When are we expecting inventory to pick back up? I already extended my lease until December, but with slim pickings now, I am worried it will only get worse at the end of the year, and I will be forced to get a really bad deal. BTW I am a current Audi leasee and am looking at Audi and BMW.
Any answer you get will be purely speculation. Everyone’s crystal ball works the same. If sales stay brisk, there may not be any excess inventory.
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My guess (and that’s all it is), until inventory levels out (Q1 2021 at earliest?) dealers are going to hold out for gross. It’s going to take a few months of “normal” (for relative demand) inventory and crappy sales/gross for everyone to even start playing the volume game again.
Even if that happened today, I don’t think you’d see many deals before your lease is up in December.
I do expect we’ll have spot deals: if you want a Bolt or an eTron right now, come and get em. If you want a 3 row luxury SUV, deals won’t be here before this time next year is my guess.
In the DC area where I live, I’ve noticed from casual web searching that inventory has started to pick back up in some of the popular Audi (Q5), BMW (X3), and Mercedes (GLC) models. Not sure if the Q5 and X3 are on your wish list or not but they seem to be two of the more popular options for folks on this site. The dealer I leased my GLC from went from nine 2020 GLC’s a few days ago to eighteen today. A local BMW dealer has just eleven 2020 X3’s left but is now up to forty-two 2021 X3’s already. And a local Audi place has thirty-one 2020 Q5’s, about half of which say “in transit from port” or “in transit from factory.” So if you aren’t doing it already you may want to “stalk” your local dealers online to see if things are changing for the better in your area like they seem to be in mine for these particular vehicles. Or call around in case they have some inbound vehicles that aren’t yet listed on their websites.
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Yeah, I am seeing the same thing for certain models. E.g. The new 2021 GLA stock is up in various dealership. I am sure more will come in as we get through the end of the year, where there are less buyers.
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It just be the specific models I’m looking for which are the S4 and the m340i. Seems impossible to get one without a lot of compromise.
Is this common or allowed by leasing companies owned by the manufacturer? E.g. Audi Finance, Mercedes Finance, etc. MBFS did offer extended lease on a monthly basis, but it was back during the SIP (May to June-ish), where some dealers are not taking lease return and AutoVIN suspended their operation.
My lease is up in December and I don’t mind extending it for a month or so until inventory is back up.
It was the first time I have done it, but it was really simple. I heard that they will easily do it for a month, but they offered up to six months because of Covid, and you can and the lease at any time during those 6 months without penalty. Give them a call and tell them the reason is uncertainty because of Covid and see what they say.
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Thanks, @numa
I have also researched more about “lease extension” and turned out this is allowed even before COVID 19. Mercedes End-of-Lease brochure mentioned that and Edmund have an article about it.
Thanks to your post, I am now not in hurry to get a car and don’t have to deal with dealerships that are now on “power trip” due to the low inventory.
I think you should make a PSA post in the “Share Deals & Tips” to help other newbies!
MBFS allowed me a one month lease extension but only because I was looking to get into a new Mercedes with a specific dealer. They wouldn’t just allow it otherwise.
So you may let them know you have a specific Audi dealer and vehicle you are trying to find and lease, they may allow that if the covid line doesn’t work.
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I think you are right.
Per MBFS Lease end guide, they do allow extension but subject to “approval” and stated the following:
If you are working with your dealership and need to remain in your lease a bit longer as you wait for your new Mercedes-Benz vehicle, you may be eligible to extend your lease. Call the Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Lease Maturity Department at 800-873-5471 for details.
I will call MBFS when it gets closer to my lease maturity date. Either way, I don’t have to look for car now and can wait it out. I am actually waiting for the Mercedes All Terrain Wagon, which is coming “late 2020”.
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I know nothing about leasing German cars but most mainstream ones I have dealt with have allowed it. I extended a Ford lease back in 2004 because was waiting for the new Sienna Minivan 8 seater to come out. I was recently looking at a Chevy that would have been a really good deal if it could have been extended past 24 months plus I hate car shopping in the summer as that is my busy time and the lease would have come due in the summer again. I called the finance arm and asked what their normal end of lease policy is and they said you can extend up to 6 months but you do not get any more mileage and the residual does not change so not such a good deal for me as I use all my miles