Can you break a vehicle lease?

[Jims5543]

We are 12 months into a 36 month lease. Is there a penalty you can pay to break a lease? Or, are you stuck for 36 months.

[notfarnow]

I think if the car gets totalled, you're free & clear. When I was in university I worked at a dealership in Montreal... a guy was investigated by his insurance company for doing just that.

[techweenie]

Try swapalease.com

I used it to get out of the last 7 months of a lease.

It's the least expensive of the alternatives, but they are all expensive.

[notfarnow]

Other than that, you can have someone take over the lease or pay hefty penalties at the dealer.

[Steve Carlton]

First off, call the lessor. I'm not aware of any option to terminate the lease early without being open to a significant cost. I would expect the following possibilities:

- return the car to the lessor, they'll send it to an auction and bill you for the difference between the selling price (net of auction fees, I would expect) and the payoff balance plus any termination fees.

- sell it yourself for market value and payoff as required with the buyer's proceeds, and you'll probably be short (maybe not much).

- trade it in on another car and either pay the shortfall or roll it into the next car's financing.

- make the remaining 24 payments and termination fees, and turn in the car as if it was lease-end. This is not bad near the end of the lease, major ugly early on.

Don't let someone take over the lease unless they officially assume it with no secondary liability to you. Unless it's someone you really trust...

[Jims5543]

Trading in is probably not an option. I am done with Audi. Horrible service and problematic cars. This car has 5K miles on it and its already acting up. We are trying to decide whether to just deal with it for 2 more years or take one on the chin chalk it up as a huge mistake and move on.

I will never lease again. I will never buy new again. I will never buy another Audi.

[JSDSKI]

Talk to Audi directly through their customer service support lines and bypass the dealer if you are not satisfied with them. Get the "lemon law" rules for your state and all repair doc's (include notes for phone calls, issues car displayed away from dealer) and tell them you're calling a lawyer. Manuf's will usually provide you with a means to walk away from the car without ending up in court - IF YOU MEET YOUR STATE'S LEMON CRITERIA.

Usual options:

1) substitution of collateral and you swap for same model car-you get a new car and its VIN is substituted on the lease and you finish lease in new car with fewer or no problems.

2) manuf buys back your car by paying off the lease and you walk away.

3) manuf and you agree to a dollar amount and you pay off diff.

Notify the bank of the situation and keep making payments until resolved. Good luck.

[Jims5543]

Lemon laws will not apply this car. The problems are very minor and annoying at this point. Cd changer on the fritz, passanger window malfunctions and will not roll up from time to time. This will last a few minutes and go away. Will not happen for the dealer. (Of course)

The dealer is an hour drive away and their service is horrible. It basically the annoyance of having to waste 2-4 hours of your day dealing with a problem when you have to go to the dealer.

[JSDSKI]

Yeah - intermittant problems irritate dealer's and their staff as well.
Still, I'd make an appt with Audi's district rep and ask Audi to look at that stuff. Maybe he'll authorize a new wiring loom, new switches without having to duplicate the problem (a usual legal requirement for warranty / insurance repairs).... best of luck.

[craigster59]

You might want Audi to hook your car up to their VAG COM and reset to factory default. Sometimes that shakes out the bugs.

[David]

You can sell it. If the lease value is greater than what you can sell it for you'll have to pay the difference. If not you'll get some money back. After one year, you'll probably lose some.

We bought our 99 323i 2 years into a 3 year lease. The owners got about $1500 out of it and we paid them about $500 below private party blue book.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by 125shifter
You can sell it. If the lease value is greater than what you can sell it for you'll have to pay the difference. If not you'll get some money back. After one year, you'll probably lose some.

We bought our 99 323i 2 years into a 3 year lease. The owners got about $1500 out of it and we paid them about $500 below private party blue book.

Depends on how the lease was negotiated. I negotiated hard for (1) a certain dollar amount payment, (2) a high residual, and (3) a low cap. Now, I knew I was pushing the money factor, or interest rate, down with my terms because that was the only variable left to work with.

But, the lease bit me. The buyout at any point and the purchase at end of the lease were both very unattractive.
I'm working on that now as I've let the lease run past it's maturity and haven't turned in the car yet, only incurring a "13th" payment (in the current year).

