Merecedes CLA Lease?

[Kratos-TM]

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@enharu wrote:
I don't think its a good deal to lease the CLA. Considering the monthly payments and down payment required, you can lease a more expensive car for that price.

For instance, I was just car shopping with a friend. Her scores are 750+ across the board with 3 previous auto loans and leases. No derogs on file. Mercedes gave her the best rate, 3000 down and a little more than 420+tax for a 36-37k CLA, 3 year lease.

On the other hand, she can get a IS250 with F package (42.6k MSRP) for 367/month, including tax, for 3000 down. 2 year lease.

Different cars, therefore different residual values, and thus a little unfair to compare them like this, but I don't think its a good deal to lease CLA. Buying it outright or financing it is a better deal IMO. It's basically 200+ more each month and you can literally own the car, though you are financing for 5 years based on that math.

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This is true for every car that is completely new to the market. They try to rape you on the leases to make money off of the "hype." Once the hype dies down, the lease rates come down to normal.

Never try to lease a car fresh on the market.

[youngandcreditwrthy]

Thanks for the info.
As previously mentioned, I do not plan to do it til prob next fall anyway.
My plan would be to do a 24-30 month CLA lease with 10k per year mileage. I own my current car, and I would keep it for work or whatev.
I certainly would not get tricked. Fwiw, I'd likely approach them with my numbers LOL and equally as important- I plan to MAKE SURE they do NOT have everybody and their mom check my credit. I'm not playing that game,
But plan would be:
1) get the shortest, cheapest lease possible 24 mos $300-400 per month- put $6k+ down to get a lower payment.
2) then if I like it at the end, go ahead and finance it for 3-4 years. I will not do a 5 year loan. I do not like installment loan debt; it just isn't as flexible imo.
I have a few friends who have bought their cars at the end of leases and the outcome was great!
Of course, by this time next year, I may be able to buy a CLA with 10 or 20k miles on it for $25k. Will just have to wait and see! No rush. I'm just planning and saving for it.

Question:
Have yall seen the $500 off a lease when you spend $5k on the Mercedes Amex?
What if I charged $5000 to the Benz Amex, could I do that and then get $500 off a lease?
Lol I'd PIF right away, but the bonus+ points could be worth it!!!

[youngandcreditwrthy]

It's worth mentioning that I dont want an Infiniti, BMW, or otherwise.
If I'm unecessarily buying a new car LOL Mercedes is what I want ;-)

[sccredit]

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@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
It's worth mentioning that I dont want an Infiniti, BMW, or otherwise.
If I'm unecessarily buying a new car LOL Mercedes is what I want ;-)

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To each their own.  What scares me about MBZ is their post-100k reliability.  I know a few people with them and each has their own horror story with a 100k+ MBZ.  I've seen the same with BMWs.   I used to have an Infiniti that I bought new and sold it with close to 200k and never did anything aside from oil changes, brakes and a timing belt. 

[enharu]

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@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
Thanks for the info.
As previously mentioned, I do not plan to do it til prob next fall anyway.
My plan would be to do a 24-30 month CLA lease with 10k per year mileage. I own my current car, and I would keep it for work or whatev.
I certainly would not get tricked. Fwiw, I'd likely approach them with my numbers LOL and equally as important- I plan to MAKE SURE they do NOT have everybody and their mom check my credit. I'm not playing that game,
But plan would be:
1) get the shortest, cheapest lease possible 24 mos $300-400 per month- put $6k+ down to get a lower payment.
2) then if I like it at the end, go ahead and finance it for 3-4 years. I will not do a 5 year loan. I do not like installment loan debt; it just isn't as flexible imo.
I have a few friends who have bought their cars at the end of leases and the outcome was great!
Of course, by this time next year, I may be able to buy a CLA with 10 or 20k miles on it for $25k. Will just have to wait and see! No rush. I'm just planning and saving for it.

Question:
Have yall seen the $500 off a lease when you spend $5k on the Mercedes Amex?
What if I charged $5000 to the Benz Amex, could I do that and then get $500 off a lease?
Lol I'd PIF right away, but the bonus+ points could be worth it!!!

