It is. I live in one of the most exclusive counties in the country, and multi-millionaires have no issues driving an Avalon or low-end ancient Lexus. See a LOT of Mazda CX-n running around too. SUV’s, whether cheap or astronomical, are all the rage.
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This seems simple. Sell the car to Carvana, vroom, CarMax, etc now, while you can walk away with some money. I’d recommend buying a car she can afford that transports her from A to B and back to A. The car she can afford is likely a little less than the money you walk away with. Pay cash, no payments, no financing/leasing. Drive that new to her car to work.
While I know nothing about your relationship and I wish you nothing but the best in that regard, there’s a ton of red flags around what you have been describing that make this sound like a terrible idea.
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I am not too worried about buying the next car. We have lived together for a couple of years. It is not like her spending habits are new to me. Mainly what I need is a way to get out of this Mercedes lease and I think I found it. I got a heck of an offer from Autonation. Hopefully they are legit. Offering me $53745. Anything specific I should worry about with Autonation?
Quick question when gettting these quotes. I have just been putting in the VIN. As far as I know, it is a stock vehicle, but I am not 100% sure. Are those VIN pre populations pretty accurate? There are so many bells and whistles on this vehicle it would take me 3 days to figure out if I got them all. Half of them I cant figure out how to use, and I have driven basically every make and model vehicle under $75k at some point in the last 15 years when I used to work at Enterprise. Programming your seat is about 7 screens deep.
Autonation is legit.
Vin lookup works fine.
Be sure to disclose any damage upfront.
I would have no issue letting autonation pick up the car, although I prefer to drop it in person if possible and get a check on the spot.
The only thing they are going to check for is damage. So check the car all around, even under.
So from here basically all I do is call autonation, tell them I got a leased vehicle with Mercedes benz financial, show them the payout, drop off the vehicle, they contact mercedes benz and do their thing, and then autonation hands me a check for the difference. Do I have that basically correct?
Use that equity check to do a one pay lease on a nicely equipped Jeep 4xE. Black on black, almost looks like a G wagon.
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No, it doesn’t
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I mean if you squint really hard, and are very drunk, and don’t know what a g wagon looks like, maybe?
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I happen to know a good optometrist.
Also, 4xe is a terrible compromise of a vehicle. Helluva a thing to jump into from a GLE.
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The relationship part is not my business but make sure to find a car/deal before selling the GLE.
Did you ever discuss this with her btw? Tell her you will sell the car and buy/lease her X car. See what she says as a response.
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What’s the current payoff?
You should have gotten an email from autonation about the next steps. Basically you need to take your car to a automation dealership where they’ll inspect the car, take pictures, and upload to their central system. They may re-adjust the price based on damage. If the registration is your gf’s name you need to take her with you. Autonation dealership will also call MBFS to get the payoff amount and she needs to give her consent. If everything looks fine, you sign paperwork and get a check for excess amount leaving the car at the dealership.
Edit: also for MBFS you need to get the 3rd party dealer payoff quote which MBFS will only give that directly to the dealer. The dealer payoff quote can be different than your own payoff quote depending on sales tax, security deposit etc.
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Yes. Normally you have some sort of offer code, or something. I got an email with a barcode I took in. But yeah, their website should describe what to do.
This is critical though not only due to sales tax, security deposit etc but some banks adds “market adjustments” to dealers which can be thousands. I just asked for “dealer payoff” for my lease ( Fusion Auto / Credit Union are the captive/lender) and dealer quote is about $7K more than my own.
I don’t know about MBFS though.
Yes, some lenders charge extra and list is being compiled here: List of Lenders that Charge Third-Party Buyers a Higher Payoff. For my case MBFS didn’t add any market adjustment price.
Agree,
Although both MB and 4Xe looks good, they are both problematic cars based on my past experiences…
Like the Jaguar Land Rovers - they look great, perform well off road, but I would not buy one for dependability…
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Does anyone else feel like this whole post is red flags? How does someone work in the auto industry and not know how to sell a car, etc? Also, you should probably have your girlfriend do this. Does she want to sell the car? Has she decided on what car she wants?
I realize you are looking out for finances, but your girlfriend is her own person. Plus you are not married so I wouldn’t pay for a car or put it in my name.
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When you are wearing rose-tinted glasses, they just look like any other flag.
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Sell it to whoever gives you the best price.
Jeep Grand Cherokee 80th Anniversary are leasing well…