Expiring Lease; Now What?

[JeffRay]

At the suggestion of another member, starting this new topic.

I leased a 2014 MB250e in December 2014 for 36 months. Lease coming up this December and I would like to stay electric or hybrid. Choices are a) extend lease by six months or b) lease new MB250e for 24/36 months or c) something else that will bridge to next generation 200 mile electrics. I have begun discussions with my dealer about item b and have yet to talk to MBFS about item a and am monitoring this and other forums about item c.

How many others have leases ending in next 12 months? Please consider putting your thoughts on this topic as they are scattered over a number of topics. Thanks all.

Enjoy the ride!

 

[WantOne]

Thanks Jeff for starting this thread!

I have 2014 B-class ending March 2017. Only other thought is Tesla 3 but like the body of the B Class better.

Given the recent drop on 2017 pricing I'll soon begin talking to dealers about pull ahead lease. My lease purchase option at the end is around $24K, so at the new pricing, it makes sense with my usage, 200 miles is not important in my case and I'm attempting to leverage this.

Let's share the deal data and maybe we can get a group purchase!

 

[JeffRay]

Never heard of MB doing pull ahead lease. Heard on radio for another brand, Toyota?, who wanted switchers. At any rate, I agree that having announced 200 mile cars, MB created a situation where it will be harder to dispose of their current electrics.

I know someone on this forum already extended their lease 6 months on a 2014. Please share the deal you got, thanks. Even if it was a simple roll forward of the lease rate.

 

[WantOne]

Never heard of MB doing pull ahead lease. Heard on radio for another brand, Toyota?, who wanted switchers. At any rate, I agree that having announced 200 mile cars, MB created a situation where it will be harder to dispose of their current electrics.

I know someone on this forum already extended their lease 6 months on a 2014. Please share the deal you got, thanks. Even if it was a simple roll forward of the lease rate.

Definitely.

Though, this MB dealer advertise pull ahead deals. Pretty sure all we have is just to ask
https://www.mbnewrochelle.com/lease-pull-ahead

 

[JeffRay]

Hey W1,

New Rochelle is within range so good to know. Thanks! All mine were acquired from MB-Manhattan which is uber convenient. They will likely match in any case.

 

[ClassESage]

Reached out to my Mercedes lease dealer in Maryland and was told that they may offer an 'Indirect Customer Purchase' rather than a purchase directly from Mercedes-Benz Financial. However, the payoff amount seems non-negotiable (but this may change). The newer technology, longer range electric options from other manufacturers that are now available at similar cost to my 2014 B-class look pretty attractive. The one positive about my B-class is that the range seems to be steady after 28K miles and 2.5 years of use.
I look forward to hearing more updates.

 

[JeffRay]

Sounds like another way for the dealer to make money by taking something in between us and the final lender, if not MBFS. The only way it works for our benefit is if competitive rates are lower than MBFS offers.

 

[JeffRay]

I received a response to my walk-in inquiry about my lease ending. A young fellow in the dealer's "developing tech" desk called me as the regular sales folks do not handle the B-Class or Smart car at this dealer. Nice enough but a newbie. He answered what he thought was my question, although I did not actually say what it was, and said with a lease expiring in December, it was too early to do a pull forward lease. He did suggest that there was some incentive to retain customers but likely limited. I say that because he suggested we touch base at the end of August. This suggests a maximum 4 month incentive but likely less. He also said he priced a 2018 lease and it was not competitive with the current lease monthly. I doubt he did it correctly as there is a $299 promotion going on and I paid I think $329 back in 2014.

I will likely ring him back and have him run the numbers on a 2016 or 2017 leftover with the tire/fender protection option and post the results.

Sort of shows you that MB loses money on this and can't pay commission to their top sales folks so they assign it to a newbie.

 

[Dracula]

Do they still sell the B-Class in NY? You may need to bring one from another state...