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If you plan to do a lease-to-own, Mercedes is a very bad choice to be honest, simply because the numbers usually don't make any sense, especially when you compare it to other manufacturers. If you plan to eventually own it, just finance it right away. Since you plan to lease for 2 years and then take up a 4 year loan to finance the car, why not finance it for 4-6 years right off the bat? By doing a 2 year lease and then a 4 year finance, you're essentially doing a 6 year loan except you're paying more money than if you would just take up a 5-6 year loan from the start. The option you chose does make it easier on your wallet for the first 2 years though, so that may be what you need / want, but overall you're forking out more money at the end. There's no right/wrong. Just go with whichever works best for your budget.

Buying the car at the end of the leases can be good and bad. Some people fall in love with the car they drive, so there's an emotional attachment to it. Some people buy the car simply because the market value is higher than the residual value of the car, so it makes more sense to buy, and trade it in than to return the lease. It all depends on the vehicle and how the numbers work out.

So you are okay with a used vehicle as well? The numbers are very different if you want a used vehicle.

Have you test driven the CLA before? I test drove it 2 days ago and the car just seems weird. Just seems underpowered for some reason and the drive is very atypical Mercedes experience. Maybe it's just me though.

https://www304.americanexpress.com/personal-card-application/apply/jsp/includes/MercedesDualPage.jsp

If you are 100% going with a MB, get the Plat card.

It gives: 

• A $1000 certificate each year you charge $5,000 in purchases, good toward the future purchase or lease of a new Mercedes-Benz

The regular version gives $500, but the Plat gives $1000, which essentially covers the AF. It also gives you extra 2k miles, as opposed to just 1k, if you end up leasing.

Much better deal in my opinion.

I have seen the $1000 off lease / purchase when you spend 5k. After you spend 5k on your card, MBFS, not Amex, will send out the voucher. It does take about 1-2 months for the voucher to arrive in the mail, so plan ahead of time. The dealerships CANNOT give you the 500 / 1000 discount without the voucher. The discount voucher is on top of whatever discounts you have negotiated with the dealer about the vehicle. Some dealers may have included certain rebates in your discount negotiation, so that voucher may have already been included because they used a similar promo. Only then the 500 / 1000 discount will not apply. 

Don't know what you mean about your 2nd question. You essentially spend 5k on your card each year, and they send you a 500 / 1000 voucher that expires within 12 months. You can't charge 5k on the card for your MB, and then ask Amex for a 500 rebate. Doesn't work that way.

[enharu]

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@youngandcreditwrthy wrote:
It's worth mentioning that I dont want an Infiniti, BMW, or otherwise.
If I'm unecessarily buying a new car LOL Mercedes is what I want ;-)

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I don't think any of the german cars are something you want to stick with once it gets past 3-5 years old.

There's just too many issues with the car, which is why leasing is usually a better option for most people who wants a MB / Audi / BMW. 

I don't lease any of my cars though, simply because I like to mod my cars a little sometimes, may it be the rims, bumper, brakes, or whatever. I can't do that with a lease vehicle.

[youngandcreditwrthy]

Well, I own my pretty Blue Mustang! I've never leased any cars, but I would like to try it witha car like a CLA in the future.

[DenverVandal]

Have you driven a CLA yet? I was not impressed with it at all, you can tell they had to cut a lot of corners to get in at that price point. Handling is not that great, road noise is more than expected and it just looks a little wierd in person. When I read about them and saw the ads I thought for sure this would be a car I would want to buy.

Like others have said, Benzs are ok to lease but I would never own one for more than 3 years. I am with you in that I am not a fan of the C class, however RWD is where it's at. My 300C has Mercedes traction control in it and that is one thing they do have figured out for sure! 

[enharu]

The new C class that is slated to be introduced sometime next year looks very nice. However, the MSRP is slated to go up by a couple thousand. It seems as if part of the reason CLA is introduced is just so they can jack up the C class' price. Then again, this isn't out of the ordinary. BMW have done the same in raising the MSRP for their vehicles, and other manufacturers are somewhat doing the same thing by introducing "dumbed down" versions or just cheaper alternatives.