Hi everyone. I’ve never leased a car before. I tried using the calculator but I got really confused. Can you please help me? I’m attaching a screen shot of the quote they gave me. Thank you!
It’s a loaner. In California. 2021 Mercedes e350. With 1600 miles or so. 10,000 miles/36 months.
Original MSRP: 55,925.
Sale price: 48,690.
Down payment: 5,000.
MSD: 5,200.
Monthly Payment: 455 (after taxes)
I’m torn between encouraging people to understand leasing better and being candid about how this is the worst time to lease in probably the entire history of leases.
Helping someone do something nice for their mom (thanks moms!) on this upcoming Hallmark Holiday, and screaming about a straw purchase.
Also
Mom probably shouldn’t be your space monkey on this particular personal finance achievement.
I just googled straw purchase and space monkey. I thought I could lease it for her and she would get the insurance on it. Or like I could add her to the lease if that’s possible. I guess I’m in over my head here.
Thanks for replying. I would like to just buy it for her, but I can’t afford to, so I figured I would try to lease it because I could afford the monthly payments.
That would more or less work, what he’s saying is that if you haven’t leased before it might be best to not use your mother as a first time experiment.
That being said, it is quite possibly the worst time in recent memory to lease a car, what you have here is a pretty much stone cold base model loaner Mercedes with none of the optional fittings that make it truly worth being called a E Class and you’re effectively paying $600/mo for it.
In my opinion you’d be better off taking her on a nice dinner and promising her a new car whenever things settle down (at least two months from now if not more)
As a reference…this is what one of the SoCal brokers has:
Thanks Afnan. I also calculated it being effectively $600 a month. My mom wouldn’t really care about options. I just have always wanted to get her a Benz because it would make her happy/proud and she deserves it.
I understand you and max_g are saying that it’s the worst time ever to lease a car. So, like, normally it would be much cheaper than spending $600/month? Like at this moment in time, am I overpaying by more than 10% of what it would normally cost to lease a car?
Let me guess. You still live with your mom and will be doing most of the driving while mom will be doing the paying?
Is 9.99 the APR that’s being used to calculate the purchase payments?
If so, the MF on the lease payments must be really ugly.
Nobody can truly remember the before times but going back to last summer on this forum I see a couple E350s around $65k MSRP going for $400/mo+tax with about $1k down. So if the features don’t matter and the $200/mo doesn’t matter I’d say you’re about par for the course in the current climate. I’ve seen more cars sell for sticker price in the last couple weeks than I have in all my years in the industry so take that as you will.
Thanks. So these are considered good deals?
So for the E350 on this spreadsheet it’s 2500 down, plus MSD, and then the payment is 549.
And the quote I got, I’m doubling the downpayment, so 5000 down, plus MSD, and the payment is 455.
Is that good/normal, or am I paying too much? BTW, I asked a broker and he said he could not get something that low (the 455/month payment).
I know I must sound ignorant to you experts, but just trying to figure it out. Thanks.
The whole point of this forum is to help folks new to leasing figure things out. You might get some harsh comments initially, but everyone means well. As long as you’re ready to invest some time into doing actual research than getting spoon-fed, you’ll feel welcomed and get good advice along the way that will save you $$$.
I asked the sales person for a breakdown of the fees and the money factor. She hasn’t replied yet, but I will post as soon as she tells me.
Id also point out that putting money down is always a bad idea on a lease. If im reading this right, you’re doing $5k down plus $5200 in MSDs, for $10,200 (plus other fees/etc) in drive offs? at that point why not just buy the car…
The fees are pretty straightforward, but definitely check Edmunds for incentives and base MF.
PS: Few things scream “I love you, Mom” louder than Phantom Footprint. 
PPS: For Mother’s Day I’m doing a one-pay on lunch at Island Prime.
Close to double… a barebones e350 loaner is like a $350 car in the good times.
Your numbers don’t look horrible but as others have said…don’t put money down on a lease. Also, don’t forget that the vehicle you have numbers for is a loaner.
Talking numbers with the dealer is for finding someone to do your deal, not for asking them how much they want you to pay.
We always recommend the following method before you ever contact a dealership. If you do all of the work up front, you’ll have a stress free dealer experience and set yourself for success.
With a target price determined, you now have a deal to pursue and compare dealer offers against. More importantly, you have a solid foundation to work from.
With any lease, you need to look at the total cost for the duration of the lease…all your drive offs/down payments plus monthlies plus tax. Divide it by the number of months you’re leasing for. That’s your minimum. You’ll also have maintenance (depending on car), disposition fee (MB used to charge $595…still the same?), state registration, tires (probably), gas (premium!) and excess wear and tear/damage. Car washes/detailing too.
Plus insurance, which will be higher than on an older car, and you’ll need certain coverage that you may be able to pass on if you owned outright - but that’s an entirely different discussion.
So, if you’re lease payment averages to $600, and it’s a Benz, you’re probably going to be spending well north of $1000/month for the car.
Just something to chew over…it’s not just the monthly payment…everything goes up when you buy a luxury car.
