jbizios

Looking for some advice.

My 2020 350 MBFS lease ends this fall. In looking at the used...sorry...pre-owned!... car market and I've noticed that similarly equipped GLEs (with almost double the miles) are stickering for up to 20K more than my buyout. I know a lot of this stems from how the supply issue is affecting the market for both pre-owned and new, but in all the years I've leased cars, this is the first time where I'm debating how I should handle lease-end. It seems to me that I will have some equity in the car...how much really depends on how the pandemic plays out through the summer and if things begin to normalize some.

Trying to decide the best way to cash-in on this equity and am looking for advice on how to maximize it. Do I consider buying out the car (I'll have less than 20K miles on it by lease-end...haven't driven much due to COVID) and then selling it outright, then leasing another car? Do I try to negotiate with MBFS in terms of a down payment on another car? Typically, don't like putting a lot of $'s down on a lease. Was curious if anyone has had recent experience with MBFS lease-ends given the upward price pressures in the car market.

Frankly, I'm thinking of even buying out the car and hanging on to it a little while...especially since there is such a shortage of chips affecting options on the new GLE's and very few cars on the lots. I don't think a lease extension would make financial sense though, since financing the buyout would offer a lower payment.

I know a lot of this is individual choice/preference...but wanted to throw it out for comments and to see what others might be doing/thinking.

Thoughts/comments appreciated!

BenjaminKohl

My best advice right now is to buy the car out and keep it for a while. New (and other used) cars are creamy expensive, with markups, no financing or leasing incentives, etc. And, they’re kissing lots of features. Now is the ideal time to buy out your lease. Then, either you could order a car and have it come in a few months, or just stick with your current car.

makris0000

It is hard to say whether things will start going back to normal by fall or if they will get worse than what it is now. I would wait until closer to that time and see how the market is doing. If the market is doing bad like it is now, then I would buy it at the end of the lease because they are not allowed to charge more than the agreed buy back price (except for taxes and government fees), whereas a new or used car the dealership can charge market adjustments. I would say and nobody wants to pay a market adjustment, but apparently people are paying them Also for new cars, the chip shortages have been affecting the features on cars. For example, apparently the new GLE will not have the Multibeam Headlights and will only come with the standard headlights. Also the new GLEs do not have the HUD and augmented reality from what I've been seeing. Although your GLE will most likely have positive equity at the end of the lease, it won't really mean much to put it towards something new or used because the new and used car will be marked up.

For my perspective and my situation, my GLE 350 is 1 year old with 9K miles, currently going for over MSRP at auction. I am leaning towards buying my GLE at the end of my lease in 2 years depending on if the market is still bad and then selling it when things get better. I do not believe in paying a "market adjustment" for a mass-produced vehicle. If it was something rare and unique, then maybe, but for mass-produced absolutely not. Additionally, I do not want to get another GLE or whatever else my eye may see at that time if they are missing options and features due to part shortages.

On a side note, how has reliability been with your GLE since it is 3 years old (even though it will only have 20K miles on it by the end of your lease)? I like to see how other GLE owners are doing regarding reliability after owning it for a few years. Initial reliability I am seeing so far is good for the GLE 350s.

jbizios

"On a side note, how has reliability been with your GLE since it is 3 years old (even though it will only have 20K miles on it by the end of your lease)? I like to see how other GLE owners are doing regarding reliability after owning it for a few years. Initial reliability I am seeing so far is good for the GLE 350s."

Knock on wood...and spinning around spitting 3 times....I've had no major issues with the GLE. Outside of maintenance and a couple of recalls, I have not seen any Service Advisors either in the last 2+ years! Which is another reason I'm very strongly leaning on hanging onto the car, given that it is performing well.

I have noticed occasional glitches, which I attribute as software-related. For example, the MBUX every once in a very blue moon will not boot or I will get a blank screen on the right. A simple restart of the car fixes it. Extremely rare.

The one thing I frequently see is the following message: ""Adaptive Highbeam Assist is not available" which happens in the middle of an evening drive. Many times within a few minutes it will return with "Adaptive Highbeam Assist is now available again". I've never been able to pin down why this happens and have not taking it to the dealer, since I don't know if it is related to the modification (Vladimir) that I did to enable the feature or if this is a dirty sensor issue with the high-beam assist. Kind of smells of an automatic software reboot.

Beyond that...really pleased with car and love the tech!

makris0000

How do you like the adaptive high beam assistant modification? I have the lighting package with the multi beam headlights, but I notice with my auto high beams it does not detect people walking at all and it will blind them when they turn on. I am considering getting the mod if I end up buying my GLE at the end of the lease, but I have no idea if it will void the warranty and if it will work property (for example, not blind people that are walking).

I am glad to hear that your GLE is trouble free after 3 years *knock on wood*

jbizios

I love the modification and am glad I did it. The effect is subtle, especially the way it handles the glare on street signs on the right side, but you can definitely see the LEDs turn off, "dimming" the glare on the street signs and also the cars in front of me. On darker streets with the high beam activated, you could see the left LEDs turn off, not hitting oncoming traffic, while the rest of the right side and front stayed on high. Even more impressive was how fast the system switched back to ALL LEDs when the traffic passed.

The disappointment for me was the cornering lights...not really what I expected...coming from my last car where the projector light housing actually physically moved. This Mercedes implementation was WAY too subtle and barely noticeable.

I have not really noticed or paid attention to detecting people walking. In fact, didn't even know that was a feature of the mod.

With respect to the warranty, it shouldn't void it at all. In fact, I doubt that it would even be detected...but part of the software install was creating a backup on a micro-sd card, which allows you to restore the software if it becomes an issue.

makris0000

That is good to hear! As far as the cornering lights, I believe the US spec headlight units do not have the side light that lights up the corners.

mercedesmax

If you want to sell or trade it in to a Mercedes dealer you don't need to buy it out first. If you want to sell it to Carmax or sell it privately you will.
MBFS doesn't negotiate with the public. They will refer you to a dealer. Lease extensions are usually only for a couple of months at best unless you have a new car on order with a dealership.

mikapen

If you want to keep the car, consider asking your Dealer to re-sell it to you as a CPO. It used to cost them somewhere around $1000 - 1200 to perform the CPO checkup and their part of the CPO, plus any recon required.
Check the pros and cons of longer CPO coverage, compared to extending the factory warranty during initial coverage. Both options should be available to you.