My first lease ever, a 2017 E350 Mercedes, is set to be returned in May 2020. Originally I got the lease when I was driving a lot but after the first few months I was able to work from home. I’ve only used 17k of the 36k miles I have available on my lease. Any suggestions/thoughts on what I should do about this?
Also, I was victim of a hit and run (they left a note with phone number, but don’t respond), so the drivers side has some damage. Any thoughts on whether I should fix it before returning or just take the charge on it?
The second part totally negates any potential success for the first part. Get lease end inspection and then an estimate from a body shop. Decide what’s best after that.
File a claim with your insurance company. This is considered a comprehensive claim and should NOT affect your record. Speak with your insurance agent/broker.
Maybe this varies from state to state, but a hit and run is NOT comprehensive. Ask me how I know.
That said, if he has a note admitting it, it would be the other’s fault, and he should get his deductible back with a no fault on his insurance. That may or may not affect his future premiums. He may get questioned or a raised eyebrow as to why it wasn’t reported when it happened, as he mentioned he didn’t respond to the note, however.
Outside of not wanting to pay for gas and insurance on it, none that I can think of.
You’re not going to be able to get what it’s worth selling it to carvana/vroom with an accident, and I doubt either would take it once it’s fixed either, so that isn’t an option for you. Carvana sells cars with no accident history, and I’m almost positive Vroom does too. The accident will hurt your resale value regardless.
Correct, no reimbursement for unused mileage on the original lease term. The only time they do is if you purchase additional miles after signing a lease, they will refund the unused portion.
Don’t sweat it… the extra mileage isn’t worth that much… for a $50K car, if you went with 7,500 vs. 12k upfront, i would be $1,000 over the lifetime of the lease. The “cost” to the captive is certainly cheaper so increased value to the residual is even less. The accident is definitely going to impact the value much more.
Most of the depreciation happens from the car sitting in your driveway, not the mileage.
I would check how much it cost to fix yourself vs how much MB will charge you.
Someone hit my Infiniti several years ago, got a check from insurance company for $3600. Had to do a lease return inspection and Infiniti only quoted me extra $650 to return as is. Hello $3k profit.
