Mercedes has banned transfers for leases - however, I’m moving out of state and don’t want to lug this car along. Fortunately, my trusted old buddy is willing to take it as it’s very well negotiated and attractively priced.
My question to the hackers is: whats the best way to do this?
Can I somehow make him a co owner/cosigner on the lease at this stage? Or can the car be left in my name, and he simply put it on his insurance and drive it? What do you guys recommend?
The lease agreement was signed by you and the car is owned by MBFS. Allowing another party to drive the car on a permanent like basis may be precluded in your agreement. I’d review that agreement.
Insurance may not cover you in the event of an accident and then you’re potentially on the hook for the entire amount the other party decides to sue you for.
If this were, say, your next-door neighbor and you could make it seem like they were borrowing it once in awhile, then sure - you’d probably be able to skirt by. But moving out of state? This is asking for trouble with both MBFS and insurance, and the smallest issue could ruin your friendship. It’s a bummer, but I agree with the others that it is not worth it, even (and I’d argue especially not) for a “trusted” friend. The only reasonable course here is buyout and selling it to them.
What about having the friend get an insurance policy as the driver of the car and switch the payment info from yours to his through your online account? This being a “trusted” friend, you should be fine. You’ll probably be the one who has to return the car at the end of the lease though.
Maybe so, but that’s how you treat a car in a household with multiple drivers. The only difference here is that you ask the friend to pay for it. I’d rather do that then get stuck with a car that I don’t want to pay for (assuming op is only wanting to give it to his friend and not buy/sell).
Where the lessee is living under the same roof, and has an insurance policy that covers incidental use by other adult drivers in the home.
Assuming you commit the fraud to put the policy in place, it’s a clear violation of every standard lease agreement I’ve ever seen. The lessee agrees in writing they won’t assign the collateral to someone else, which is what’s clearly being asked here.
My understanding is different insurance companies have different policies. Some of which allow you to add people who you may not share a household with. So, it would be up to op to find out if he is able to do so depending on the insurance company.
Ultimately, although this path may not be ideal, I’m just trying to offer up some help. Best of luck op!
So. If you’re violating your lease agreement it means diddly squat. OP you are adding legal liability for your friend - and in doing so you would be on the hook for lease end damages, tire wear, etc. when your friend takes the car back to Mercedes, as in their eyes it’s still your account. Not to mention if he forgets to pay you’re on the hook.
Honestly, you have a good chance of just selling it to a dealer, and will you need a car where you’re moving, a new or used car is much more expensive than normal right now, so I’d suggest thinking carefully about dumping a good deal thinking you could just get another one. If you don’t want to ‘lug it along’ why don’t you just have the car shipped. There are plenty of car shippers out there, and I can refer you to one happily.
Makes sense. It looks like the consensus here is that giving my car to my friend is just not a possibility without potentially getting in trouble with insurance/MB in the event of an accident .
Honestly, you have a good chance of just selling it to a dealer, and will you need a car where you’re moving, a new or used car is much more expensive than normal right now, so I’d suggest thinking carefully about dumping a good deal thinking you could just get another one.
To explain the situation a bit more I’m moving coast to coast and had the idea that rather than ship the car over, I could save on the shipping and just buy a slightly used E class there.
This car is pretty well priced at about 480 (0 down) per month for the car + prepaid maintenance + lease damage waiver for 12k lease. However, I saw attractively priced E300’s going for ~35k with just 20k ish miles on them. I figured I could grab the extended warranty from MB and it would actually be cheaper in the long run.
I don’t think it’s worth the risk if your cost is simply shipping your car coast to coast. I would do it differently if I were on the hook for the entire remaining lease payments and not able to have a use of it though.
