Personal Car Lease - No longer fit for purpose

[CalamityCate01]

Hello, I'm wondering if anyone else has shared a similar experience? I would be interested to know if other companies take the same approach.

We have always bought cars previously, my husband changed jobs and had to take a lease, after much research he leased a new Mercedes Coupe in October 2013, over a 24 month period.

At the time we were told we could hand the car back after a year if it wasn't suitable. When we discovered I was accidentally pregnant we thought this won't be an issue, baby is due in October the lease is a year old in October we imagined the car could be swapped for something more suitable. There are only two seats in the back, which currently accommodate our eight year old son and five year old daughter.

We contacted the lease company and we were told no that's not how it works. We can hand the car back, however we must clear £26,000 approx outstanding on the car and then we are free to hand it back, or pay the remaining lease term of twelve months approx £4800.00.

Either of these financial options are not viable, we don't have that sort of money to spare as I will be on maternity pay. I imagined a very large international reputable company like Mercedes would be able to swap our car for another which would be fit for our needs for another car to the same value or less until the lease came to an end, they must have hundreds on garage fore courts.

Would anyone else agree that paying for a car to sit in our driveway - which we cannot use as a family for the next twelve months isn't a plan?

We have just signed up for a 3 year personal lease and my understanding is that it is pretty watertight that, once started, you have to pay the lease whether you want the vehicle or not.
DH has sorted us out with lease gap insurance in case a situation such as yours should arise over the course of the lease which will pay it off so we can change cars.

I'm on my 3rd personal lease, and as Cavort says, they are absolutely fixed on terms once it started. I changed roles not long after I took out my current lease into a position which required a far greater amount of travel, and was not allowed to increase the mileage limit on the lease. You will need to double check the paperwork that you got when you originally took out the lease, but I'm afraid that it's unlikely that you'll be able to hand it back without some sort of final payment.

I'm not sure Mercedes have anything to do with this - your agreement will be with the lease company, not the manufacturer of the car you chose at the start.

You need to check the terms of the lease about early surrender penalties, and choose the most affordable. Or, depending on what sort of journeys you actually make, decide to keep this car, hiring one you all fit in when you need it. That works if the car is mainly for work; doesn't begin to be suitable if you need it or school run etc.