Work For A Large Company? Lease a $58K E-Class For $425/Month, $0 Down (Mercedes Fleet Employee Program) (Expired)
December 17, 2015 Update: We've been alerted that the FEP incentive cannot be combined with the Winter Event certificate. The article has been updated accordingly. As you'll see, the marginal benefit of the $3,500 FEP incentive is only $500, because there's currently a $3,000 Winter Event certificate on E-Class.
Source: mbusa.com (2016 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan)
Are you a doctor? A USAA or United MileagePlus Premier member? Do you work for a large company, such as Apple, Costco, or Starbucks? If so, you might qualify for an incentive under Mercedes-Benz's Fleet Employee Program (FEP).
How big is the incentive?
It ranges from $0 on a GLC-Class to $7,000 on the purchase of a B-Class Electric Drive. The incentive comes directly from Mercedes-Benz, so it does not eat into the dealer's profits.
| FEP Incentive Amount (Through January 4, 2016) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Model | 2016 | 2015 |
| C-Class Sedan | $2,000 | $2,750 |
| E-Class | $3,500 | N/A |
| S-Class Sedan | $4,000 | $5,500 |
| CLA-Class | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| C-Class Coupe | N/A | $2,500 |
| CLS-Class | $3,500 | $3,000 |
| S-Class Coupe | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| GLA-Class | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| GLK-Class | N/A | $2,500 |
| GLC-Class | N/A | N/A |
| M-Class | N/A | $2,500 |
| GLE-Class | $2,000 | N/A |
| GLE-Class Coupe | $1,000 | N/A |
| GL-Class | $2,000 | $2,000 |
| G-Class | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| SLK-Class | $2,000 | $2,500 |
| SL-Class | $3,000 | $3,500 |
| Mercedes-Maybach | $1,000 | N/A |
| B-Class Electric Drive | $3,000 | $3,500 ($7,000 if not leased) |
Who is eligible for the FEP incentive?
Eligibility is surprisingly broad; we know plenty of folks who qualify but didn't know when they leased their Mercedes. American Medical Association, USAA, and United MileagePlus Premier members qualify for the FEP incentive, as do employees of the following companies:
| # | L |
| 3M | Lam Research |
| A | Lease Plan |
| A A A | Liberty Mutual |
| A.P. Moller - Maersk Group | Loews Corporation (not the store or movie theater) |
| ADP | Lorillard Tobacco Company |
| Advanced Micro Devices | M |
| Alcon Labs | Marquardt Switches |
| Allianz Life Insurance Company | Mass Mutual Life Insurance |
| Allstate Insurance Company | Mattel Toys |
| Alstom Power | Medical Society of NJ |
| Altria Group | Merck & Co. |
| American Airlines | Met Life Auto & Home Insurance Company |
| American Bar Association | MGM Resorts International |
| American Credit Union | Michelin North America |
| American Dental Association | Microsoft Corporation |
| Amgen | Mission Foods |
| Apple | Morgan Stanley |
| ARAMARK Corporation | Motorola |
| ARI | Munich Reinsurance America |
| Astra Zeneca | N |
| B | Newell Rubbermaid |
| Bacardi USA | Nike, Inc. |
| Bank of America | Norfolk Southern |
| Benjamin Moore | Northrup Grumman |
| Bobit | Northwestern Mutual |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | Novartis Pharmaceuticals |
| Braintree Labs | Novo Nordisk, Inc. |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | O |
| Brown-Forman | Omnicom Group |
| Burlington Northern Santa Fe RR | Oracle Corporation |
| C | P |
| Cablevision | Par Pharma (Strativa) |
| Callaway Golf Company | Paramount Pictures |
| CBS Broadcasting | Parker-Hannifan |
| Chubb & Sons Group | Pearson Publishing |
| Cisco Systems | Pep Boys |
| Citigroup | Pepsico (does not include Pepsi Bottlers) |
| Citizens Financial Group | Pfizer |
| Cleveland Clinic Foundation | PHH Arval |
| Coca-Cola Company | Philips Electronics North America |
| Colgate-Palmolive | Polo Ralph Lauren |
| Compass Group USA Division | Praxair |
| Computer Sciences | PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited |
| Continental General Tire | Purdue Pharma |
| Corning | Q |
| Costco | Qiagen |
| Covidien | Qualcomm |
| Cox Enterprises | R |
| Crawford & Co | R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company |
| CRH North America | Raytheon |
| Crossmark | Resources Global Professionals |
| CSX Corporation | Ricoh Corp |
| Cumberland Farms, Inc. | Rollins, Inc. |
| Curtiss-Wright Corp. | RPM |
| CVS Caremark | S |
| D | S A P America |