The moral is, most leasing contracts are held by huge financial companies in portfolio. You and you car don't mean stink to them. It's all a program.

Don't lease, is all I can say.

But, the problems are Audi's. That's where you go to get this straightened out. First, document all that goes wrong and all the conditions at the moment. Then, insist that a regional service manager oversees the repair. Constantly threaten legal action and bringing in the state dept that controls auto repair. The dealer should love to work on the car, they get paid by the factory. But if they aren't competent, make arrangements with the regional guy to have the car transported to another dealer. Demand a free rental. Make a lot of noise. You have to.

Oh, BTW, don't you think it's a little risky trying to total a car? Just how do you do that? Burn it? Good luck.

[Steve Carlton]

A lease is good in this situation. He's only paid the sales tax on his 12 payments and cap reduction (if there was one). That's a lot less than the tax on the full purchase price by a mile. The car's worth the same now regardless of how it was financed; if there's a bigger gap between selling price and payoff, it's only because less principal has been paid (except for the acquisition fee).

The car's under warranty just like any new car. A faulty CD and window isn't cause for panic. Legal threats will make one look like an idiot. Check the Lemon Laws in Florida, and keep track of where you are to qualify. If the car does end up qualifying for a buyback, you'll get most of your lease payments refunded. I lemoned a 745i for a friend of mine, and he got $21,000 back on his 2 year lease. He would have gotten it all back if he had gotten it documented early on that the sillouette of his car was yellow instead of green. IMO, leasing an unreliable high-end car can be some of the cheapest luxury driving available if it gets lemoned. The Lemon Law attorney we used said the MBZ S500 was the king in this regard.

[Zeke]

Steve, why is a legal threat apt to make one look like a fool? There are maneuvers that can be done and the paperwork, attorney fees, or just plain executive fees, make troublesome issues a PITA. It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.

Apparently, you don't agree.......

I don't go around waving an attorney's card at everyone that gives me grief, but when someone doesn't play along, I move them off dead center. And, it's been done to me as well.

I was sued for issuing a one word epithet in the course of work. I paid.

[Jims5543]

Nah, I'll just tough it out for 24 more months and counting. Then its on to a Mazdaspeed6 purchased outright.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally posted by Zeke
Constantly threaten legal action and bringing in the state dept that controls auto repair.

Things go wrong with cars, and new ones with factory warranties get repaired on the factory dime. "Problem not observed" unfortunately often occurs. I don't see any evidence from what Jim is describing as meriting legal action. In this case, the Lemon Laws are his remedy, and they seem pretty fair to me overall. Threatening legal action is only going to make one look like a jerk and stiffen up the dealership from wanting to help a customer or go the extra mile. Oftentimes one gets more flies with honey than vinegar. If Jim feels this dealership's service is horrible, then perhaps it'll get fixed right at a more competent one and he won't have to deal with this anymore.

[89911]

I've leased, bought new, and bought used over the years. Each has it's own benefits. I've actually never had a leased car until the end of the lease, being able to get out of it early. It is possible if: 1. You are going to lease again from the the same company. 2. The residual value has been set low and you are not over the miles. This is good in a trade in if the dealer thinks he can buy out your car for the residual and then sell it at a profit. Usually only works when you in the last year of your lease. 3. Buy the car out of its lease at its residual value and try to sell it yourself. Most likely your going to pay, either all at one time or monthly during your lease. Just depends how much you hate your car and want out. Like I once was advised by a salesman. " Anything possible if you don't mind throwing money at it."

[SLO-BOB]

Originally posted by Jim Cesiro
Trading in is probably not an option. I am done with Audi. Horrible service and problematic cars. This car has 5K miles on it and its already acting up. We are trying to decide whether to just deal with it for 2 more years or take one on the chin chalk it up as a huge mistake and move on.

I will never lease again. I will never buy new again. I will never buy another Audi.

Substitute "VW" for Audi and you have my past scenario. We had to take it on the chin and wait it out. The response we got from the lease company was "Sure. You can return it early. We just add up all the payments you have left on your contract and bill you that total when you bring it in." Total *********s. I actually bought my wife another car and the VW rotted in my driveway largely unused. Yes-it was that bad.

[jdlowery]

Wow! I've been thinking about an A3 3.2 Quattro. I had some reservations. It seems that some Audi owners have no problems and others...