Mercedes HP for 1.5% APR!

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

hawk20

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 15, 2006
Messages
4,344
Location
Lymington, Hampshire
Car
ML250 BlueTEC Sport Jan 2013
Interesting offers on the MB website. Surprising to see the new E class already being offered on PCP deals (MB call them Agility). Put £4,500 down and under £400 per month over 3 years.

What also caught my eye, as I've not seen MB offering this before is really heavily subsidised H.P. deals at an amazing 1.5%! These are on the B class, CLS, ML and R class models.

Recessions certainly bring out the deals.:)
 
Yes but less and less folk are able to take advantage of these deals. Great for the few who can buy but MB would probably like to sell more cars each with a greater unit costs. Nice for us, not so good for them, and they'll reflect this with cost cutting to achieve the same level of profit.
 
Yes the recession has been really tough on car makers and buyers alike. However those who remain in work and have had mortgage payments greatly reduced have more disposable income than ever before. Odd how uneven the effects of slumps are.

Did you ever think you'd see MB offer a 1.5% HP deal though?
 
Interesting offers on the MB website. Surprising to see the new E class already being offered on PCP deals (MB call them Agility). Put £4,500 down and under £400 per month over 3 years.

Not sure why you're surprised - many people buy using PCPs now, so it would be remiss of them not to offer PCP.

That deal would cost £20K over 3yrs though - a lot of money to run a pretty basic car, and new E Class really hasn't had a great showing in road tests. Auto Express just tested both saloon and coupe - Jag XF beat the saloon and Audi A5 beat the coupe.

:)

Did you ever think you'd see MB offer a 1.5% HP deal though?

Look at the whole deal. "1.5%" is meaningless if the cars are wrongly priced in the first place.
 
Last edited:
Look at the whole deal. "1.5%" is meaningless if the cars are wrongly priced in the first place.

New E Class really hasn't had a great showing in road tests. Auto Express just tested both saloon and coupe - Jag XF beat the saloon and Audi A5 beat the coupe.

You're right. They are priced way too cheaply for such good cars and will have to have the prices increased unless the pound recovers.

As for reviews depends which ones you read, of course.
 
you're right. They are priced way too cheaply for such good cars and will have to have the prices increased unless the pound recovers.

ok.
 
Not sure why you're surprised - many people buy using PCPs now, so it would be remiss of them not to offer PCP.

That deal would cost £20K over 3yrs though - a lot of money to run a pretty basic car, and new E Class really hasn't had a great showing in road tests. Auto Express just tested both saloon and coupe - Jag XF beat the saloon and Audi A5 beat the coupe.



Look at the whole deal. "1.5%" is meaningless if the cars are wrongly priced in the first place.



Didn`t the XF come 85th for reliability in the Auto Express annual drivers survey?

Regards
 
Did you check where Mercedes E Class comes?
Yes I did. A lot better than the Jag, And close around some Hondas and other Japanese products.

And in other tests the E has come out very well indeed.

I thought you were a great fan of HP rather than PCP's and would be pleased to see their return in the MB offers?
 
Yes I did. A lot better than the Jag, And close around some Hondas and other Japanese products.
I don't think so. It was 58th in the 2008 survey.
And in other tests the E has come out very well indeed.
Any links?
I thought you were a great fan of HP rather than PCP's and would be pleased to see their return in the MB offers?
I'm a great fan of paying cash and I don't like deals, such as MB typically offer, which subsidise HP and PCP to the extent that you're penalised for paying cash. We both know perfectly well why they do it and it stinks.
 
I'm a great fan of paying cash and I don't like deals, such as MB typically offer, which subsidise HP and PCP to the extent that you're penalised for paying cash. We both know perfectly well why they do it and it stinks.

Nice to pay cash for those lucky enough to be able to buy new with cash. But most people cannot afford that. So MB offer good deals to help people to buy their cars. (just like all other car makers do). Because they are in the business of selling cars and that involves finding finance packages that suit peoples needs.

Links on E class reliability I have posted often. See also JD Power and the AutoExpress for 2009.
 
So MB offer good deals to help people to buy their cars.
...by using the money from people who wish to pay cash to subsidise those who buy on credit. It's ridiculous for all sorts of reasons.

I know other manufacturers do it too, but it's not on. It's illegal to charge more for credit but bizzarely it seems to be perfectly legal to charge more for cash.

We walked away from a Toyota Yaris purchase for our daughter as 2 dealers both wanted us to take the finance and then immediately terminate it in order to get a discount. But it got messy as they wouldn't approve finance in (student) daughter's name so we walked away and Toyota lost a sale.
 
Not sure why you're surprised - many people buy using PCPs now, so it would be remiss of them not to offer PCP.