 

[JeffRay]

Count D,

Yes, they sell the car in NYS. I leased mine in December 2014 and the dealer I am talking to is MB-Manhattan. In the past, I have seen it featured by MB-Brooklyn. I don't see too many MB250e in NY metro area but see a lot of the Teslas X and S. No state incentive to buy or purchase. No initiatives to add public charging stations either. Sigh.

 

[Dracula]

As far as I know MB no longer sells the B-Class to dealers outside CA, WA and OR. it used to be sold in NY and NJ through 2015, but then they stopped deliveries on the East Coast. Since I live in IN I had to buy mine from OR.

I just checked MB Manhattan in inventory and, as expected, there is no B-Class in inventory. Is your dealer offering to get you one, and if so, would he still give a discount off MSRP?

 

[JeffRay]

Count D,

You are likely right on both counts. Most of the cars are likely out west where they can sell and service them better. My dealer MB-Manhattan does not order them for sure but will acquire to satisfy a customer. That being said, it was always handled by a junior salesperson, not my regular salesperson. I did look a few days ago and they showed three, two white and one light blue. They used to be owned by MB but I think they sold to someone. Bottom line, you are likely right in that other than meeting their quota, they have no interest in stocking the MB250e.

 

[JeffRay]

Hm, maybe I should think about buying my leased 2014 as another forum member suggested. It has only 8000 miles with six months left to go. If I use the buyout option, around $20K, then keep for 36 months, I would be net net be left with a $6K residual to try to get when I upgrade to a 200 mile car as the current posted lease cost is around $14K. That would presumably be with a gently used 2014 MB B250e with 20K miles on it. Have to check to see how long the battery warranty is for on this option.

Or turn it in and see what the 24-36 month lease rates are on Black Friday. Currently around $14K.

The former gives me the option to upgrade whenever and take resale risk, the latter keeps my costs down but puts upgrade into 2020.

High class problem to decide.

 

[ClassESage]

Picked up a 2017 Volt Premiere last week with the B-class lease waning. The car is getting 65 miles range in the DC and Baltimore area on electric without burning any gas so far. Amazing what GM included in the package: leather, parking, lane departure, adaptive cruise, nav, etc, etc. The heated leather steering wheel will be a welcome addition in winter. Not sure want to do now with the 2014 Mercedes....

 

[Joe]

ClassESage - how does the Volt drive? My B-class lease ends in 6 months and I would entertain the Volt...curious on the pros/cons when compared to the B-class...thx.

 

[MBFellow]

I saw an MB dealer yesterday. He checked all around and told me that he doubted there would be a 2018 model of the B Class electric (my lease expires in 2018). Has anyone else heard this? He tried to get me to buy a plug in hybrid MB.

 

[JeffRay]

Nah. Another dealer trying to upsell you to their hybrid. A salesman I was friendly with just said he had returned from a session where they were pushing the hybrids.

Another salesperson who is assigned to electrics told me to contact him in August about leasing a 2018 when my 2014 lease ends in December.

Have not seen any announcements about ending the B250e production line.

In any case, plenty of 2016 and 2017 around, no?

 

[WantOne]

No good news from me here.

Spoke to the MB Dealership finance manager in WA and there hasn't been a lease pull ahead for B Class, the car does not have positive liquity so dealers don't take them either.

He did recommend checking with dealers in OR since they are the b class dealers about 3-5 months prior to lease ends and see what's going on. My case being at March 2018, that'll put me to Black Friday shopping.

 

[JeffRay]

WantOne. "does not have positive liquidity"? Can you explain what you understand they were telling you? I was thinking of buying my car at the end of the lease but would offer less than the contract price which I believe (can't find my lease) was in excess of $20K. Maybe offer them $18K? So if negative liquity means that they will be taking a loss on the resale of my leased vehicle, that would be good to know.

Thanks for sleuthing.

 

[WantOne]

Basically what they meant was if the case is to find another B class, I would have to find a B class dealer to buy off my current lease. In my case, the dealer I spoke to, does not think they can sell it with profit + they are not b dealer.

This would be a dealer transaction as oppose to MBUSA transaction. So I haven't given up lease pullahead yet, just not finding the right dealership yet.