Robert, BH, and Rufus, It is particularly interesting for me to read these viewpoints of yours at this particular time in my car-buying history.
You see, guys, my 2015 Mercedes Benz ML has its lease expire in January. I like = love the car very, very much = no complaints; only praise, and am trying to decide what to do next. My options are, as I see it so far:
(a)
Buy the ML outright, at lease end. This is how my wife and I have approached vehicle ownership for years now. That is, we lease a vehicle, and if it is wonderful (= trouble-free), we buy it. That is why my wife now owns her 2012 E-class, having originally leased it, in 2012, and as time went forward, having had no complaints whatsoever, she bought it. As of today, it has 2,000 mi. on it, only.
(b)
I love my ML (7,000mi to date) and would buy it but am leery of what could happen after time. I keep mileage low, as you can see, only by happenstance, not any determined plan, so given that the vehicle is a Benz, what would I have to worry about, I wonder, as the years roll along and the miles acrue.
(c) I could keep it simple and
just roll right into the next model for ML, leasing a 2017 or 2018, both of which our salesman at the dealership told me are available (he encouraged me to visit the dealership today or Saturday
) when he called yesterday. The only real reservation I have about getting a new one is that damsilly feature (which the salesman told me is the result of DOT/EPA-type [I forget which] regulations)
that shuts the car OFF as soon as you stop it, like for a stop sign, traffic signal, or stop-n-go traffic, like in a funeral cortege, for example. The car would have a button, however, I'd have to flip every time I get in to start the car to disable the shut-off feature.
(d)
Get nothing. Return the ML in January, and simply drive my wife's E-Benz. However, we do both like the independence of having two cars, but it's not essential for staying alive.
(e) Go to
BMW to see what they have new. I had a 2004 and then a 2008 528i and loved them, but I switched from Beemers because of the convenience of using, at first, a Benz GLK (loved it!), and next the ML (more cubic storage space inside) for
Layout Refinements needs; plus, as you may have gathered, I love excursions into the bear-infested forests of Upstate NY.
Any bright ideas, guys? Wayne? Any other knowledgeable voices?
