Mercedes lease return and every other lease-end option

You can also buy the car or, based on MBFS's latest public statement, sell it to an outside dealer. If your next car is a new Mercedes-Benz leased or financed through MBFS, you can qualify for credits toward the turn-in fee and part of any excess wear charges.

Your options when a Mercedes-Benz lease ends

• Return it. Turn the car in at a Mercedes-Benz dealer and pay what the final statement lists: any turn-in fee, excess miles and excess wear.

• Buy it. Pay the purchase price in your contract (or the payoff, if you buy before maturity), plus California tax.

• Sell or trade it. If the car is worth more than the payoff, a dealer can buy it and the difference is yours.

• Extend. Ask MBFS for extra months if your next car isn't ready.

• End early. Return, buy or trade before maturity, or use a pull-ahead offer if MBFS is running one.

The general rules behind each choice are in every lease-end option explained. For a short answer based on your dates and miles, use My lease is ending.

How a Mercedes lease return works

1. Book the pre-inspection. MBFS starts the return process about four months before maturity. The free inspection is done by OPENLANE, an independent inspection company, at your home, your work or another place you pick. Book through the link on MBFS's lease-end page or call OPENLANE at 800-556-2811.

2. Read the report. It's posted online and lists the damage MBFS would charge for. You can repair items before turn-in. MBFS recommends an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer, and repairs that don't meet the manufacturer's standards can still be billed.

3. Book the return. Call your dealer for a day and time. Before you go, remove the car from your Mercedes-Benz app (Garage, then Remove Vehicle) so your account and connected services detach from it.

4. Turn it in. Bring every key and anything that came with the car, plus service records if work was done outside a Mercedes-Benz dealer. MBFS can bill for overdue maintenance.

5. Check the lease-end statement. MBFS mails it after turn-in. Charges are based on the final third-party inspection done when you return the car, not on the pre-inspection.

What to check at the dealer and which papers to keep are covered in returning a leased car. MBFS's own steps are on its lease-end page, and the MBFS Lease Maturity Department is at 800-873-5471.

What the Mercedes-Benz inspection counts as excess wear

For exterior damage, MBFS uses its Credit Card Test: if a standard credit card covers a dent or scratch, you generally won't be charged. The test does not apply to glass, lights, wheels, tires, cracks, gouges, holes in the sheet metal, clusters of damage, or tears, cuts, holes and burns inside the car.

• Tires: tread under 4/32 of an inch, sidewall damage (including plugs and cuts), bulges and exposed cords are chargeable.

• Wheels: cracked or bent wheels and rims are chargeable.

• Glass: cracks, stars, holes or plugs are chargeable, and MBFS says a windshield with three or more chips will be charged.

• Safety items: damage such as a torn seat belt is charged whatever its size.

• Mileage: miles over your allowance are billed at the per-mile rate in your lease.

Whether to repair first or pay the charge is covered in excess wear and tear on a leased car.

Buying your Mercedes-Benz at lease end

At maturity, the price is the purchase option price in your lease, which is the residual value set when you signed, plus any purchase-option fee your contract lists and California tax. Before maturity, you pay the payoff: the remaining lease balance under your contract's formula plus any amounts due. Your dealer or MBFS can handle the steps. Ask MBFS for a written payoff with a good-through date.

California treats a lease buyout as a taxable purchase. When a dealer handles it, the dealer collects the tax. When you buy straight from the lender, the lender may not collect it, and you pay use tax to the DMV when you transfer the registration (CDTFA guide for vehicle purchasers). Financing and the DMV steps are in buying out your lease in California.

Can a third party buy out a Mercedes lease?

Yes, based on the latest public statement. After a Calabasas used-car dealer sued Mercedes-Benz and BMW over buyout limits, MBFS settled and said, as reported in April 2023, that it lets third-party dealerships buy its leased cars as long as you request the payoff from MBFS and share it with the buyer. We found no published change as of September 2026. MBFS doesn't post this policy on its own site, so confirm it for your account before you sign with CarMax, Carvana or a dealer of another brand.

• Ask MBFS whether it will accept a payoff from that specific buyer, and whether the buyer's payoff matches yours.

• Get the buyer's offer in writing and compare it with the payoff. The difference is your equity.

• If the buyer can't pay MBFS directly, you can buy the car and resell it. CDTFA presumes your buyout is a sale for resale, so it isn't taxed, if you transfer title and registration to the buyer within 10 days of getting the title and don't use the car yourself in between.

Payoff quote types and each lender's rules are in third-party lease buyouts.

Ending a Mercedes-Benz lease early

California law lets you end a lease before its scheduled end (Civil Code section 2987). What it costs depends on how you do it:

• Return it early. You owe the early termination amount MBFS calculates under your contract. California caps it at unpaid payments to date, other amounts due, a reasonable disposition fee, and the gap between the remaining lease balance and the car's value.

• Buy it or trade it in. If you buy the car early, or trade it in toward another car, California caps the price at the remaining lease balance plus unpaid payments, other amounts due and any purchase-option fee in your contract. If the car is worth more, the difference goes to you.

• Pull-ahead. MBFS has run pull-ahead programs that credit some remaining payments when you lease or finance a new Mercedes-Benz through MBFS. They come and go, so ask the dealer whether one applies to your account this month.

• Transfer. Lease-transfer marketplaces report that MBFS stopped accepting transfers in July 2020, with narrow exceptions such as the death of the lessee. Ask MBFS before you list the car anywhere.

How each exit is priced: getting out of a car lease early.

Extending a Mercedes-Benz lease

MBFS decides extensions case by case through its Lease Maturity Department (800-873-5471). Call before your maturity date, not after. Lessees report that a short extension is usually granted, while longer ones tend to need a new Mercedes-Benz on order. Ask how many months you can have, whether the payment and mileage allowance stay the same, and the date the car must come back.

The Mercedes-Benz turn-in fee and loyalty credits

MBFS calls the disposition fee the vehicle turn-in fee, and your lease lists it. As of September 2026, MBFS offers two loyalty credits:

• Turn-in fee credit. Lease or finance your next Mercedes-Benz through MBFS and it credits the turn-in fee, up to a set limit. You can't be in default, and you must meet MBFS's credit criteria.

• Excess wear credit. Replace the car with a new Mercedes-Benz and MBFS credits excess wear and use charges, up to a set limit. It doesn't cover excess miles or overdue maintenance.

What the fee pays for and when lenders drop it: the disposition fee.