Hi All,
In 2019, I was able to get a great deal on a Mercedes C Class. Since I have had the car, there have been two major accidents and now the lease is due to be turned in. I was just informed by my dealer that he won’t be “buying” the car back because of the accidents on the CarFax. What would my options be here? Am I able to sell the car back to any of the companies such as Vroom/Carvana etc? Thanks for any suggestions and help in advance
Did you get any Pricing from Carvana / Carmax?
2 Accidents is pretty bad especially if on carfax. You might have to ride the lease out and turn it in and walk away.
Why can’t you just ground it? Meaning bringing it back to the dealership and just return. They won’t buy it and will send it to auction on behalf of MB leasing.
BUT BEFORE doing that - order return lease inspection. It is done by 3rd party and free to you and covered by the leasing company
It should be done BEFORE grounding the car! I can’t street that enough.
I just got it priced from Caravana and their payoff is significantly less. I will end up owing $8,151 to MBFS. Am I liable for any charges I just turn the lease in? The accidents have been fixed, but they are on the carfax.
Got it. Is there a lease inspection company or website that I should look up? I am sorry, this was my first time experience with a car lease and now I am learning the ropes.
Nope, that’s the beauty of a lease.
As long as it’s in good working order, you are not responsible for the Dimished Value that an accident causes.
I think (I haven’t done one in a while) you need to call your leasing company and have them schedule your inspection.
Thank you! I will work with MBFS to help schedule an inspection. Does the inspection protect me any way even if I am going to ground the lease?
Appreciate your help!!!
Gives you a heads up on chargeable damages they might want fixed.
If you get another Benz, they waive disposition fees and $500 in damages (second was pre-covid I think that’s still in effect)
Even if the damages has been fixed through an authorized and recommended body shop of the dealer, I will still be liable for chargeable damages?
You are liable for anything else the inspector finds. Such as dings, scratches , rim rash. If properly repaired, he won’t find anything in the repaired areas
Makes sense. Thank you!
Inspections, while recommended by most car companies, are not required.In my experience they always end up costing you more at end of lease. If the car is in a generally good condition, I would drop the car at any Mercedes dealer at end of lease and call it a day. They will bill you for the disposition fee, ($595 I believe, not 100% sure) via mailed bill. You are not responsible for any depreciation the car has incurred due to accidents as long as the car was repaired and in good working order prior to return. What the dealer meant by saying they won’t be “buying the car back” is that the car has no equity and can not be used as a credit towards your next car.
Are you planning to lease/buy again? This is the more important question.
While you are correct, we’ve seen even here on LH enough stories when the car was dropped off without inspection and then surprise, surprise - billed for additional damages.
Had the inspection benefited the leasing company - it would have been required.
I’m looking to lease again, preferably. However as posted in the other thread, the deal isn’t pretty. MB deals from the feedback and research I’ve done seem awful. I’m looking to get into BMW lease and see if that’ll be cheaper. Paying the disposition and walking away from the car is still significantly cheaper than getting into a deal that is horrendous.
My dealer did say if I get into another Ben’s they will waive off the disposition. I’m not willing to do that in lieu of a bad deal.
My experience with all my past leased vehicles is that every time I had an inspection completed I was always billed more vs. dropping the car off without one.
Unfortunately these are the deals going around now for Benz vehicles. You have to decide how much you want to spend and what type of vehicle you need/want.
huh… first time I’ve met a person like that. 99% of stories I’ve heard the exact opposite.
In addition, my dealer did confirm, since they won’t be certifying the car and sending straight to auction, I have no choice but to get the lease inspected by MB by calling them.