balthus

I have a 2010 GLK with less than 14,000 miles on it and my lease is up in 3 or 4 months.

My buy-out is about $25K.

I really love the car and If I can buy an extended warranty from MB (which I was told I need to buy before my lease ends), I am hard pressed to find another car for $25K in this caliber.

My GLK is a 4Matic and the options are heated front seats, keyless go, P01 Premium Package, 320 Multimedia Package, 322 Sport Appearance Package and 518 iPod/MP3 Interface.

Sticker on my car before tax was $46,435.

A current similarly equipped GLK looks to be about $48K now but I know a refreshed model will be out for 2013 (not sure if that will be before my lease ends).

What irritates me is that if I do a lease calculator on MB website with $5K down for 39 months on a new GLK, it shows lease payments a couple hundred less per month than I am paying now so not sure if this was due to interest rates being higher when I got the 2010 or not getting a good deal.

It also appears that the trade-in value of my car with all the options, low mileage and excellent condition will be higher than my payoff so I could make some money on the car and get something new (although what I don't know plus save getting hit with tax twice (Texas thing).

Would it at least make sense to finance the $25K (and an extended warranty which I was told could be pro-rated if I sold car) and at least keep the GLK while it is still under original MFG warranty to give me some time to thing about what to do.

We also drive a 2004 E320 wagon with about 63,000 miles on it that (knock wood) lately has been relatively OK - replaced both batteries last week - that we wonder how long we will be able to keep as a daily driver so not really looking for 2 new car payments.

Appreciate any input.

Thanks.

phil17

I am in the last year of my lease and i'm leaning towards buying the car back as well since i'm well under my KM limit and I rather get out of this leasing game altogether. I've always owned my previous cars and it's nice to know that when it comes time to find a new ride, you can still sell the old one (owned all Acura's prior to this and they were all easy to sell and held value well)


My GLK hasn't been that reliable but I'm hoping I can drive it for another 3 years or so (I will only have 40,000kms by the lease end and i tend to sell before the 100K mark). Like you, mine is pretty loaded with a sticker of $49K CND plus taxes and i can't find anything good for my residual of $29K plus 13% tax. Having said that, if this car gives me any other significant problems this year, i'm just going to dump it and go back to Acura. Luxury is peace of mind to me.

balthus

I have been lucky that thus far I have had no problems with my 2010 GLK but have been very disatisfied with local dealer for a number of other reasons.


My GLK hasn't been that reliable but I'm hoping I can drive it for another 3 years or so (I will only have 40,000kms by the lease end and i tend to sell before the 100K mark). Like you, mine is pretty loaded with a sticker of $49K CND plus taxes and i can't find anything good for my residual of $29K plus 13% tax. Having said that, if this car gives me any other significant problems this year, i'm just going to dump it and go back to Acura. Luxury is peace of mind to me.[/QUOTE]

venchka

For informational purposes, what dealer have you been dissatisfied with? I only have knowledge of two dealers and both of those for warranty service. To date, Mercedes-Benz of Tyler and Star Motors in Houston have been first rate.
On the lease question: We leased one vehicle, 1999 Volvo S70. Bought it when the lease was over. Kept it another 9 years and sold it last year when we bought the GLK 350. Perfectly satisfied, but never leased again.

Wayne

VJORDAN

I just picked up a loaded 2012 GLK..2,000 down..36 mo..3 years maintenace..780.00 per month....I would jump on your car as quick as possible...

balthus

The main dealer in the DFW area in terms of sales and service. Between my husband and I, almost every car we have had since late 90's has been a leased MB with exception of the 2004 wagon which was a purchase and a Volvo wagon which we traded in after a year as I did not like how it drove.

Just never feel that we are valued customers. Maybe we have not connected with the right sales person and/or service advisor. We are using a local indy shop for repairs on the 2004 wagon now and have a 3rd party warranty.

I would be happy to buy elsewhere but I believe we would not get an MB loaner if we had to take in to either dealer for service.

It used to be advantageous tax-wise to lease for my husband who is self-employed but not so much anymore. Although we had a run of costly repairs needed on the 2004 wagon - right after warranty expired - we are still ahead in not having a car payment for years so I am all about purchase versus lease these days.

Thanks.

balthus

Not sure what you mean?

Curious: did you put anything down on the lease? How many miles per year? What is your buy out? Your lease price including maintenance is slightly less than I am paying for my 2010 and I put $ down and had no maintenance included!

VJORDAN

2000 down...12000 mi....euro. delivery... you basically have a new car, picking it up on the residual will be a good deal...also, sine the 2013's are just around the corner with all of their upgrades...you should be able to negotiate...I would get an extended warranty with it for safety... good luck.......I thought my payment was a bit high, since i was coming off of a lease of a bmw 135i loaded cabrio..650 per mo. ..same down, miles , etc.

venchka

We bought our GLK in Tyler. I took the GLK to Star Motors in Houston for a Check Engine Light problem. I had never been there before that day. I was there for about 3 hours. Every 30 minutes they offered me a loaner. They were very good to me. If the GLK needs work when it is in Houston I will go back.
Too bad they are so far away from home.

Wayne

Fung63

I hear you about the higher interest back in 2010. A similarly specced glk now would cost me a couple hundred less a month.

balthus

Had our 2004 wagon in for new batteries last Friday and owner of the indy shop rive the car around and said it was doing OK so may be able to get another year or two from her and if we buy the 2010 GLK have a relatively low car payment so overall might be smartest thing to do. No point in doing early as Id have to pay all remaining payments anyway. Hate getting dinged on sales tax again though.

jfalk

Having just paid $34K for a similarly equipped car with only slightly less mileage (granted, I got the warranty extension as part of the CPO process) I'd say go for it.

kluvsbenz

I was just looking at a mars red 2010 GLK350 for 32k(NJ) which I thought was a good price. Only had 13,976 miles. 25k is more than great for that vehicle.

balthus

Got quote from MB dealer of approx $3K to extend the factory warranty for an additional 3 years (not sure if there is a mileage cap but that will not be an issue for me).

Trying to decide if I would likely spend $1K a year for next 3 years when I average 5,000 miles a year but my luck if I don't get it, something major will go wrong

venchka

A new transmission would ruin your whole day & make the extended warranty cheap.

Wayne

MBRedux

Depends on the price. I prefer not to buy.

rmfnla

The good news about buying out your lease is you know the car's history.

Marcos51

I would not drive any German car out of warranty. Check the extended warranty the dealer is offering to see exactly what is covered. AFAIK, extended warranties do not cover everything covered by the factory warranty. After a series of super-expensive repairs on a '98 ML350, I made the decision to lease any high-end German car. I love the cars, but I won't go through that again.