I’m reaching out to seek advice regarding a challenging situation with Tesla Finance. I am a Model 3 lease owner, with the lease maturing in August 2026. Due to visa constraints, I’ll need to leave the U.S. next February.
When I leased the vehicle, the option to transfer the lease to another person was available and played a significant role in my decision. However, Tesla recently discontinued lease transfers effective November 27, 2024. What’s particularly concerning is that customers were not informed in advance of this significant policy change.
I reached out to Tesla Finance for assistance, but they confirmed the policy change and stated it’s not possible to transfer my lease. They did, however, mention that I could consider early termination by contacting their lease return department.
I wrote to Tesla requesting either:
1. Permission to transfer the lease, as initially allowed.
2. Early termination with a reduced fee.
I’m still awaiting a resolution, but I wanted to ask the community for any suggestions or advice on how to navigate this situation. Has anyone dealt with similar issues or found alternative solutions?
Any input or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Your rights haven’t changed (those are written in your lease agreement). They can’t unilaterally change those terms, it’s a binding agreement.
If they were doing transfers as a courtesy, they would have no obligation to notify anyone advance of a policy change.
A lot of people faced a similar scenario when certain lessors were permitting third-party buyouts (as a courtesy) but discontinued the practice when the market got weird in the covid era.
You still have whatever rights are in your contract, plus any additional courtesies they may be extending now.
They are permitting lease buyouts now, which were not previously permitted by your contract. The buyout fee is the same as the disposition fee. Depending on where you stand with your equity position, this could be good or bad.
Did you reach a resolution in this situation? I was looking to transfer the lease earlier last year and decided to wait a little while. I am now regretting that decision. I don’t see any language in the lease agreement about lease transfers except with their written permission that they granted before, so I assume they will claim they can change that policy at any time. I am livid, especially because I am being harassed by people who are equating my Tesla with an oligarch who likes to make offensive salutes.
As previously stated, if lease transfers are not specifically stated in your lease agreement, they are a courtesy that can be extended or retracted by the lessor at any time.
These courtesies were retracted by several large lessors during the early Covid years, which is why lease transfers are nice to have while available, but don’t be entirely dependent on it. Good luck and hope your situation works out
Tesla uses different banks for Lessors, and they have different policies. Who is holding your lease? In most cases where transfer policy was changed, it was to allow lease buyouts instead. Are you given a buyout option in the app?
It’s Tesla Financial. I assume we won’t have any recourse but it’s a sure fire way to guarantee I won’t buy a Tesla again and I will recommend against them to anyone I know considering one. They are scared of losing sales and they knew people would want to sell them after it became political.
The buyout option is still locked out for me. I can terminate the lease early for thousands of dollars. They aren’t getting free money from me. Maybe a meteor will fall on the car or something.
