Signed: 2024 Eqs 450+ sedan. $498 a month 499 DAS Texas with $4608 trade equity

Signed: 2024 Mercedes-Benz EQS 450+ Sedan - $498/month - $499 DAS - Texas

Long post for context

MSRP: $116,315

Incentives and Discounts:

• MB lease cash Savings: $13,500

• Reignite loyalty: $5,000

• Total Dealer Savings: $16,829

Final Sale Price: $80,986

Trade-In Value: $41,463.20 (2021 BMW M340i lease)

Trade Payoff: $39,522.80

Equity Applied: $1,940.40

Taxes and Fees:

• Sales Tax (Estimate): $2,484.24

• Dealer Doc Fee: $225.00

• Title Fee: $33.00

• License Fee: $117.75

• Misc Fees (Inspection, Deputy, etc.): $200.93

Residual Value: 58%

Lease Terms: 24 months / 10k miles per year

Monthly Payment: $498 (tax included and tax credit)

Due at Signing: $499

The Deal Breakdown

I was in the market for a large suv or sedan and was seeing solid EV incentives so I focused my attention to the I7, EQS suv and sedan. I ended up securing an EQS 450+ sedan deal that I’m honestly very happy with. My trade was a BMW M340i lease, and while I’m a diehard BMW fanboy, I was ready to move on. Most dealers were either lowballing me or offering minimal equity ($2-3k at best). I wasn’t mad at the trade value here, though—I feel like the number made sense, and I cashed it in at a value I was comfortable with.

What’s crazy is that the sister store to this dealer tried to sell me the same car for more than double the payment. A few days later, they shipped it over to the dealer I worked with, and I ended up getting it for less than half the price they originally quoted me. Persistence really pays off in this game.

I also looked at a BMW i7 during the process—at $135k MSRP, I had an offer for $799 drive-and-sign or $693 with my trade-in. Solid car, but I couldn’t justify the jump when the EQS incentives were this strong.

Why This Deal Made Sense

  1. High Residual Value: The 58% residual made a 2-year lease a no-brainer. Short term, low payments, and I’ll reevaluate when the market shifts.

  2. Free Charging: Two years of free charging was a nice bonus—it definitely factored into my decision.

  3. Incentives Stacking: Lease cash brought in $13,500, plus I tacked on another $500 through a random fleet/affinity discount (shoutout to the National Association of Realtors for that one).

  4. Texas Tax Credit: Still in play, and it helped reduce my costs even further.

  5. Tech and Screen: While I’m a BMW fan at heart, the tech in this Benz is unreal. The huge screen, the features—it’s on another level. I’m really impressed by it.

Comparisons and Alternatives

Initially, I leaned toward the EQS SUV, but the sedan incentives were way better. The SUV deal was $690/month with my trade-in, but it sold on Christmas Eve, so that option was off the table. The BMW i7 was tempting, but the price difference didn’t feel worth it at $799 drive-and-sign (or $693 with my trade).

Final Thoughts and Tips

• Stick to Your Guns: Dealers will throw out insane numbers, but patience and walking away work.

• Incentives Are Key: Ask about loyalty, fleet, affinity—some dealers are surprisingly lenient and don’t even verify.one dealer gave me affinity for NRA instead of NAR so I knew at that point they didn’t care to check my f you qualified and just gave you any incentive they could get their hands on. Ideally I should have broken the deal with more details than the autonation offer sheet because there seemed to be some inconsistencies in the math Like money factor and taxes and I think I might be missing 500 from the affinity incentive.

• Short Leases Win: High residuals and short terms make these luxury EV leases incredibly affordable.

As a BMW guy, the Benz tech really impressed me. The hyperscreen alone makes you feel like you’re driving something futuristic.

I’m thrilled with the deal and the car. For $498/month and $499 DAS, it’s hard to beat this level of luxury and technology in an EV. Hopefully, this post helps anyone else hunting for an EQS or similar deal! Let me know your thoughts or if you have questions! I know right now in Texas there are tax credits and the incentive is even greater this month and this car should be doable at low 400s with buy rate. I did try negotiating similar priced vehicles around Texas in Boerne and Plano and even with the offer sheet they said they couldn’t touch the deal. Who knows maybe January will change their mind. I finalized my deal the 30th of December and signed on the 31st for reference.

Side note: This car is huge. The i7 was bigger and this barely fits in my garage.

I’ll post the calculator later and will post in signed with my contract in the next day or so.

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Congrats! One word of warning: keep tires properly inflated and keep an eye on the tread, the EQS chew up tires and you will probably need to replace them at least once. Rotate regularly if not staggered.

Thank you for the heads up. I have a two year lease so I’m hoping I can get away with the original tires. My three year leases usually needed tires and I’ve been lucky to have equity in all of them except my 540 which I did get dinged for the rear tires. No a fan of how Bmw makes you have matching tires and only allows you to use star tires. Fingers crossed I won’t have issue with this car.

You definitely WILL NOT make it to your 20k lease allowance with the originals. Mine were shot at 15k and most others on here are experiencing the same.

Congrats on your deal though!

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A post was merged into an existing topic: Off-Topic Landfill 6

FYI just because you get away with it at the dealership does not mean they will not follow up about it later. This happened to me when I leased my EQS. Got a call ~2 weeks later asking for verification. I was in fact a member of the organization I said I was, so it was no problem for me to produce it, but not sure what would have happened if I didn’t.

Was the trade value in line with other offers or did they juice it?

i7 is no different. I replaced the stock summers with some nice fat high rating all seasons.

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sad we don’t get these in SoCal - congrats doe!

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Oh wow that’s crazy I was pretty positive I’d survive but I appreciate the feedback on the tire situation.

You should update your title to include your equity as DAS. It doesn’t just disappear into thin air, and without it, your monthly would be higher.

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That’s why I said “at least once”

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Interesting, yes I was lucky provided them my form but the way I saw some dealers handling it and writing nonsense in the quote sheet and just making up affinity discounts and calling it whatever they felt like made me curious how stringent the captives are.

I had offers from 100 over my payoff to the 40500. This last dealer gave me more and my payoff had changed since my initial negotiations due to my monthly payment kicking in, thus making more equity in the trade process. I did ask for cash and tried to work the deal separately but the wouldn’t honor the trade in price for a cash check to me. I think I could have pushed for it but I think this was a learning experience for me as well…

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This can actually be a tactic. They put the incentive down knowing you don’t qualify but that it will reduce the offer price. When you walk in to F&I, they ask for you to verify it. “I can’t,” you say." “Oh, sorry, price has to go up then.”

They tried to do this with me for an incentive that I was explicit with them that I did NOT qualify for and should not be part of my deal.

They just want you to be happy with the price so they get you to the dealership. Once you’re there they don’t really care if you get the incentive or not and they figure you won’t leave at that point.

Feel free to report here over the summer

I noticed this happen at some non luxury dealers I was cross shopping due to my need for a three row electric suv. :joy:

Feel free to report here over the summer

Will do. Glad I have a spot to relay my data. My dealer finance guy did mention the brake wear being bad in these heavy cars and to get lease protection or the brake replacement package. It was 20 bucks more a month but decided against it in the end.

Not if you’re using regen like you should…

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Can you explain? I didn’t get the full best use of regen and heads up at delivery due to my time crunch.