[BlueDubbinTDI]

Originally Posted by ashtray

That's the problem with leasing a car - you got payments. When the payments stop, you got no car. Last new car I bought (WRX) I paid off in 4 years, and then drove the next 7 without a car payment. Well, without a car payment on THAT car. Leasing is nice if you want a new car every few years and never want to get into the maintenance/repairs scene of higher mileage cars.

There's certainly ways out of your lease, but look at it this way: the car depreciates FAST in the first week you own it. Drive it off the lot, lose $1k. Then the rate of depreciation tapers off - though the first three years are higher than the next three. So within your lease period, you have a fixed monthly payment. That payment is "cheap" at the start of the lease as your car is depreciating faster than your lease payment, but then gets expensive towards the end - as your car isn't depreciating as much as your payment is.

With that in mind, why would someone take over a lease on a used car for a year at $350/mo, when they can lease a new car for $350/mo?

The economics of the lease transfer would dictate that the original owner would lose any down payment. If no down payment was made, then the person may have to pay someone to take over their lease. Also depends on the mileage and condition. If you're tracking to exceed the lease mileage, you have to pay the next guy for your overage; while if you're under on usage, then you can get a credit for that. Ie - if you have 10k miles on your car it's worth more than if you have 25k miles. If you have 30k miles on it and the lease was for 3 years/36k miles and there's 1 year left on your lease, then it's going to cost you to get out of that lease.

There's a lot to it - but you have options:
- Go through a 3rd party that handles lease buyouts.
- Buy your car out of the lease - get a 5yr loan from the bank and your payments might even go down, depending on the interest rate.
- Trade the car in on something else. Find out from your insurance company how much the new car will cost to insure so there's no surprises.

Lots of people lease cars - hindsight is 20/20. For some people leasing was the right financial choice, and for others buying would have been better. Best to think ahead when deciding either route, and not just focusing on the short term.

Solid reply to this thread. Thank you. I do believe I will just stick out the lease at this point and just turn it in at the end. My milage is behind schedule and I put 2k down. yes, hind sight is 20/20 for sure. I'm just glad I learned it on a 26k car instead of a 60k car. These payments aren't the end of the world, they're just irresponsible. But so are most 24 year olds and I wish I wasn't