I am currently driving a 2020 Mercedes C300 that was a demo car with 1000 miles on it when I leased it in March of 2021. I am in a 3 year lease that ends March 17th of this year and I’m in the process of finalizing a deal on my new lease—an Audi Q5 PHEV. I’ve already made my last payment on the C300, and don’t have any equity in the vehicle, but I don’t want to return it back to the original dealership - I’d love to just leave it with Audi to deal with. Problem is, I don’t know what my actual options are since I don’t want to buy out or extend the lease.
This is my first time actually making a final payment on a lease. The Mercedes is the 3rd car I leased and I always have found my new car lease 2-3 months before the current lease ends, and have been able to negotiate for the new dealer to cover my remaining lease payments and termination fees, etc. and deal with the old car for me. So I usually just drive off in my new car and leave the old car there.
This year, I have been hedging as to what car to get next and had to make my final lease payment on Feb 17th, before I figured out my plan. None of the dealerships I’ve talked to have any interest in incorporating my current vehicle into the deal as it seems there isn’t any equity in the vehicle. Is my only option left (since I dont want to buy out or extend my lease) to return it to the original dealer and pay the lease termination fees? I really don’t like the dealership I purchased from and further more need to drive to pick up my new car and just want to leave the old one at the new dealership if possible.