Options for terminating a car lease early?

February 22, 2006 1:59 PM

Does anyone have any advice about terminating a car lease early?

I recently moved back to the US from the UK and intended on staying for a few years but as it turns out I'm going to be transferring back to the UK soon (next few months). When I moved back, I got a great deal on a lease for a new 2006 Audi A4 from Audi Financial Services and went for it. It's a sweet ride but unfortunately I can't take it with...

The options from Audi are limited: sell it outright and pay it off or sell it to a dealer and pay any 'loss' on the car. So I've decided to go a different route and list it on swapalease.com and see what happens, any other suggestions / advice? Many thanks!

posted by lazywhinerkid to Travel & Transportation (9 answers total)

Advertise it locally in the places where people look to buy cars. Mark it clearly as a lease takeover. Someone who thought they wanted to buy used might very well decide they'd like to take over a lease instead.
posted by mendel at 2:04 PM on February 22, 2006

Be ready to take a loss as it's an almost new car. Also, since you're selling an almost-new car many people will automatically be skeptical. You're best bet probably IS to try and sell it yourself, or have a friend take the car to drive and make the payments. Still, expect some loss, either money, car, or friend.
posted by JamesMessick at 2:09 PM on February 22, 2006

Best answer: I had to sell an almost-new car once when my husband and I joined the Peace Corps. I think it really helped move the car to explain why we were selling it, and "moving to Africa" seemed to be a valid reason. Maybe it makes it seem less likely to be a lemon...
posted by handful of rain at 2:14 PM on February 22, 2006

Audifans has a pretty active marketplace, it wouldn't hurt to post an ad there too.
posted by jackmakrl at 2:15 PM on February 22, 2006

Am I reading this right that where you work is transferring you back and making you eat this cost?
posted by smackfu at 2:21 PM on February 22, 2006

Response by poster: smackfu: it's a long story. any costs i incur will be as a result of dodgy decision-making on my part.
posted by lazywhinerkid at 2:27 PM on February 22, 2006

If you subscribe to Playboy, this question is addressed in this month's Playboy advisor. I don't remember the answer exactly, but they did recommend swapalease.com. Interestingly enough, the article also mentioned that the Audi A4 is among the top 3 swapped vehicles on there.
posted by corranhorn at 3:05 PM on February 22, 2006

Best answer: This might help you out a little bit.
posted by itchie at 3:51 PM on February 22, 2006

Response by poster: Just a followup in case anyone reads this -- I had good luck with Swapalease. Three weeks after first posting my ad there, someone bit and is taking the car. The process of dealing with Audi and all the paperwork was pretty straightforward as well.

The one drawback (that I didn't realise when first doing this) is that Audi keeps everyone on the lease -- including the original leaseholders -- when doing a "transfer of equity". So if your man decides to crash the car and skip the country or something, I'd be held liable as well. However, Swapalease offers insurance for this type of thing which is about $500. Still haven't decided if I'm going to go for it or not.
posted by lazywhinerkid at 2:32 PM on March 24, 2006