Long story short: we're making 5 Series-sized lease payments on a 3 Series.

We're 15 months into a 36-month lease.

We love the car but hate the size of the payments.

Do we chalk this up to experience or can we actually re-negotiate terms/payments?

Thanks in advance.

 

There are options, but you'll probably end up paying now, or for another 21 months. Here's a couple of sites and some other info:

http://www.swapalease.com/

http://www.un-lease.com/

http://www.leasetrader.com/info/short-term...ermination.aspx

http://www.leaseguide.com/Glossary/early-c...termination.htm

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/autom...o_leasing.html


Early Termination of the Car Lease - There are most likely fees involved in the early termination of a lease, fees for which you will be responsible to pay. Early termination can be involuntary as well. If the vehicle is stolen and not recovered, or totaled in an accident, the lease is forced to end. Very often your insurance reimbursement will not cover the entire balance due on the lease. Therefore you pay the rest. However, many leasing companies offer gap insurance, which provides you financial protection in such an event.

Also, when paying a car lease, you are paying for the depreciation plus interest. The depreciation is calculated as the difference between the cap cost and the residual value. While the depreciation is paid off evenly over the lease term, the depreciation of a car is not linear. The difference in the actual depreciation and the paid depreciation is known as the gap amount, and will also be paid in a prematurely terminated lease.

Additionally, some leasing companies will require you to pay off the remainder of the car lease contract before releasing you from the lease. Others will require a flat rate termination fee. Make sure you read all the fine print before signing your lease contract.

Q. What is a lease early-termination option?

A. If you terminate your lease after, say, 36 months on a 48-month lease, you will have to pay an extra charge, based on the difference between the residual value of the car at that time and the estimated residual value at the end of the lease term (stated in the contract). The difference between these two may be great. In most lease agreements you must keep the car at least 12 months.
The dealer must tell you before you sign the contract whether you can terminate early, and the cost of early termination.

 

Can I ask why you leased? IMO unless there is a special price on a lease it's never better than buying.

at least when you buy a car you know how much you owe and can always pay it off or trade it in with very little trouble.

 

Did you not know what the payments were going to be before you signed on the dotted line?

Or did things change and now the payments are a bit to big to handle?

Lease swapping is probably your only viable option. Good luck!

 

I have worked with customers before that got really hosed....what you have to do is find another dealership that is really aggressive, and get them to absorb some of the early lease termination cost, and try to get you into a new car at less cost. That's the cleanest way out of it.

 

Great replies! Thank you all.

Diamond Dave, I'll tackle your reading list later. Thanks.

rai, the lease was an experiment. Live and learn.

switchcars, that's an interesting strategy. Just may work. I'll make a few phone calls.

 

some lease companies will let you out if you simply pay the CURRENT residual value (not the ending one!!) and a $100 fee. Chase, and many others, are that way.

the crappiest ones will ask for the sum of remaining payments, but if you got stuck with one of those, it is usually because the better ones rejected you.

 

Leasing is better than buying when you know you're going to drive it like a rental. I put some hard hard miles on my Leased S2000, including about 10 track days and thousands of 9k rpm shifts. I would not have been nearly so abusive to a car I owned.

Anybody thinking of leasing, just do yourself a big favor and research it. If you go with the intent of buying and get talked into a lease, I'd bet you are not getting favorable terms (read: bend over). But if you know how the lease is calculated, you will do fine.

 

he's right, leasing can be a good deal, but ususally only those savvy enough to know how they work get the good deal. the financially ignorant almost always get the shaft.

 

Honda finance has terrible early termination options - they want sum of remaining payments if turned in early, if bought out early they want residual plus remaining payments, they do not allow sub-lease or lease swap, they do not negotiate residual at the end of the lease (take it or leave it). But if you have good credit they do have some of the best lease deals.

The domestics have some of the best lease end programs, usually some kind of pull-ahead program. I turned in a 36month 36,000 mile GM lease a full 7 months early with no penalty. Effectively made it a 29month / 36000 mile (1240 miles per month instead of 1000 miles per month) for the same cost. They are rumored to be more lenient on condition at lease end and residual negotiation shuld you want to buy it.