CLE 300:
LH Caculator:
Realistically speaking, since the number dealer gives is too far off the calculated number, should I bring the LH calculated result to the dealer and try to negotiate for a lower number, or simply look for a broker instead? Bottomline for me will probably be a $550 with $0 down.
I’d advise to spend time on learning what lease payment/DAS negotiables are in the Wiki here…where did you get your MF and RV? Never put that much $ down on a lease.
You are going to make dealers pretty happy if you don’t research expected discounts off MSRP and base MF/RV for your term and be able to calculate a target payment/DAS yourself.
Sounds good, thanks Hawks! Yea I am new to the leasing world, definitely will study up before I made a decision.
Already paid $7000 mark up for my previous car, not making that mistake again.
Absolutely do not put in all that trade equity into a new deal, that’s money in your pocket and the same thing as writing huge check for a down payment. separate the two transactions and get the trade equity back as a check selling to the highest bidder
These just do not lease well.
i4 eDrive:
$626 with $0 down payment after corporate discount, which is not too far off the $$ LH calculator gives ($584):
Heavily considering this deal comparing to the CLE 300, which dealer gave $200 higher monthly comparing to the LH calculated result. Thoughts on this? Maybe room to wiggle a bit?
Pre incentive discount is weak (should be able to get 10+%) and looks like your MF is wrong/marked up…look for a CA broker who will do much better in Marketplace.
Yeah I agree. Saw broker with $389 monthly with $3000 DAS with some easy search. Will see if I can negotiate with the dealer or go straight to broker instead. Thanks Hawks!
Threads combined bc the same advice will apply to both.
Way more than that if you count the trade in the CLE
Thanks Steve! Yea, the dealer’s deal is no where near reasonable. I will contact the salesperson again to see if they willing to low down the price, meanwhile I will start doing searches in the Marketplace here
If you haven’t contacted them yet, hit up MB of Palo Alto. They have a demo/loaner that seems to be ripe for getting blown out. As others indicated, sign up for LH and get the latest resid and money factor.
Look at that price drop they just slammed in there over the last few days.
If you can put a juicy lease together, this will be one of the few convertible hacks on LH that won’t result in a bunch of people mocking you for high payments. And, instead of putting the trade in equity into the lease, have them cut you a check.
Or just hit up a credit union and finance this thing with the intent to sell later instead of leasing it. Convertibles rarely have a good money factor; so the cost of funds is high.
Is the first post the quote for the MB?
Sounds good! Thank you kindly for the information. Will contact them next thing, wasn’t aware the place was giving good deals like this!
Yep! Edited both to make them clear
I take back what I said about buying this with a loan. The car is dirty. But if you lease it, you won’t give a crap. Just enjoy the low payment, locked in resid, and cash out your trade in equity.
@djrabbi this is your type of hack lolololol
@Bumboola this is dirty carfax and Batman spec. Whose baby is it?
Good catch! Lmao cannot believe they just put out a pic like that on the website and expect people not to notice it
I think the dealership’s lawyers probably had them put the picture online lol. During the sales checkout flow, they’ll ask the buyer/lessee to sign some paperwork saying the vehicle is a former demo and is being sold as-is. And the dealership has disclosed all known issues to the buyer at the time of sale.
All these pictures and that signature will be part of the deal jacket that is archived. If the buyer wants to come back later and say “wtf this bumper fascia was repaired??!!” then the dealership will say tough-cookies 
Anyway if you lease the car, you don’t care about the fix, you only care about the payment. And it’ll be great payment relative to any other C300 cabrio lease.
Edit: eh, looks like the car sold over the weekend. Womp Womp.
Palo Alto has another C300 Cabrio, but no damage so it’s not mega discounted. It has neck warmers though. Nice.
All good. Yeah vehicle is gone this morning when I checked it, if someone bought it I am praying for them(lol) ; nonetheless I would still schedule an appointment with them this week and see if I can get a cheaper deal there; then use that as leverage to go back to the first dealer.
Worst comes to worst, if no decent deal could be found I would start look for brokers here; or I have no problem staying with my Honda Accord as it is still relatively new & runs well. Thanks Holey!
Yeah, there’s a reason nobody ever brags about their Benz or BMW convertible deals on this site. You basically get stuck paying East-Coast-Broker-Spoon-Fed-911-CPO money to drive around in a base spec CLE or 4 series cabrio here in NorCal.
It also wouldn’t hurt to try and use that PA Benz dealers mega discount to try and shop for this low miles used C450 Cabrio at Dublin Chevy. C300 is so underpowered. But the Dublin dealer group is so much trash. Almost as bad as Envision.
First NorCal credit union is doing 4.75% car loans.
Lmao
Yeah seems like there are no juicy deals right now; In case of that I would be fine staying with my current car.
The forum has taught me don’t chase a nice car, chase a nice deal instead.
2025 C300 Loaner with ~2,000 miles:
24m/12k
MSRP: $58,095
Selling Price: $46,078
MF: 0.00199
Drive Off: $5500 (everything include dealer fee + down payment + MSD + first month lease fee)
Monthly w/tax: $300
Total Cost: $12,400
New to the leasing world, this is the best deal I have so far comparing to a lot of other cars in a lot of other dealers. What do we think about this deal?
