Looking for some insight on the Mercedes Benz buyback process. Mercedes has offered to buy our EQE back, but was unclear as to the specifics behind the process when I asked questions.
Do they refund all payments and fees from the entire lease?
Do they just take the car back without any repaying any costs from the lease?
Any and all insight is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for the help!
You should continue to ask your questions and escalate if you do not receive answers.
Do not assume they are doing you a favor. They are probably trying to avoid a lemon law process. If so you are doing them a favor.
Talk to a LL attorney anyway since it’s free and it should be a good way to understand your best strategy.
Sounds like you should be choosing between refund of all of your payments and $5,000, whichever is higher. They also typically refund DMV fees but not any aftermarket accessories or dealer adds. Doesn’t hurt to ask for insurance premiums while at it - one LHer claims to have those refunded after politely asking (didn’t know that was a thing, YMMV).
And, yes, talk to a LL attorney as @max_g suggested. Try to find one who’s worked with MBZ before. Ask or see their reviews for that.
Also verify and cross check their numbers when you get an offer. Really hard to get corrected once agreed.
Taking the $5,000 requires keeping the car, which I would not recommend if it smells like a 
Oops, speed reading does backfire occasionally, lol! Details, details…
Will certainly reach out to a lemon law attorney. When asked multiple questions about the buyback process, the representative said it’s through a third party company and would not go into any detail.
I didn’t even think to ask for insurance premiums, but I will certainly look to see how much I paid and add that to the total.
Correct. It’ll be handled by an insurance company, possibly Berkshire. Post here how it went for data points for others to see. GL!
Edit: Sedgwick, not Berkshire.
Yes, the car has been in the shop for battery issues for almost two months this year. We got the car back a little over a month ago and the car popped up with malfunction and was dead. I smell
Thanks to the LH community, when we had the first issue back in January, I called Mercedes to document the start of the problems and notify them of potentially requesting a buyback in future. We called constantly throughout the first two months in the shop, so we knew who to contact when the malfunction occurred earlier this week. Mercedes emailed us the available options today, and it has a response deadline of next week.
I believe Mercedes uses Sedgwick.
Appreciate it!
Update: received first offer from Sedgwick.
All fees from original lease agreement are included.
All prior lease payments included.
Insurance payments are not included.
Mileage offset (deduction) was roughly half of total due back. Formula used:
Mileage at first service x purchase price / 120,000.
Feel like this number should be negotiated down some, but from everything I’ve read that formula is standard practice.
Comments/experience on this is greatly appreciated as always.
I got no mileage deduction at all and from I read here neither did anyone else. Time to involve an attorney?
Curious about your timeline: at what point/months/mileage did your problems start and/or reappear?
Problem started:
-January/8 months into lease/5k miles (contacted Mercedes corporate to start documenting the timeline for repair)
-Sat at dealer for 6 weeks for repair
-Had the car back for roughly 4 weeks and then battery malfunction.
-Returned to Mercedes dealer and contacted Mercedes corporate and requested buyback.
-Car has been at the dealer for almost 2 weeks now, but in contact with corporate/Sedgwick for buyback
Wonder if mileage deduction is a new thing. Mine was settled last July. Where else did you see the mileage adjustment?
@djrabbi @capt_slow @Alex1438 chime in? Trying to recall who also had a lemon… @Kellstar ?
By right according to law manufacturer can deduct refund amount based on mileage used. However usually if it’s not too much they will just waive it which was for my case. 5-6k miles could be high enough of a number for them to deduct.
I had about 7-8K on mine, I believe @capt_slow had much higher mileage.
The mileage deduction is roughly $4000. Which at the mileage the car currently sits at is approx.
.73/mile driven
Mileage deduction is generally determined by your state lemon law’s formula. I would check into that and make sure they are making an offer that’s in line with those guidelines.
