Early exit of mercedes benz lease

I have two MB lease for commute usage, due to COVID, I only drive 200 miles per month. I would like to get rid of the lease, however MB suspended lease transfer, and there is no timeline to resume lease transfer. So I am looking for suggestions.

  1. MB 2018 GLE 350, monthly payment $623, 15 months and 20K miles left, refundable deposit $2600, residual value(buyout price at the end of lease) $33200, buyout price now $39800
  2. MB 2019 GLC 350e, monthly payment $410, 11 months and 14K miles left, refundable deposit $5000, residual value(buyout price at the end of lease) $36832, buyout price now $35315

I did some homework, and seems the best way is to buyout, if I choose to buyout, should I buyout now or buyout at the end of the lease?

Updated:
My idea:
I am inclined to keep one and sell one. for the one I am going to keep, I will likely end up buyout anyway since I will not be able to fully utilized the mileage at end of the lease.

Would like to seek for suggestions on:

  1. Which one is worth keeping?
  2. For the one chose to be kept, should I buyout now or buyout at the end of the lease?

What’s the benefit of buying out your lease early and then keeping them?

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Did you try to sell them? You might get a close number to your payoff. Looks like there is a GLE shortage.

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Thanks @Jon. There are two questions I would like to know more here:

  1. If I choose to buyout and keep it, which option will cost me less, buyout now or buyout at the end of the lease?
  2. I will go to CARMAX and see if it is worth buyout and sell now

Have you called MBFS for your specific buyout numbers now?

Most likely you’ll be upside down, but You’ll still need to know your buyout price(s) now.

Vrooms, carvana… have been offering more than carmax. Given the shortage I’m guessing a Mb dealership will have not trouble selling it as a certified vehicle so they might actually offer you the most.

Also just because you’re under on mileage doesn’t necessarily mean you should buy it out at the end of the lease. The car could still be worth less than it’s market value.

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thank you. this is very good point.

Yes, I have updated the buyout number listed in the original post

If you don’t care which car you keep, then all else being equal I’d just sell the one that you’re less upside down in.

For the one you keep, just do the math re: better to buy it now or wait till lease end. Run two scenarios, add up the potential payments and see what option makes the most sense.

I just sold my MBFS leased car to Carvana last week. Wasn’t positive equity but still a decent offer consider I didn’t have to pay sales tax etc.

thanks for sharing. what do you mean by not have to pay sales tax? do you mean tax in monthly lease? do you mean tax to buyout?

Tax on the lease buyout. You don’t pay it if you sell to a dealer like Carvana. Ofc this varies by state. I’m in CA

I would trade-in them both in on a Bolt and rollover the (mostly likely) negative equity.

LOL! MB drivers ain’t getting into a Bolt my guy.

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very helpful. I am also in CA

Keep in mind the buyout price that MBFS gives you already includes the MSD. So if you’re able to sell the car to Carvana at the buyout price, you’re not getting the MSD back. That said, it still seems to be the best option given that transfers are no longer offered

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Just get quotes from Vroom, Carvana, Shift, GMTV etc. I recently got rid of E Coupe for a little profit and breaking even on GLC that I’m in process of right now.

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I went through Carvana, the price is not attractive for my case, unfortunately. will try Vroom/Shift later

Also try ALGo and @Luxe.Autos.

If you have a MBFS lease, how does “selling” it to another dealer or website like Carvana work? Do they buy it from MBFS?