I am 14 months into my lease on a 2021 GLE 350. I received the letter from MB on an early lease upgrade offer at the same lease payment. Seems like it could be an opportunity, but the fine print says it is subject to delivery by 01/31/22. Given limited vehicles on the lots and the huge dealer markups I hear about, not clear how this would work. Has anyone tried to take advantage of the offer? What was your experience? I would like to move to a 2022 GLE 450 if this is a “real” deal (either lease or purchase outright). Thanks!

 

Call or visit the nearest dealer tomorrow.

 

I think it is worth the trip to the dealer to see - but honestly, the big positive equity you likely have in your current vehicle will be rolled into the next lease IF there is a vehicle for you to buy. that is the color and has the options you are looking. Those very opaque type transaction offers always feel like there are too many places to "hide" the real cost of the deal. If you could find a unit you like AND have the kind of transparency to make you comfortable with the deal, it is worth the conversation. The circumstances leading to your positive equity 14 months into a lease are rare enough that it is worth just seeing what you can do... best of luck.

 

Lyle Pearson doesn’t have anything in a GLE 450 coming that isn’t presold…but you might check. Finding a rare GLE 450 at a fair price and closing a deal in less than 3 weeks will be next to impossible in this environment of no inventory and large markup’s over MSRP, IMO. Mercedes isn’t the only Auto Co. offering deals that can’t be fulfilled.

 

They obviously want your GLE because the market is lacking inventory likes yours that is why they offered you that in the first place. For that reason, it is unlikely you are able to get a vehicle like yours from them but I am hoping I am wrong here, good luck and hopefully you find a replacement if you do decide to return your vehicle early.

There are some exceptions, certain states doesn't let dealerships sell new vehicles over a certain percentage over MSRP (that is from what I heard) therefore they actually want the GLE you have so they can sell it at a hefty ADM when they get it ready for the market again.

 

Found this but it was for a G-wagen: https://mbworld.org/forums/g-class-w...-2021-g63.html

Someone there (not OP of that thread) stated that from their experience, dealerships cannot sell a new vehicle a certain amount over MSRP.

Anyways, I hope things work out for you if you do decide to proceed. Keep us all posted on your decision though.

 

Thanks Ron. I called my salesman at Lyle Pearson yesterday and haven’t received a call back. We will be in Palm Springs next week, but doesn’t look like they have much inventory either. I’ll most likely hang on to the 350 through the end of the lease. If the market is in the same condition, I may just buy it at the end. If the market “normalizes”, I will give it back and then purchase a 450. Other than being underpowered, I like the 350. It’s well equipped (AMG exterior, leather, panorama roof, heads up display, 360 surround camera, etc.) The 4 cylinder is my only complaint. I had a 2018 GLE 350, and the 6 cylinder was much better.

 

If this makes you feel better, it might be a good thing that you don't have a GLE 450, there are increasing number of occurrences of having 48V battery failed completely disabling the vehicle and can only be towed to a dealership some are waiting for batteries so the vehicle is sat at the dealership for a long time (thankfully the latter improved and batteries are more readily available but such an experience is not fun at all).

As for the GLE 350 when you say underpowered, do you mean low end acceleration, highway cruising or something else?

Other owners of the 350 has a good experience with it for example: https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...ur-banger.html
and according to that thread, 350 are the top selling models in the USA.

If you are curious about the 48V battery issues, you can find posts about it in these threads:
https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...t-battery.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/cls-coupe...y-problem.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/gls-class-x166/804446-2020-gls-48-v-battery-malfunction.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/gls-class-x167/813883-48v-battery-malfunction.html

 

Around town is fine, other the auto on/off is not as smooth as it should be. I mostly notice the difference accelerating in the mountains. The 2018 GLE 6 cylinder seemed not as strained. Good point on the reliability. So far, no issues with the 2021. Thanks.

 

I've had my 450 for 6 months now with almost 6k miles and have had no issues with anything let alone the 48v system. Maybe there was an issue early on with the 48v batteries but it doesn't seem that frequent of an occurrence today

 

I am glad you are not facing these issues. There were two types of failures, one is of which happens in early miles and the second is happening in higher miles. One batch requires just a software update or removing paint from grounds and the other batch requires a battery replacement. There was a battery with a new part number as well. The affected model years are 2020, 2021 and 2022. Not sure if it is fully fixed yet for 2023 as those aren't out yet but hopefully they are fixed.

Forum however is not a good representation of how many failures there are as there is a higher chance people come here to seek help when they have an issue, not a lot go on forums to share that they have no issues.

Hopefully your vehicle remains in good shape and you do not have to face 48V battery related issues.

 

I see. So high altitudes, did you put in different gas offered at gas stations around those places as the air is thinner up there?
Ya, I am not a fan of auto start/stop, first thing I disable after I start the engine lol.
Glad you have no issues with the vehicle you currently drive but ya since it is a seller's market, you could get a good amount back as equity to be placed as down payment on a GLE 450 if you want.

 

If it’s Jeff he’s in Hawaii. I was in there a week ago and it’s like a Morgue. There were hardly any Sales staff but it was a snow day. No inventory to sell…even used vehicles are looking scarce.