Who has the risk on a Mercedes lease return?

I am close to closing a deal on a new MB and have not included my lease turn in. When you do the turn in and they assume the last payment or two and cover the disposition fee, does the dealer eat the cost or does it go to MB finance? Also, when you do the turn in and the car will be a loss, does that dealer eat it? I am trying to get a sense of the impact to the dealer if I include it in the deal. Any help or insight would be appreciated.

The dealer wouldn’t have the loss…MB would. The dealer would either buy the car off of MB when you ground it at a price MB would set, or they (MB) would send it to auction and see what they could get for it. It’s MB’s car unless the dealer would buy it from them.

That’s one of the nice things about a lease. If there’s an appreciation at the end of the contract, you benefit. If there’s a loss, it’s the manufacturer’s problem and not yours.

That makes sense, thanks so much for the response.

And you are also not responsible for the diminished value due to damage. Love that one.

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Rumor has it, some insurance companies will allow you to submit a claim for diminished value after a collision. I’ve never had the cajones to try though since it’s technically not my car.

I did once, but it was financed and not leased car. Probably won’t work for leased since it’s not your car, like you said.

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