They can’t guarantee getting you out early and not costing you something. Work multiple dealers and look for a 2018 loaner/demo, don’t go longer than 36mo
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Keep making payments. Deals on 19s will only get better later in the year and your equity will increase with each payment. Over 500 for a c class is painful and 40+ months makes it even worse. Remember, you are responsible for keeping the car in good working order and the longer you hold on to it the more likely you will need to replace brakes, tires, etc.
Thank you so much, I had initially made the appointment with this specific dealership for a loaded loaner 2018 C300, they wanted $0 down $550/mo for the loaner. I told them no… I want $0 down $350/mo. Then the manager walked in and said to stop and he then proceeded to tell me he can be more agressive on the 2019 C300’s. It was exhausting, I was there from 11am-8:30pm and I drove 1hr 45 to that dealership LOL. I will skip on this non sense deal. I got home with a huge headache from so much pressure.
My C250 has about 1 more year of extended warranty, the only reason I would Like to lease is because I am nervous about keeping the car and it one day decides to give me problems and leasing would favor me since I am an independent contractor own my business. So far it’s been a very nice car and reliable I have 84,000 miles on it now… I still get so many compliments on the car anywhere I go palladium silver metallic AMG styling. Always serviced at the dealership no problems at all.
I will wait it off for now, I just needed everyone’s opinion. I’m upset about the negative equity on the car but it really not that much. I think it will even put the gap soon…
Thank you guys so much! I truly appreciate your response… maybe later this year I would love to aim for a C300 AMG styling line package in brilliant blue. If I can strike a great deal…
Stop going to dealerships to negotiate, do everything online/phone. If your car has 84k on it, it’s time to make a move now on a 2018. Your car is going to drop in value allot, especially the closer you get to a 100k.
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Thank you! That’s the problem, I had originally scheduled my appointment at the specific dealership for a 2018 C300 loaner with 6k miles amg styling MSRP of 49k. The previous day the phone rep had told me they have killer offers on loaners for $350/mo so I scheduled to come in the next day. While there I straight up told them what I wanted and to make it happen, they said 0 down $550/mo for the loaner. I said nope, $0 down 350/mo 36months. he then went to the sales manager and they both came back and the manager literally told me to stop… he said he cannot be too aggressive on the loaners and that he can be more aggressive on the 2019 C300’s. I feel this was a bait and switch lol… no kidding… He then said that the loaners are very optioned out and it would be hard to be aggressive… in my mind wouldn’t it be logical to strike a deal on a loaner so that they can push it off of the lot?
So then they proceeded to start asking me for money down on 2019 and it just spiraled from there to the nasty deal mentioned above. I got fed up at one point and literally asked him to make me a deal on the loaner and he literally said NO. He said it will not work for me, he then went back in the computer typed some numbers and the monthly suddenly goes up to $600/mo for the loaner C300. He turns the screen to me and says “see what I mean” I just walked out at that point. 8:30pm… with no deal whatsoever…
Don’t take this the wrong way but if you need 48 months to burn off 3,900 of negative equity have you though about some cheaper brands?
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This.
If you have one more yr of the extended warranty, can you just drive the car for one more yr, put the $445/mo into paying down your loan, and then sell the car the day b/f the extended warranty expires?
Or drive it 2 more yrs (chancing that something might go wrong) and pay off your loan entirely and then start fresh?
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Could be an option, I’m just not familiar with this whole negative equity thing in all honesty. $3,900 is really not a lot. I have plenty of income to overcome that. I did not chose 48 months on the lease either… the sales man and manager kept telling me I need to do 48 months and that 36 months would not work for me this is why I feel they were opportunistic of the whole situation and tried to take advantage of me.
The dealer is totally playing you. Regardless of what car you end up getting, do NOT work w/ this dealer.
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Yeah, the dealer is trying to get you into 48 months because the monthly payments will be lower and more likely satisfy your payment requirements. But you’re just falling for the dealer trick by focusing on the monthly payment. 48 months you’re paying for more depreciation and you’ll be out of warranty the last year (I believe). Like others have said, don’t go for more than 36 months.
+1!
You are covered under warranty, so keep driving it and pay as much as you can each month in the meantime. Negative equity only muddies deals. When you have paid enough to break even and sell to vroom/carvana, do that and start fresh.
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Thank you, exactly what I thought. My plan is to get rid of the negative equity and close that gap a bit more to break even. Hopefully by November or December I will aim for a C300 Brilliant Blue AMG package etc. I’m sure there will be better deals as from what I know. End of December is the best time to lease. I’ll drive the 13’ C250 for now and let it live for the rest of the warranty period, it’s been a healthy car in all honesty.
Your C250 is a 2013 and has 84,000 miles. That’s about 16,000 a year.
Your proposed lease almost surely doesn’t allow for 16K a year, so check the numbers on a lease that actually meets your mileage requirements. It will be even uglier with that mileage allowance.
Leasing may not make sense for you given your needs, unless you can cut them back pretty far.
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On the other hand, the majority of his C250’s depreciation has already occurred. The latter years of a car’s life are where it depreciates the slowest unless you blow it up. So it may make a lot more sense to wait another year or two until he breaks even on it.
Either way, @RL84, it makes no sense to pick up a MY19 C300 when you can grab a MY18 for way cheaper. And please find another dealer cause this one isn’t going to do you any favors.
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I have not mentioned, I originally bought the car CPO with 61,000 miles on the clock from a Mercedes Benz dealer + extended warranty. March 2017. I have added 23,000 miles to it.
I do not drive long distances, my office is 5 miles on and 5 miles back, I am an independent contractor with my own business under my umbrella Corp. so leasing would benefit me in terms of taxes and I also just found out I qualify for fleet as well. I do not see the C250 helping me out in the long run… currently I’m driving about 11,500 miles per year. Service A-service b was exactly 10k miles August to August 2018.
I think personally for me a lease would work in my favor as long as I come out with a clean deal…
From experience it seems like 100k or close to it really hurts the resale on a car, especially a european car.
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Based on my own experience and what I’ve seen here, not necessarily (I was in the market and early Dec and couldn’t get a lot of dealerships to return my e-mails). I would recommend you start looking latter half of the year (like, in the summer).
By that point, you might even find some 2019 C300 loaners (although perhaps not w/ the exact options you want).
AND DON’T SPEND 8 HOURS AT A DEALERSHIP!!! Honestly, w/ the income you might’ve lost from that time, you could work w/ a broker.
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Holy cow!!! 1hr 45 to dealership, 1 hr 45 back = 3.5 hrs total round trip, 11 am to 8:30 pm is 9.5 hours, so total time spent = 13 hrs!!! Did they feed you?
And I am pretty sure that loaner
a) had scratches
b) was involved in a prior accident
You are right, I have a decent offer on a 2018 C300 amg line loaner 2k miles nicely packaged initial MSRP was 47k. They brought it down to 40k,
Current offer is 36mo/10k miles
DAS: $1,500
Monthly is $499 flat including taxes and the negative equity from the C250.
I think I will pull the trigger on this one… given the situation with the current C250. Doesn’t seem bad. Overall I will pay $19,464 for the entire term I want to ask them to throw in pre paid maintenance in there as well.
Hi there,
This 1500 drive off with 445 monthly including tax is a great deal. Which dealership did you go to?