Returning a Mercedes lease - do they care about tire manufacturer?

LeaseHackrs,

Does anyone know whether I should put the same tires my car came with or I can go with run flats from different manufacturer?

Pretty sure they don’t care as long as 1) all four tires match and 2) are within acceptable return height.

The following vehicle conditions will result in excess wear and
use charges (Brand doesn’t matter, however, should not be mismatched):

• Wheels that are cracked or bent
• Wheels that weren’t originally equipped with the vehicle at the time
of delivery (upgraded aftermarket wheels installed by an authorized
Mercedes-Benz dealership are acceptable)
• Rims that are bent or have breaks (regardless of size)
• Tires with less than 1/8” tread depth
• Tires that have sidewall damage (which includes plugs and cuts),
bulges, or exposed cords
• Tires that are mismatched: Tires on each axle that are not the same size,
brand, model, type and/or speed rating, and equivalent in quality and
performance to the original tires
• Spare tire and rim (or inflation kit for those vehicles without a spare tire)
that are missing or not in operable condition

Has anyone actually have experience with this? Our C class with sport package is due in 8 months and OEM tires are about $1200 to replace whereas non-run flats are around $650. Other runflats cost even more. With all my other leases I don’t think they ever enforced anything about having to get the same tires.

I don’t have personal experience w/ this, but I imagine you would need to get RFT tires (and I as the manufacturer or bank or whatever certainly wouldn’t accept your car w/o them).

And, yes, they can be hellaciously expensive.

RFT are a type of tire, not a brand or specific model.

I have experience with BMWs - they didn’t care about the brand or RFT - they just cared about wear. On my M4 that I turned it - 3 tires were worn down - they only charged $200 each. When you go through pre-inspection, they’ll give you an estimate on the spot.

There isn’t a single captive out there (that I know of) that cares whose name is on the tire…just that the specs of the new tire match or exceed the OEM tire. Things like speed rating, all season (unless the car came with summer tires) tread remaining and run flat vs no are all they care about. I’ve put some pretty obscure tires on my lease turn ins that were probably made by some 11 year old in China, and nobody batted an eye as long as the speed rating met or exceeded OEM and the tire had enough tread.

It’s been mentioned countless times…try and find a set of used tires on Craigslist or bestusedtires.com that fit your car if cost is of concern. The tires don’t have to be brand new…they just have to meet or exceed OEM specs and have enough tread life remaining.

I always try and find the same tires if need be by end of lease. But I generally purchase good used ones. There are some great deals on ebay/offerup/craigslist etc. The most I paid for two tires where RFT Continental Contisport that had 85% tread from Florida on ebay at a whopping $156 (including shipping). Then had the local tire shop take off old fronts and replaced them with ebay specials which cost me a total of $25. The pre-lease turn in inspector commented how much tread was left on all four tires.

Some MB cars have MOE (Mercedes Benz Original Extended Mobility) or MO (Mercedes Benz Original) tires and the finance guy told me that these cars need to have the same MO or MOE tires during the lease return and MB will charge you otherwise which could run up to $1200. He said many customers were angry because of this and it is the reason why MB introduced first class lease protection which covers wear and tear worth $7500 including the tires.

The context was that he was trying to selling me the first class lease protection.

I’ll be turning in my '17 C300 soon. This was my first leased car. I called MBFS and asked specifically about the tires. The representative said they “recommend” the same make/model/specs of tire. When I asked if the exact brand and model were required, he said no. What I didn’t know at the time was they are MOE (MB Original Extended Mobility).

Would love to hear from someone who has turned in a MB that originally had MOE tires and replaced with non-MOE tires.

Thanks!

Bump, does anyone have any update on this? Lease is due in 6 months :smiley:

You’ve had 2.5 months to contact MBFS to ask them what they will accept 6 months from now…

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They said same specs or better, I’m just asking about other user’s experience.

There’s your answer. Put a set of Nanzang’s from China on there that meet or exceed OEM specs. That’s all that matters.

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The context says it all… if it was about customer happiness, MB would have changed the policy.

Yeah the easy answer is to put the same specs or better, brand doesn’t matter, but run flats are all pretty expensive regardless. I just wonder if they will be so anal where they’d actually charge you $1200 if you turned your car in with a nice set of branded performance tires that are not run flats.

This is a good reason to go for a 2 year lease instead of a 3 year lease for all you lease hackers out there :slight_smile:

You might need a new set of tires even for a 24 month lease if you have staggered set up. My fronts are completely worn out in one year.

Yes they would. That doesn’t meet OEM specs. RFTs aren’t a brand, they are a spec.

RFTs are a likely reason you may not get 2 years out of them. They wear much faster than non RFTs.

If you want to lease the brand, sometimes you gotta pay to play.

What are you talking about?

Oh yeah. You’re the guy that likes to rag on trusted hackrs, but keeps his profile hidden. A keyboard warrior.

Yes, BTW. I have leased MB.

Lol, shots fired!!