your buyout price at lease end is low since most of your payments are going towards the car instead of the interest. The downside is the “balloon” payment at the end of the lease. You kind of have to do that because getting financing for the remainder of the buyout price will get expensive since it is considered a “used” car.
Right now, MB is offering like 0.9% financing for 66 months though, so if you really want to keep the car, I suggest buying it. Otherwise, lease it so you always have a way out after 3-4 years.
Currently the clk 350 and the 550 have $7500 in lease support as the dealer showed me his book with all the Mercedes numbers for the month of April (Edmunds was wrong in that they did not list this correcty for the CLK550). Got a Clk 550 white with the P2 package for a capitalized cost (price of vehicle, gas guzzler tax, doc fee plus the MB bank fee) of $49,809 on a car with a MSRP of $62,515 (includes $1000 gas guzzler tax). With 0 down, the total was $556 plus tax for 4 years and 12k a year mileage. I probably could have gotten it for a little lower (should have been suspicious since he offered this price off the bat and significantly beat 3 other dealer offers) since I was under the impression that the CLK 550 only had $6000 in lease support and negotiated with that in mind (damn Edmund’s!) Also, if you have a Sak’s 5th ave credit card, they will give you $1000 gift card for a purchase or lease of a new Mercedes (most models except the AMG). I got them to also tint the windows and throw in the all weather mats for free. I think I got an alright deal (not fantastic) for a price (if you factor in the Sak’s gift card which my wife will surely use, the lease is $535 plus tax a month!) of a well equipped G37 coupe lease or a 335i coupe which were the cars I was originally looking at. BTW, the V8 in this car is awesome!
Dr J. That was an awesome deal you go there. Thanks so much for sharing all this great info!!!! I’m sure a lot of people would love to see some pics of your new ride!
Thank you G for this website. I’ve learned a lot about leasing through this site and I don’t think I would have gotten this deal if I hadn’t been following this site for the past several months. As for this deal, other dealers were calling me offering to beat it even after I signed the lease so I think people can do even better. MB dealers are desperate to get this model off the lot because MB will no longer make this model and the new E class coupe which will replace it will be arriving this summer. I went with this particular dealer because he gave me a good price right away with no BS instead of chipping away at someone else’s deal (I felt he should be rewarded for giving his best price right away). It also helped that this dealer is 10 minutes from where I live and I factored that into account. I’ll try to post pics once I figure out how to post them here. Some people think that the clk 550’s have a dated look (they have not changed the body style for about 4 years) but in person this model looks very classy and definitely stands out from the multitudes of 3series BMW’s and G35/37 (no offense G!) that flood the Westside here in LA. What’s also cool is It will also outrun just about all of them 😉
Dr. J:
How did you get all the MB dealers to call you? Did you do this online? If so, which site did you use?
Thanks!
I could be wrong, but i think he’s referring to MB dealers he requested quotes during the initial “research” process. They probably called him back trying to get his business…too little too late I say. I’m very much Dr J, I don’t mind pay a bit more if I can avoid playing “the game” with the dealer. Glad the site helped Dr J! Your feedback has been priceless. I think people looking for a coupe should really look into the CLK550 or any CLK for that matter. I know GetPaid (who’s CLK is on the wall) got a sweet deal on his CLK as well.
Here in socal the competition is stiff with audi, lexus, bmw, infiniti etc etc and right now everyone is hurting. I originally just requested an online quote (through yahoo) to get feelers and also sent inquiries online to the internet managers of dealers that were within reasonable driving distance. I emphasized to them that I was ready to lease within the end of the month (which was true) and I ended up being flooded with emails and phone calls. Some dealers still try to jerk you around with obviously bad offers but usually 3-4 dealers will be serious and you can negotiate from there. The key is to get an actual emailed quote with figures and you can use that as a bargaining chip. I tended to stay away from dealers who would not give an offer initially until they saw someone else’s quote (negative points in my book) MB dealers were the most aggressive and I thought the local infiniti dealers really were the worst (refused to tell you anything such as money factors, residuals etc unless you threatened to cut them off). Just be firm, don’t buy into the line of having to “show up at the dealer” and let them know you are knowledgeable about the leasing process and realistic offers without much of the bs should come your way. Now a question for G, does the dealer get more profit from inflating the acquisition fee or the asking price of the car? For my deal, the salesperson put $1095 for the acquisition fee (the official fee should be $795) but since the overall capitalized cost was lower than the others (subsequently leading to a lower monthly rate) I really did not press the issue (he could have just increased the price of the car by $300 and decreased the acquisition fee to the “official” $795 rate and my monthly would obviously be the same). Also, any of those people familiar with MB lease returns, are those dealer sold wear and tear warranties (offers up to $5000 in payment if MB charges excessive wear and tear charges) worth it? They sold me mine for $640 but I can cancel it if I want to without penalty.
I personally haven’t experienced a markup on the acquisition fee, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if they make a cut of the difference. I’ve seen some very creative math on lease contracts, so it is certainly possible. I was always under the impression that the MB acq fee was like $895. Wow talk about inconsistent.
Double check the fine print on the $5000 damage waiver. For example, I know AHFC offers $1500 damage waiver, but they count every major ding as $500, basically allowing you 3 dings. Not bad, but not great.
Dr J:
MB is very generous on lease returns. I wouldn’t bother with the wear and tear warranty unless you plan to trash your car. Basically there’s no charge on any damage that can be covered up by the size of a credit card. So you can literally drill a hole in the hood of your car and they won’t charge you for it.
Thanks for the comments (I don’t plan on drilling anytime soon and I have a Honda lease also so good to know their waiver is not that forgiving!). I’ll email them to cancel the warranty. It does cover treadwear but it seems I’ll probably buy at least 3 pairs of tires anyway during the lease (the high performance rubber just does not last long on these cars especially the rear set). Also, their is a fine line in wording between wear and tear vs damage which is not covered and who knows if this warranty company will even be around at the end of my lease. As for the acquisition fee, the dealer/rep must get a higher cut of this fee rather than simply just increasing the purchase price of the car (at least to a point) by a similar amount for them to disclose the fact that they are charging above “standard” rates. As for the MB acquisition fee, I’ve seen advertising stating it was $795 but it seems (like BMW) anything goes with this which I think really confuses and upsets consumers. I think MB financial (as well as other captive finance companies) should step up and just standardize their fees and prevent markup if dealers play the game that the acquisition fee cannot be negotiated upon. Just factor this into the price of the car!
Yeah, I noticed performance tires wear out very fast too. That’s gonna cost a fortune. LOL. Make sure to hit the TireRack, they have real cheap quality tires. You can even have them shipped to a trusted mechanic and have them put them on. Hopefully they don’t rip you off on the mounting of the tires. I agree with you on the acq fee. Since they can push the fact that its a “non-negotiable” fee, its almost like a guaranteed profit. I too think it should be standardized, but as long as it remains a profit area for the dealers, it probably won’t.
Hi Dr. J
Would you be able to give your salesperson’s info? I am looking to lease a CLK as well. Thanks 🙂
Email: iwc5002(at)gmail(dot)com.
*had to edit your email to prevent you from getting spam. you’ll thank me later. LOL