Prochambers

I was wondering do all off lease S550's go the certified route or not. If not, why is that especially if the mileage is still considerably still low. Any feedback is welcome. Thanks.

1bad540

The certified cars are the exceptionally clean ones that also have very low miles, they also only keep the cars that do not have extensive problems. most of the certified cars that Ive seen also at most will have the bumpers redone.

Prochambers

I found a 2013 with all options with only 1 previous owner and 36,000 on the odometer. Do you think this is something to questionable about?

1bad540

what do you mean? Is it something to consider you mean? Im a big condition person if the cars not perfect I don't want it. I try to find the car and color I want with the least amount of miles, Its hard when your picky.36k is a bit high for a 13 but I just bought a 10 w 34k so if the price is close I would assume your better off with the 13. Also Cpo is only good for a year and you def pay for that reconditioning...Tires, brakes, touchups etc. at 36 k the car is prob dure for its first service, I know my dealer did the full fluid flush on the car including the trans, brakes and new tires so I think Im good w that for a while.

Prochambers

Meaning based on what you said about how the MB's are chosen for certification. From the photos I saw it looks in really great shape but I want to see it in person. The dealership is 2 hours away from me. Plan to go up there on Monday after leaving the office to see it in person and test drive. The carfax indicated that it had some servicing done but I will investigate further to see if I can get more history once at the dealership.

1bad540

Is it at a benz dealer?

Prochambers

No. Private dealership that seems to work with off lease vehicles. They had various versions of E and S classes.

1bad540

make sure u have a carfax before u go, also I would ask for a paint meter reading on all panels before I drove 2 hrs. I hate the smaller dealers, Ive just never had a good experience

Prochambers

The carfax is included on their website and they are a preferred Carfax dealership. I checked their ratings and reviews and they seem to be very admired by previous purchasers. I just have to investigate as fully as possible.

Prochambers

Here are a few pictures.

1bad540

No amg package and no panoramic roof?

Prochambers

Here's the datacard

Mike5215

Off lease vehicles typically go back to the manufacturer. A 3rd party dealership is getting cars that came back to Mercedes and for whatever reason Mercedes wholesaled them out rather than keeping them in used inventory or certify them. Could be mileage, condition, a CarFax hit, etc.

It's not hard to doll up a turd for pretty pictures. (Ask Snovman)

Prochambers

I'm definitely not rushing into any deal. And I know that the pretty pictures do help sell the car. This is why I posted on here for feedback. It does have the remaining factory warranty on it. It was a corporate vehicle if that makes a difference. I guess that's why it has all the options listed and probably explains the mileage. Thanks for all the important feedback.

wilassasin

Super clean black looks sharp! Rear ent package too, nice

Mike5215

There's a dealer down here called "offleaseonly.com" or something and their pitch is that everything they sell is a high dollar lease turn in. I'm guessing most of that inventory is actually straight up wholesale auction cars, and not lease turn-ins.

Telling buyers the cars are "off-lease" solves one huge marketing problem with late model used luxury cars, namely "why'd the previous owner get rid of it?'. Well the damn lease was up. That's the only reason. "Was it well cared for?" Of course...you know how important it is on a lease to keep the car serviced and in good condition. "Why is it so cheap?" The other guy ate the depreciation for you!

Most leases go back to the franchised dealer. I'm not sure it's even possible to build an entire business around selling nothing but lease turn ins.

Prochambers

Good points! Like I said before I will definitely go to see, sit in, mess with all buttons and test drive the car. I have always traveled to check any car that spikes some interest just to be sure that it's in the condition or better like advertised. Thanks for your feedback.

alx

Only Audi certifies the majority of the lease returns. New brakes, tires, the works. Only the real ****ty units don't get redone.

On the other hand Mb and bmw lease returns are crapshoot and hit the market in wide range of condition. Lease receiving dealers can cpo choice cars but most of them are offered as-is.

1bad540

the majority do not go back to the manufacturer it all depends on what bank did the financing, that's the bank that then owns the car at lease end.

Mike5215

Car leases aren't funded by banks. They're funded by the manufacturer's in-house finance division. This is because the manufacturer sets the residual which in turn determines the monthly rent.

No bank would buy you a car and then rent it back to you based on what they hope the car will be worth at the end of the term, and then hope to be able to resell it. Nor are banks in the business of inspecting, refurbishing, selling or otherwise disposing of used cars.

If you lease a Mercedes, it will be thru MBFS, not a third party bank.

1bad540

sometimes.

Smalone01

Sorry but this is incorrect. Almost all major banks will offer leasing on new cars. It is true that Mercedes Financial leases most of the Mercedes but not all of them. Chase, US Bank, 5th Third, and a lot of others do lease new cars. Also the dealer that accepts the lease return has first option to buy that car if it is a MBFS car, after that it will go to auction (usually Manheim) where most dealers will bid on them. Some people will ask "why that grounding dealer didn't want that car, there must be something wrong with it" . Well most franchise dealers will only stock so many used cars, there is a lot more coming in off lease then the franchise dealers can handle.

The best thing a buyer can do is get a pre-purchase inspection done on the car BEFORE you buy it whether it is from a Mercedes dealer or independent dealer.

Mike5215

Pretty much every time. Find me a bank that will buy a new Mercedes and rent it back to me for half its value over two or three years, and then take it back and try to sell it for the other half of its value.

Manufacturers make leases and the cars are returned to them. They may decide to wholesale the car out after it's returned, and then you may see it on another dealer's lot. Or, someone with a lease may decide to just trade the car in and pay off any lease balance plus the residual just like they're trading in a bank financed vehicle, but on a MB lease all roads lead back to MBFS.

Lease rate is driven by primarily by residual value. Monthly rent is the capitalized cost of the car (cap cost), less the residual, divided by the lease term, plus the money factor (essentially interest described in another way.)

No bank is willing to bet on what the residual will be. Manufacturers set the residuals based in part on what they expect the car to be worth at the end of the term, and in part to drive sales of a certain model. MB and BMW are notorious for overstating residuals both to boost sales and to give the impression the cars don't depreciate as much as they actually do.

Mike5215

So for example what does Chase bank believe the residual value of a 2015 S550 at 12,000 miles a year will be three years from now? When it has to be returned where does it get dropped off? I've leased for decades, over many brands and I've never seen a commercial bank offering direct consumer car leases.

I may be uninformed but I really don't see how a bank could take on that risk...guessing the residual and then agreeing to take the car back and wholesale it.

If I'm mistaken I apologize. I've done equipment leases from banks but at the end I own the equipment and no residual valuation exists (usually $1 at the end of the lease buys the equipment) but nothing like a car.

Just to make sure I'm not completely talking out of my a$$ I called Chase for a car lease quote and was told they do fund leases through a manufacturer with whom they have a relationship, (Chase funds Mazda's leases for example) but again all roads lead through and back to the manufacturer on a lease. Chase, according to the rep I spoke with, does not do direct consumer leasing on autos. They offer financing and refinancing on new and used autos.

Smalone01

That is correct, the big banks usually do not do direct consumer leasing but will do deals with different dealers in different regions. For example, US Bank may do leases for certain manufactures in FL but will not do them in GA. When the lease is up, there is usually a list of dealers on their network that the car can be taken to for drop off. The cars are usually inspected prior to lease end by one of the banks independent inspection companies.