| Del Monte Foods | S A S Institute |
| Dell | Saint Gobain |
| Deloitte & Touche | Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises |
| Delphi Corporation | Samson Investment |
| Delta Airlines | Sanofi-aventis |
| Deutsche Bank AG | Schering-Plough |
| Discount Tire Company | Scripps Health |
| Dow Chemical USA | Sempra Energy |
| E | Sherwin-Williams |
| EADS North America | Shire Pharmaceuticals |
| Eaton Corp | Siemens Corporation |
| Eisai, Inc. | SKF USA |
| EMC | Solvay Management Services |
| EMD Serono | Southern Wine & Spirits |
| Emerson | Southwest Airlines |
| Emkay | Southwest Airlines Credit Union |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals | Staples |
| Estee Lauder | Starbucks Corporation |
| ExxonMobil | State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance |
| F | State Street Corporation |
| Factory Mutual Insurance Group | Stiefel Laboratories |
| Farmer’s Insurance Group | STIHL, Inc. |
| Faurecia Holdings | Swisher International |
| Federal Express | Symrise |
| Festo Corporation | Syngenta |
| Fidelity National Financial | T |
| Fidelity Investments | T-Mobile USA |
| FOX News Channel | Takeda Pharmaceuticals |
| FPL Group | The Bank of New York Mellon Pershing |
| G | The Great A&P Tea Company |
| Geico | The Hearst Corporations |
| Genentech | The Irvine Company |
| General Electric | The Shaw Group |
| General Mills | The Sports Club |
| GlaxoSmithKline | Ticketmaster |
| Graceway Pharmaceuticals | Tishman Realty & Construction |
| GTech | TJX Companies |
| H | Tupperware Corp. |
| H.J. Heinz | Turner Construction / Logistics |
| Halliburton Company | Twentieth Century Fox |
| Hartford Financial Services | U |
| HD Supply | Unilever HPC USA |
| Hendrick Motorsports | United Technologies Corporation |
| Henkel Corporation | United Water |
| Hershey Food Corp. | University Hospitals |
| Hertz Corporation | University of Alabama System |
| Hewlett-Packard Company | UPS |
| Home Depot | V |
| Honeywell | Valleycrest Companies |
| Hubbell | Verizon |
| Hughes Telematics | W |
| I | Walt Disney Corporation |
| IBM | Waste Management |
| Ingersoll Rand | Weatherford International |
| Intel Corporation | Wegmans Food Markets |
| International Flavors & Fragrances | Weichert Realtors |
| International Paper | Wells Fargo / Wachovia |
| International Plant Services | Westinghouse |
| Inteva Products | Weyerhaeuser Company |
| inVentiv Health, Inc. | Wheels |
| J | W.L. Gore & Associates |
| J.D. Power and Associates | Wm. Wrigley Jr. |
| Jackson National Life | Wynn Las Vegas |
| Johnson & Johnson | X |
| Joy Global | Xerox |
| JPMorgan Chase | Y |
| K | Yahoo |
| King & Spalding | Z |
| Kraft Foods | Zurich Insurance Co. |
Prior to using the FEP incentive, you will need to obtain a Control Number and/or the corresponding program form. Incentives are non-transferrable.
How does it translate into deals?
Source: mbusa.com (2016 E250 BlueTEC sedan)
Take the E250 BlueTEC, for example, which has one of the highest residual values of any Mercedes-Benz. Assuming a sticker price of $58,205, we believe an excellent but realistic selling price is $49,000 (including the $3,000 Winter Event certificate).
If you qualify for FEP, you can swap the Winter Event certificate for the $3,500 FEP incentive (unfortunately, the two cannot be combined), further lowering the selling price to $48,500. Factor in the $795 acquisition fee, and the net capitalized cost becomes $49,295.
At 10,000 miles per year, the 24-month residual on E250 BlueTEC is 68% of MSRP, or $39,579. This results in a depreciation expense of $9,716, or $405 per month.
The money factor rate on the E250 BlueTEC is .00102 (2.5% APR); however multiple security deposits (MSDs) (10 of them) and auto-pay will lower the rate to .00022 (0.5% APR). At that rate, the monthly finance charge is $20 per month.
Add the monthly depreciation expense and the monthly finance charge, and you get the monthly lease payment: $425 per month.
Here's what you should expect when all is said and done. We've added in sales tax (assumed 8%), license/registration, and fees.
| 2016 E250 BlueTEC Sample Lease - Total Drive-Off | |
|---|---|
| First month's payment (after 8% tax) | $459 |
| DMV license/registration | $525 |
| Dealer document fee ($80 max. in CA) | $80 |
| Down payment | $0 |
| Refundable security deposit | $5,000 |
| TOTAL DUE AT SIGNING | $6,064 |
