CO4M

I have a 2010 ML 350 (P1+ Appearance +Lighting, 18K miles) with a current payoff of approx. $35K and lease payoff in Nov. 2012 of approx. $30K. (Original sticker was $57K+)

Looked into terminating the lease early by trading it in, but the dealers here in Colorado are telling me it's worth only $32K at best, or as they put it I'm "underwater" by at least $3K.

Not to happy about this as I did a similar deal on a leased Toyota Corolla 2 years into a three year lease and got $1,200 over the payoff price.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone has had a better experience out there or suggestions on getting a better price.

Thanks.

06e320cdi

Typically leases will always be underwater. The toyota was an exception. How long was the lease on the ML? I went through the same thing a few years back on an Acura RL. You can see if you are able to payoff lease, and sell privately. I think you would be able to get somewhere upwards of 40K for 2010

Grau E350

Are you kidding me? You should take it and run. Trade auction values for 2011 models is going in the upper 30's. MB's First Class Lease adds a 4% Fee on residual for early lease termination. Check out the contract under early lease termination.

If it only cost me 3K to get out of my ML, I'd dump it in a heartbeat. Get them to split it, and see what happens.

Your payoff reflects that 4% of residual. BMW doesn't have crap like this in their leases.

CO4M

I have a 3 year lease (Nov. 2010 - Nov. 2012) so only 6 months to go. It's a great truck and have no problems keeping it for now - it was just the idea of taking advantage of special discounts on a X5 diesel that got me going.

Maybe, as Grau says, the BMW would be a better lease. On the other hand, if MB offers me a payoff close to the auction values($3,000 below payoff or 27K), I might keep the ML 350 for another couple of years.