Get Out of Your Car Lease with LeaseTrader

Fri Jun 8, 2007 12:04PM EDT

See Comments (11)

Rightly or not, I've always been impressed with the notion that a car lease is a terrible investment, and that's probably why so many people want to get out of their auto leases before the terms are up. ($1,500 a month for an Audi? Yow!)

LeaseTrader is a sophisticated, good-looking system for those looking to escape draconian leases... or who simply want to upgrade to a new car before the old lease is up.

The service couldn't be easier to use. If you're looking to acquire a lease, a search engine lets you specify make, model, model year, the payment you're willing to accept, and the months remaining on the lease. Specify as many or as few details as you'd like. While there's only one Lamborghini on the site ($2,791 per month), 167 Toyotas are currently listed (the best deal: $200 a month). (I don't have a lease, of course, so I couldn't test the seller's side.)

The service costs about $200 for both the seller and the buyer, and lease transfers take about three weeks to complete.

LeaseTrader is a great idea that the market can't help but need. "Lock in" is bad for consumers, and there's no reason that leases shouldn't be freely transferable just like wholly-owned cars are. And for some buyers, a lease probably does make sense, especially if you need a car for only a limited time, aren't sure whether you want a car for a long period, or just can't find the car you want at the price you need.

Anyone out there had experience with trying to transfer or otherwise break an auto lease?

Comments on Get Out of Your Car Lease with LeaseTrader

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  • 1 Posted by rogueist on Fri Jun 8, 2007 12:56PM EDT Report Abuse

    Yeah, these lease termination things are horrible - thats why I like owning my vehicles.

  • 2 Posted by keilasti on Sun Jun 10, 2007 2:33PM EDT Report Abuse

    good news i can now get out of my lease, thanks

  • 3 Posted by jvspamaccount on Thu Jun 21, 2007 10:15PM EDT Report Abuse

    Yes, I got my lease from LeaseTrader. The good news is you can find a car for a shorter term since the original owner had it for part of the lease. Also, you can look for leases that have the mileage/month left on the lease that you desire. And the best part is that you can get into a one year old car for a MUCH cheaper price than if you went to get a lease from a dealer. BUT!!! You must be careful and do your research. If it doesn't have a full warranty, you need to get a mechanic to look at it. AND you should have it inspected for damage. The problem I ran into was that no inspector, nor the dealer, nor the leasing bank would inspect the car as if I was turning it in. The reason I wanted to have this done was that I wanted them to tell me if there was anything that had been done to the car to violate the lease agreement or if there was non-obvious damage that I would have to pay out of pocket when I turn in the car at the end of the lease. I basically took a big risk and I won't know until I turn it in (June 2008). Have the owner sign an affidavit stating there was no damage to the car. It might help or might make them fess up if there was. Another thing, once I took over the lease, the bank said it could not be transferred again.

  • 4 Posted by sbj1962 on Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:37AM EDT Report Abuse

    WARNING! If you are a looking to takeover a lease, Do NOT use Lease Trader. First, you pay $35 just to get the phone numbers of cars that you are interested in. Second, If you find a car you want and agree to takeover a lease from someone, you pay an additional $150. Then, if that person backs out you are out $180. I believe that most of the cars listed are just there for show, and no one really has them or wants to transfer them. You can call 15 people and they all say to start the transfer process, and pay your $150, then something always comes up. Unfortunately, it took me three times to figure this out. And if you ask your credit card company if this is a legitimate business and/or question your charges, they will send you a nasty email threatening your credit and threatening legal actions. -Please understand that we will take all appropriate action to collect the amount owed including but not limited to: Reporting the delinquent account to all Credit Agencies. -All fees are due plus all applicable collection fees, filing fees and attorney fees obtained by collecting the amount owed to us. Duration of Negative Credit Information A Credit Reporting Agency can report negative information for seven to ten years, and bankruptcy information for ten years. Information about a lawsuit or an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever period of time is longer. The above was pasted from an email from them. What company does this?

  • 5 Posted by sbj1962 on Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:37AM EDT Report Abuse

    WARNING! If you are a looking to takeover a lease, Do NOT use Lease Trader. First, you pay $35 just to get the phone numbers of cars that you are interested in. Second, If you find a car you want and agree to takeover a lease from someone, you pay an additional $150. Then, if that person backs out you are out $180. I believe that most of the cars listed are just there for show, and no one really has them or wants to transfer them. You can call 15 people and they all say to start the transfer process, and pay your $150, then something always comes up. Unfortunately, it took me three times to figure this out. And if you ask your credit card company if this is a legitimate business and/or question your charges, they will send you a nasty email threatening your credit and threatening legal actions. -Please understand that we will take all appropriate action to collect the amount owed including but not limited to: Reporting the delinquent account to all Credit Agencies. -All fees are due plus all applicable collection fees, filing fees and attorney fees obtained by collecting the amount owed to us. Duration of Negative Credit Information A Credit Reporting Agency can report negative information for seven to ten years, and bankruptcy information for ten years. Information about a lawsuit or an unpaid judgment against you can be reported for seven years or until the statute of limitations runs out, whichever period of time is longer. The above was pasted from an email from them. What company does this?

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