$595, though Mercedes-Benz Financial Services never actually publishes that figure as the fee. What it publishes is a credit: lease or finance your next Mercedes with MBFS and you get a credit for the turn-in fee, up to $595. The fee amount is inferred from that cap, which is why sources quote $595 and $600.
That gap between what MBFS states and what everyone reports is the whole reason this question is hard to answer. Search it and you get forum threads where one poster calls a $4,600 early termination charge a “turn-in fee”, another calls the same $595 a “disposition fee”, and a third asks whether it applies when you buy the car out and gets no answer.
What MBFS actually says
On its own lease end page, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services writes that “if you lease or finance your next Mercedes-Benz vehicle with Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (MBFS), you will receive a credit for the vehicle turn-in fee, up to $595.”
Read that carefully. Three things follow from it.
MBFS calls it a vehicle turn-in fee, not a disposition fee. Disposition fee is the generic industry term and the one forums use, but it is not the name on the Mercedes paperwork.
The $595 is the cap on the credit, not a stated fee. “Up to” is doing work there. Your own lease agreement is the only document that states your fee, and it can differ.
The credit is conditional on financing through MBFS. Not on buying another Mercedes. Those are different conditions, and the difference costs real money, which is covered below.
Four fees people call the turn-in fee
Most of the confusion online is not about the amount. It is that four separate charges get the same name. Here is what each one is and when it bites.
| Charge | Typical amount | When it applies | Official figure? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle turn-in fee | $595 | You hand the car back at the end of the lease. | Inferred from the MBFS credit cap |
| Purchase option fee | $150 to $495 | You buy the car out instead of returning it. | No, sources disagree |
| Early termination fee | $3,000 to $4,600 reported | You end the lease before maturity. One report says it stops applying in the final three months. | No, forum payoff quotes only |
| Excess mileage | No published rate | You go over the miles in your agreement. | No, MBFS says see your lease |
Only the turn-in fee has any figure on an MBFS page, and even that appears as the cap on a credit rather than as the fee. Everything else here comes from owner-posted payoff quotes and is not an official schedule. Your lease agreement is the governing document.
The early termination figures in that table come from real posted payoff quotes, not from a published schedule, because MBFS does not publish one. One poster reported a $3,000 charge their own MBFS rep could not explain, and said it stopped applying in the final three months of the lease. Another was quoted $4,600 for ending eleven months early. Treat these as the shape of the charge, not as your number.
When is the fee waived, and when is it not?
MBFS states one condition and one only: lease or finance your next Mercedes-Benz with MBFS. That is narrower than it sounds.
| What you do next | Turn-in fee credit? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lease a new Mercedes through MBFS | Yes, up to $595 | Meets the stated condition exactly. |
| Finance a new Mercedes through MBFS | Yes, up to $595 | MBFS names leasing and financing together. |
| Buy a new Mercedes with cash | No | You bought a Mercedes but did not finance through MBFS. The separate $500 wear credit still applies. |
| Finance a new Mercedes through your own bank | No | Same reason. The condition is MBFS, not the brand. |
| Buy out your own leased car | Not stated | MBFS says nothing about it. Forum reports conflict. Check your contract. |
| Walk away and buy another brand | No | No condition is met, so the full fee stands. |
Condition quoted from Mercedes-Benz Financial Services: a credit for the vehicle turn-in fee, up to $595, if you lease or finance your next Mercedes-Benz vehicle with MBFS. Forum posters report a 60 day window from the turn-in date. That window is not on the official page, so get it confirmed in writing if your timing is tight.
The row that catches people is paying cash. If you walk into a Mercedes dealer, buy your next car outright and never touch MBFS, you have bought another Mercedes but you have not financed through MBFS, so the turn-in fee credit does not apply. A separate $500 credit does, and that one is covered on our page about Mercedes lease loyalty credits.
There is also a 60 day window reported by forum posters, who say an MBFS representative told them the new contract had to be signed within 60 days of the turn-in date. That window appears nowhere on the official page. If your timing is close, get it confirmed in writing by MBFS rather than relying on a forum post or a dealer’s word.
What if you buy the car out instead of returning it?
This is the question nobody answers, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
MBFS’s lease end page says nothing about it. Forum reports conflict: one poster in 2023 argued that by definition a turn-in fee cannot apply when you are not turning the car in, and got no resolution. A 2025 reply said a third-party sale gets a vehicle purchase fee but no disposition fee. Published figures for the purchase option fee itself range from $150 to $495 depending on who you ask.
The honest answer: your lease agreement decides, not the website. Pull out the contract and look for the purchase option section and the turn-in fee section separately. If you cannot find a clear answer there, call MBFS and ask them to confirm in writing which of the two applies before you commit to the buyout.
Quick answers
Is the Mercedes turn-in fee the same as a disposition fee?
Same charge, different name. MBFS calls it a vehicle turn-in fee. Disposition fee is the generic term used across the industry and by most forums, which is why searching one term brings up the other.
Can you negotiate the Mercedes turn-in fee away?
Not at lease end. It is set in the contract you signed. The only published way to avoid it is the credit, which requires leasing or financing your next Mercedes through MBFS.
Is the fee charged if the car is a total loss?
Not addressed on the MBFS lease end page. A total loss ends the lease through the insurance and gap provisions instead, which work differently from a normal return. Check your own agreement.
When do you pay it?
It appears on the lease-end statement, which MBFS sends after the vehicle is returned and the final inspection is complete. The return process itself starts about four months before your maturity date.
Does the fee count toward your next lease?
No. The credit is applied to your account for the fee itself. It is not a discount on the new vehicle and it is not cash back.
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Sources and date
Checked 6 October 2026 against Mercedes-Benz Financial Services’ own lease end page, which is the only source that states the $595 figure and the condition attached to it. The early termination and purchase option figures come from posted payoff quotes on owner forums and are explicitly not official. MBFS does not publish a fee schedule, so your lease agreement is the governing document.
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