Best Car Lease Information

Breaking a car lease can be an expensive and lengthy process. There are many reasons why a person might want to break their lease, for example, they’ve lost their job and can no longer afford the payments, they’re going through a divorce, they have a new baby and a two seater car is no longer practical, or maybe they’re moving out of the country.

A car lease is sometimes more complicated than people think, it is a contract that binds the lessee into a term typically from 24 to 48 months in length. Most people don’t bother to read over the fine print when they lease a vehicle, but legally you are responsible to make the payments over the agreed upon term and if you can’t there will be financial consequences. There are some option available, though not many. For example if you think your only option is to be breaking a car lease you can always try to find someone to take over the lease for you. This could be a friend, family member, neighbor, anyone who is able and willing to take over the lease for you. Keep in mind the person taking over your loan will have to go through a credit check as well, and some leasing companies will still hold the original lessee accountable if the third party lessee defaults on their payments.

Some leasing companies will allow you to move into a new vehicle and lease if you’re looking into breaking a car lease, however it typically needs to be a mature lease, with only a matter of months left. This course of action may work for you if your needs have changed, but not if you want out entirely. And the remaining monthly payments you still owe on the old vehicle won’t just go away, they are often rolled into the price of the new vehicle.

Another option for breaking a car lease is to buy the vehicle out, but this could cost thousands of dollars because market value depreciation hits the moment you drive off the lot.

A more desperate measure is to simply hand over the vehicle and the keys to the dealership you leased it for and walk away. This is the worst way to handle the situation as it will definitely hurt your credit because you are defaulting on your loan. If at all possible you should opt for a better solution, because you don’t want to completely ruin your credit by breaking a car lease if you can avoid it at all.

Filed under: Best Car Lease Info