How to Break a Car Lease

• Also try: How to Lease a Car

Guide Note: A lease is a way to finance an automobile without actually owning it. At the end of the lease, you return the car to the dealer and have no more to pay. But what if you want to end it before the lease period is up? This page will show you How to Break a Car Lease.

Breaking a Lease

• You've just seen your dream car in the dealership window and it's on sale... The problem is, you're still tied into a lease on your current vehicle for another year. So what can you do? What happens when you break the contract? No matter what your reason is, there are several ways to end your car lease early.

• Unfortunately, there's no way to end a lease early for free. But here are a few options you can choose from, and what you can generally expect to pay for each of them.

Termination

Unloading that lease can be harder than you think. (Creative Commons photo by Random J)

• You do have the option of bringing your car back to the dealer and terminating the lease.

1. You will still be responsible to pay the remaining lease payments plus termination fees (usually around $200-400).
2. This can be incredibly expensive and usually adds up to thousands of dollars, so you should really weigh your options before you opt for lease termination.
3. In some cases, you can avoid penalty fees by immediately leasing another vehicle from the same dealer. However, you will still be responsible for any remaining payments of your initial lease, which are usually incorporated into your new lease's payment plan.
4. Talk to your dealer to learn all of your options.

Transfer

• The lowest-cost option is usually to transfer ownership of your lease to someone else.

1. The first thing to do is talk to your dealer; some leases do not allow transfers at certain times during the contract period (or at all).
2. Transferring your lease will allow someone else to take over the payments and have their own short-term lease.
3. You will be responsible for paying for the credit application fees of the new lessee ($300-500).
4. You can find someone to transfer your lease to by placing an ad in the paper or online. Ask around your friends, too, as you might already know someone who's interested.
5. If you can't (or don't want to) find someone to take over your lease yourself, you can use a service such as Swapalease.com. They will help you through the process, typically for a few hundred dollars.
6. Transferring a lease can take some time (particularly when finding a new lessee), so plan accordingly.
7. You cannot simply transfer your lease to another person yourself. You must go through the dealer.

Resources for How to Break a Car Lease

• NBC 12 News: Want to break your auto lease? (September 13, 2005)
• Swapalease.com: Break a Lease
• 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy: Is there any way to get out of a car lease?
• Easyrelease: Break an Auto Lease

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