Mercedes-Benz

March 2008 Lease Rate for 08 Mercedes Benz CL-Class

Published by G

2008 Mercedes CL550 Coupe
24 Month – Residual 59% of MSRP – .00365 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 50% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 43% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 37% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate

2008 Mercedes CL600 Coupe
24 Month – Residual 50% of MSRP – .00365 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 43% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 37% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 32% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate

2008 Mercedes CL63 AMG Coupe
24 Month – Residual 54% of MSRP – .00365 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 47% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 40% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 35% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate

2008 Mercedes CL65 V12 AMG Coupe
24 Month – Residual 49% of MSRP – .00365 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 43% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 37% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 32% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate

* Residuals posted are for 15K miles/year. Add 2% to Residual for 12k mi/yr and 3% for 10k mi/yr on all terms
** Rates provided by Tarry Shebesta from Leasecompare.com

My Take: I’ve never been a big fan of the CL. I never found that car to be sporty enough to be called a coupe. Think of it as a 2-door alternative to the E-Class, which I prefer over the CL quite frankly. Personally, I wouldn’t lease the CL this month. The rates are way too high and the residuals are terribly low, making your payments insanely high. There are better cars to be had at that price tag if you ask me. This seems to be ongoing theme this month for Mercedes Benz in general.

May 2008 Lease Rates for 08 Mercedes Benz C-Class

Published by G

2008 Mercedes C300 Luxury
24 Month – Residual 65% of MSRP – .00250 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00260 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 47% of MSRP – .00260 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 42% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate

2008 Mercedes C300 Luxury 4matic
24 Month – Residual 65% of MSRP – .00240 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00260 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 47% of MSRP – .00260 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 42% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate

2008 Mercedes C300 Sport
24 Month – Residual 65% of MSRP – .00250 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00260 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 47% of MSRP – .00260 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 43% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate

2008 Mercedes C300 Sport 4matic
24 Month – Residual 65% of MSRP – .00240 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00260 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 47% of MSRP – .00260 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 43% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate

2008 Mercedes C350 Sport
24 Month – Residual 64% of MSRP – .00230 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 55% of MSRP – .00260 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 48% of MSRP – .00260 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 43% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate

2008 Mercedes C63 AMG
24 Month – Residual 65% of MSRP – .00365 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 56% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 48% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 43% of MSRP – .00330 Base Rate

* Residuals posted are for 15K miles/year. Add 2% to Residual for 12k mi/yr and 3% for 10k mi/yr on all terms
** Rates provided by Tarry Shebesta from Leasecompare.com

My Take: If MB (Mercedes Benz) isn’t taking advantage of the newly redesigned C-Class, then I don’t know what they are doing. A whopping .00365 money factor on the C63 AMG? OUCH! .00230 and .00240 isn’t exactly that low either. I do love the aggressive/muscle car look of the new C-Class. This car definitely more refined than the previous C-Class. I can’t say I would recommend leasing this car considering how terrible the residual and MF are. It is obvious MB is milking early adopters for all they got at the moment.

Test Drive: 2007 Mercedes Benz SLK55 AMG

Published by G

While doing a trade-in appraisal of my car this past weekend, I took a spin around the block in a 2007 SLK55 AMG. This is probably the second time that I have ever driven a two-seat convertible, so I was rather excited. I had absolutely no intention of every purchasing the car, but I felt it would be fun to take it out on a spin and kill some time since my car’s appraisal was going to take about 30 minutes to complete.

It certainly was fun to cruise around in a convertible as eye-catching as the SLK55, the problem is, for a AMG, it wasn’t THAT fast. It felt somewhat sluggish and heavy at times, which was odd considering this is an AMG tuned TWO-SEAT convertible. Another thing that annoyed me was not having a “one-touch” switch to retract roof. I had to hold the stupid thing for at least 15-20 seconds for it to close. At times, it almost seemed like it got stuck.

The one thing I do like about this car is the exhaust note. It has a very deep throttling roar which makes it sound fast. Other than that, I really don’t see any reason to get one of these unless you truly love it’s SLR-wannabe looks and got lot of money to spend.