Any way to reduce or get out of a high lease payment?

[jeisensc]

Nothing to be done about the lease you signed. It looks like you paid a little more than $2k at signing so that’s a sunk cost.

List of Lenders that Allow for Third-Party Buyouts

As used car prices soar, many lessees are finding that their vehicles are worth considerably more than their current payoff amount. Instead of simply returning the vehicle at lease end, you may be able to sell the vehicle to a third party (such as Carvana, Shift, Vroom, and CarMax) for a profit. However, some lenders are making it difficult for consumers to access this “lease equity” by charging a higher lease buyout price to third-party buyers than to consumers, or altogether prohibiting third…

You leased a brand that charges a higher payoff to third parties, so your only exit is to buy-out/resell (only in CA you have 10 days to resell and recover any sales tax that paid) or sell to an Audi/VW dealer. You can check your current payoff and MMR to see how deep the hole is, but you’re most likely flipped.