Due to some unfortunate planning, we realized too late that my wife’s X3 was too small for 3 car seats and need to replace one of our cars with something a little bigger. I think mine is the least-bad to get out of, so I’m trying to see what kind of cash I’d have to lay out to get out of this one.
Details:
MSRP: $61,095
Payment: $778/month + tax
Months left: 17 / 42
Current miles: 12,500
Allowed miles: 35,000
Miles remaining: 22,500 (1,323 per month)
Transfer fee: I will cover the $595 transfer fee
Incentive: Make me an offer. I know this isn’t a great deal by LH standards, so I know I’m going to have to offer some cash.
Condition:
Fairly low miles. I just completed the Service B, which is the expensive one.
In 2016, it was hit by a shopping cart in a storm and the front left headlight was cracked. Unfortunately, water got in and shorted out the electrical, which made it so I had to replace the entire headlight assembly. This work was done at a Mercedes dealer and I have paperwork for it. No other damage, cosmetic or otherwise, occurred.
There is also a small rock chip on the windshield.
The tires are in good shape and everything else on the car is in great shape. Garage-kept and no pets in it, kids in it very rarely.
For reference, I just got a first-pass quote at $1,389 DAS and $605 / month for 36 months 7.5k miles on a $59k 2019 C 43.
It doesn’t help your cause that a mild refresh happened for 2019. I’m speculating that for someone here to bite, you’d probably need to get payments to $650ish.
This car needs to be in the 500s to make any sense as a swap here. You probably recognize this was not a good deal so I won’t belabor that point but if you want to move it you should decide what incentive you are willing to offer and not wait for someone to pitch you.
Nope it will need to be in the $500s. In your case you’re dealing with the model refresh in a time when there is very light support. There are dozens of 1-2 yr old C43s up on swapalease that are at that price point. For local reference here is one from Utah -
The damage and rock chip is what makes this a little scary. But I think if you threw this on leasetrader at $650/mo someone would bite on it. It’s a nice car and doesn’t ever come in at 1%.
Thanks everyone for the feedback so far. Definitely understand this is going to be a little painful for me and I’ll probably have to end up putting it on leasetrader, but the feedback here has been really helpful.
A few questions:
Is it worth replacing the windshield since it has a rock chip? If that is costing me more than $1,000 in the lease transfer, then I guess so? Kind of bummed, because this happened like a week ago. Not my month!
Is the headlight repair scaring people off? I definitely need to disclose something like that, but I didn’t realize it would be such a big issue, given that there was no body damage and it was fully repaired with OEM parts at a Mercedes facility. Such a shame - I always park further out in parking lots to avoid damage, but had I parked around more cars in this case, I probably wouldn’t have been the car eating a shopping cart
I thought maybe this car would be easier to unload than my wife’s X3 since she has more miles on hers than I do, but maybe it is worth thinking about hers more (I’d much rather keep this car anyway).
The rock chip is interesting to me. In MA, insurance covers glass 100% with no deductible and it doesn’t affect your premiums. Not sure what other states are like that, but for what it’s worth, it would not hinder my decision.
Same here. I pay $100 for a windshield through insurance, so I’d take it and claim that a few mos later, if even needed. The headlight is no issue whatsoever. No body damage and no carfax ding, I assume (you paid out of pocket, correct?) Not even necessary to disclose it, IMHO.
I think some folks are overlooking how many miles are left. Are these other comparables up for grabs offering the equivalent of 16k/yr? Nope. Personally, I think $600 would be VERY attractive on this with those miles. I’d probably push for $620 first. It is not like you are in a rush.
Couldn’t agree with you guys more. I believe people are willing to pay more for a short term lease. Example-some people in sales may be getting a solid bonus this time of year. If responsible, they know that not every year is a great year, so to pickup something short term until they see how 2019 pans out is much less risky.
I believe those who do not think that way are what leads to a lot of the lease swap offers we see on SAL. I have no statistics to support that. Just my 2 cents.
I’ve have never understood any premium for a short term lease, you are on the hook for disposition, lease inspection and turn in. I’d rather be the first leaser in most cases. If you get a good deal you will have no problem swapping out your lease whenever you want (assuming it’s transferable without strings attached).
I’ve returned numerous Mercedes and BMW in FL, many times with chipped or even starrred windshields, last BMW had a chip and a star, they never even mentioned it.
The light is only a issue if you return it damaged, since it’s been repaired, it’s absolutely NOT an issue.
The damage is only mildly concerning. If you have all the repair receipts I think that alleviates a lot of that concern. I don’t think you’ll totally lose your shirt on this transfer. The only caveat is whether you can find someone willing to travel to Utah in the middle of winter
