Car Lease Question

July 13, 2006 4:45 AM

How to get out of a car lease with the least amount of pain. A family member leased a car for commuting after she ran the numbers and found that a lease was less expensive than purchase and then private sale after five years. They are now working from home and do not need a personal car. The lease holder will take the car back, sell it at auction, subtract that from the balance on the contract and she will make up the balance. This balance due for early release number is about $5K over the retail sale value of the car. Anyone out there who has dealt with this problem? Can leases on cars be transferred?
posted by Raybun to law & government (9 comments total)

Can she buy out the lease instead, and then sell the car privately? I doubt she will break even that way, but it might minimize the loss on the transaction.
posted by COD at 5:15 AM on July 13, 2006

If the leasing company will let her transfer the lease there are a few websites that assist in helping lease holders to find people willing to take over their leases. This is just one of them.
posted by white_devil at 5:23 AM on July 13, 2006

Not sure where you are, but at least in Canada, there's Leasebusters.com as well.
posted by antifuse at 5:51 AM on July 13, 2006

Swapalease.com
posted by blue_beetle at 6:24 AM on July 13, 2006

Mrs docgonzo and I just picked up our sweet, sweet ride from a fellow on (toronto) Craigslist. He wanted to get out of his lease as he was no longer commuting. We picked up the payments, paid half the transfer fee and got new plates. Saab/GM was more than happy with the arrangement.
posted by docgonzo at 7:15 AM on July 13, 2006

fixed link - Swapalease.com
posted by blue_beetle at 7:24 AM on July 13, 2006

If you decide to buy out, then sell... Know that some US states charge significant use tax on title transfers (especially for lease buy outs).

If your state does this, normal title transfers charge use tax as a percentage (e.g. 3%) of the car's KBB value. But lease buy outs use the value of the lease buy out, which is likely thousands of dollars more than the actual value of the car.

Say the buy out is around $20k, this could be an unexpected and unrecoverable charge of five or six hundred dollars. Swapping may be the best option.
posted by 10ch at 8:24 AM on July 13, 2006

I've heard good things about: Lease Trader. Put a $2000 bonus on the lease, and you'll get rid of it in no time.
posted by hatsix at 9:49 AM on July 13, 2006

I assigned a lease to my stepfather after Swapalease failed to turn up any interested parties. It's pretty painless, though there will be a fee of some sort (split it with the other party). The leaseholder will give you all the paperwork you need.
posted by schoolgirl report at 11:09 AM on July 13, 2006