12 Month Lease or?

Ask the Hackrs
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1

Location: Seattle, WA
Car: 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
Lessor: Ally
Term: 24 months (ends mid-October)
Payment: $460 per month

Hi,

Looking for some help/suggestions here. Our current lease ends mid-October. We maybe moving out of the country next year around July/August. Or we maybe staying here. We will not know for sure until April/May next year.

Any suggestions about what we should do for a car? I spoke to someone at Ally over the phone who said their maximum lease extension is 3 months. I can’t actually go through the real extension process until September after my final payment, so not entirely sure the 3 months limit is legit.

I don’t want to buy the car and then sell next year. I’ll definitely lose money as the buyout price is currently way above the market rate.

Potential options:

  • Extend current lease by 6 months. At which point if we are leaving we can rent a car (Turo, SIXT+) for a few months. If we are staying, start a new lease. Anyone know of Ally allowing 6 month lease extensions?

  • Return current lease and try to get a new 12 month lease. Return that lease a couple months early and take the $$$ hit. Any manufacturers currently offering 12 month lease?

  • Return current lease and see if the dealership will lease the same car back to me as a used lease for 12 months. Anyone know if this is possible?

  • Return current lease and get a new 24 month lease. Try to swap the new lease next year with 12 months-ish remaining. Anyone know how difficult the swapalease process is?

Any other options I am missing? Thanks in advance :slightly_smiling_face:

2

we’ve had a few very cheap leases show up here recently, esp for EVs. can you get one of those sub 200 24month and then try to swap them or just take the hit in 12 months?

3

we’ve had a few very cheap leases show up here recently, esp for EVs. can you get one of those sub 200 24month and then try to swap them or just take the hit in 12 months?

That’s this option:

Return current lease and get a new 24 month lease. Try to swap the new lease next year with 12 months-ish remaining.

Ideally we are looking for similar size SUV (Grand Cherokee) if we go with a new lease.

4

Finish the current lease or at least ask again in the latter half of September.

Best course of action depends on what the market looks like at the moment you have the least negative equity or remaining payments.

Exiting a lease thru the transfer market narrows you down to the few brands that allow a clean exit. BMW, Toyota, etc.

Everyone else either forbids transfers or keeps you equally liable while basically adding a new driver.

5

Two more options I can think of:

  1. Finish this lease and then look here for a private lease transfer that has around 9 months left on it. Not a slam dunk, of course, but that may be easier than trying to get out of one while you’re preparing to leave the country.
  2. Buy a used car that has already had most of its depreciation (3-5 years old) and sell it next year for a minimal loss.