November 29, 2010

The Government Will Help You Buy a Mercedes

Did you know that Uncle Sam will help you buy a Mercedes?    Its true.   But it has to be a certain diesel model.  There are federal tax credits for lean burn diesel cars.  

2007 Merccedes E350
If you prefer you could also go for a BMW or an Audi with government subsidies.   I guess if you want to slum it you could buy a VW.   Turns out that most of the diesel's on the road in the US are from European car makers.   Diesel has been more popular in Europe than the US so theres more diesels offered by the European manufacturers.     The point of the incentive is to help put more fuel efficient cars on the road and these diesel models are have significantly higher MPG than the equivalent gasoline engine versions.   Its really no different than the tax credits available to hybrid cars.   (You can get a tax credit for a hybrid Mercedes too).

Here is a sample of the cars that the government will help you buy:

2011 Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTEC = $1,550
2010–11 Mercedes-Benz GL 350 BlueTEC = $1,800
2010–11 Mercedes-Benz R 350 BlueTEC  = $1,550

Unfortunately thats all the money you can get from the federal treasury.  You'll have to find the other $50,000 - $60,000 on your own.   If you don't have $50,000 lying around you could always go for a VW Golf TDI which qualifies for $850 credit and has a sticker price of $22,810.   The VW Golf TDI gets 30 MPG city / 41 MPG highway.


Photo by Stradablog.  It is 2007 E350 non-diesel which does not qualify for a tax credit shown for illustration purposes.

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