Why are mercs so cheap to lease?

[Tiggsy]

Was looking at an slk on lease, wife not keen on it though so w checked out a few other options... TT,z4,gt86,etc......but they are all loads more to lease??

In fact, we may end up with an E class convertible as that is cheaper than the others mentioned? How come?

[LHD]

Huge discounts and massive residual values.

[Tiggsy]

More so than the other Herman stuff? E class convertible less than a z4!

[fjord]

Dont make the mistake i did and accidently look at business contract pricing

[wemorgan]

Large subsidy so MB can gain market share..

Mercedes having good residuals is something of the past.

[Alucidnation]

I know someone who has just leased an estate because of the good deals.

Its been back to the dealers for various issues many times, with the latest one being the auto folding mirrors that wind themselves back against the bodywork when its un locked.

[Super Slo Mo]

Don't Mercedes leasing charge a fortune on hand-back, for even the tiniest of scratches, stuff that should be covered under the BVRLA fair wear and tear guidelines?

[L1OFF]

Super Slo Mo said:

Don't Mercedes leasing charge a fortune on hand-back, for even the tiniest of scratches, stuff that should be covered under the BVRLA fair wear and tear guidelines?

I had to pay £350 excess mileage charge on completion of my 36 month E220 lease deal. Couple of car park dings were not an issue.

[wemorgan]

Super Slo Mo said:

Don't Mercedes leasing charge a fortune on hand-back, for even the tiniest of scratches, stuff that should be covered under the BVRLA fair wear and tear guidelines?

Fair wear and tear are clearly defined: http://tools.mercedes-benz.co.uk/current/passenger...

[GSP]

Mercedes wear and tear policy is a strange one.

We lease a lot of Mercedes at work, they charge £75 per lightly kerbed wheel for example... And worse.

I agree this is probably how they make some money though as they often try to charge a fortune on hand back.

[Andy665]

Mercedes are chasing volume for a long time now and are prepared to subsidy deals in order to achieve it, some of the support money available to dealers is frightening - 16k on a 61k S350 CDi is just one example

[wemorgan]

This is why for all lease deals it's worth inspecting the vehicle yourself a month before hand-over and getting the repairs done beforehand.

[pb1695]

There are some cheap monthly payments being advertised, as always though check the full terms - a typical offer at the moment for an E250 Sport auto is £249 per month. There is however an initial payment of £7058, which when added to the term makes the monthly payments equivalent to £445.06 - not so cheap.

Also the mileage is restricted to 10k p/a and there are £180 acceptance fee's and a £950 purchase activation fee if you want to keep the car at the end.

For business users, there are deals of around £255.00 per month, with a larger initial payment of £1530. All are plus VAT, of which many businesses may be able to reclaim 50% back. The actual monthly payment is equivalent to £290.00 + VAT / £348 including. This is relatively cheap but again is limited to 10k p/a and you will need to add the cost of any extra's to the lease - the car is a base model with Auto E200.

Even with the added payments etc, the lease deals, if you are a relatively low mileage driver, are likely to be cheaper than outright purchase.

[tim0409]

wemorgan said:

This is why for all lease deals it's worth inspecting the vehicle yourself a month before hand-over and getting the repairs done beforehand.

I did exactly that when I was handing back a Smart car and had the work done to a high standard, but still they tried to charge me for "poor previous" and spurious damage. One of the "scratches" (which wasen't detailed on the return sheet) was photographed with a marker pen to highlight were it was which meant you couldn't actually see it in the picture. After a few letters, I finally told them I would argue it in court and I never heard fom them again.