That deal would cost £20K over 3yrs though - a lot of money to run a pretty basic car, and new E Class really hasn't had a great showing in road tests. Auto Express just tested both saloon and coupe - Jag XF beat the saloon and Audi A5 beat the coupe.



Look at the whole deal. "1.5%" is meaningless if the cars are wrongly priced in the first place.

Just because the car is being bought on credit doesn't mean you don't haggle. The principle (i.e. cost of the car) is still up for debate and if you don't like the price of the car, haggle or buy something else.

1.5% APR is unbelievably low, lower than the PCP rate and I suspect (after some consideration) that MB want to go this route is that they don't want to be handed back cars 2 years time worth less than a GMFV. A good HP deal removes the risk of "undue and unforseen" depreciation onto the customer and away from MB as the customer will opt for this rather than the riskier (to MB) PCP option.

So Mr Hawk, a good deal but if your the sort of person who likes a PCP with a high GMFV to make budgeting easier, monthly outgoings low, you may not have this for longer if MB take the view its better to offer HP with a low rate so you foot the depreciation bill, not them.

To be honest, with folk losing jobs and nowt being very secure I'd feel easier with the car being 100% mine from day one. Mortgage interest has come down, but interest rates may go up sharply, and inflation hasn't just gone away either so a shrewder person would be putting aside funds to cover the increase in bills, not a shiny new MB.

Cracking deal for someone who is very secure, but alas not for me as my job could go tomorrow :(
 
To be honest, with folk losing jobs and nowt being very secure I'd feel easier with the car being 100% mine from day one.

Exactly my thought. I know it's not always the best way of acquiring the use of a car, but the whole thing is cut and dried if you plonk the money down and the car is yours.

But it's galling that the prices are held artificially high for cash purchasers while people buying on credit are often given hefty incentives.
 
Exactly my thought. I know it's not always the best way of acquiring the use of a car, but the whole thing is cut and dried if you plonk the money down and the car is yours.

But it's galling that the prices are held artificially high for cash purchasers while people buying on credit are often given hefty incentives.

For the sake of your sanity, don't go looking for a new sofa at DFS. :D

I tried to argue that I should have a discount as I didn't want to use their generous 'pay nothing for a year and 0% interest thereafter'
The assistant claimed that the finance company allowed them 0% with no subsidy to pay because they gave the finance company so much business!

I still laugh at that one, clever old finance company - we can lend loads of money if it's free - looks great on our books - who needs profit? Turnover is where it's at.

I didn't buy there in the end and negotiated a big discount on some Italian leather sofas from a local trader.
 
I think there are crossed lines here.

The complication with giving a discount for a 'cash sale' is to ensure that interest free credit, really is interest free. Offering a discount for cash which is not offered for credit of course corrupts this.

I've never bought a car on 'finance', PCP, or HP supplied through the vendor - however the principle must surely be the same as buying a car by other forms of funding:

1. Negotiate on price for vehicle; and then
2. Negotiate on price for finance?
 
I tried to argue that I should have a discount as I didn't want to use their generous 'pay nothing for a year and 0% interest thereafter'
The assistant claimed that the finance company allowed them 0% with no subsidy to pay because they gave the finance company so much business!
I managed to get a decent discount on a kitchen from Homebase but only if I signed up and bought it on the store card with 6 months interest free credit.

A great deal if you remember to pay it off on time! Penalties if you're early and 6 months of interest to pay on the 7th month statement if you're late (at about 30% on £3k!). I saved hard and had the cash ready to pay them about a month before the deadline but it took about 3 weeks to get it to them and receive confirmation that the balance had been zero'd. A highly stressful experience but ultimately it paid off and I got my kitchen for a few quid less about 6 months earlier than I would ordinarily have been able to afford.

Only recommended if you KNOW you will be able to clear the balance and will remember to do so! Same goes for car finance in many respects.
 
The law is one of the problems here. there was a major court case which went up high in the legal system and it was ruled that you could not claim 0% interest and give a discount for cash as that would imply a charge for the 0% interest. Daft ruling but it is the law.

The other factor with 0% deals like computer and sofa firms offer, and others, is that the finance companies actually pay them a kickback for signing people up to these deals. Seems ridiculous but the reason is that so many miss a payment and then get the default interest of 29.9% or something similar. Ask if you can make the payments by direct debit and often they say no. You must remember to send the first payment. By giving you 12 months with no payments in many cases, they help you forget to do that.

As for paying cash becuase it is so much less risky, I love the amazing belief that that is an option for many. Buying a car is impossible for many, like buying a house, without some kind of finance. And for many it is sensible to borrow to get a reasonable car, as in many areas the car is the only way to get to work.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom