Hey everyone. First off, just want to thank everyone in this forum, it was instrumental in helping me get my first leased car. But now I’m interested in selling it! Here are the details:
I leased for 36 months back in Sept 18 so my lease ends in Sept 21. It was for 12k miles/year. We are over 2 years in and just hit 12 miles. We are moving out of the country in April so it’s not going to be driven hardly any. So now I’m looking to see if I can sell the lease as I imagine I have some equity in it. The residual value on the agreement was $16,995 but I imagine it’s actually worth more. It’s a 2019 Jeep Cherokee Limited and in pretty good condition.
How do I go about selling this. Do I just contact dealerships and say I want to sell my lease and then see what they offer? Should I not go to the dealership I leased it from? Because don’t they get the car back regardless if I never sell the lease?
In order to end your lease early, you would either a) have someone else assume your lease or b) have someone buyout the lease.
Lease Assumption:
Many brands will allow you to transfer out of your lease and assign it to someone else after paying a lease transfer fee and submitting required documentation. Those brands include BMW, Lexus etc.
Some brands will not allow lease transfers at all such as Honda, Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, Hyundai etc.
A select few brands, such as Audi or Infiniti, allow lease transfers, but keep the original leasee liable. It is generally not recommended to do a transfer as you would remain liable for the car after transfer.
There are some other restrictions that can affect your ability to do a transfer such as remaining months on the lease and regional restrictions. It is best to check with your leasing company by calling them directly.
Once you decide you want to transfer out of your lease, you can post your car for free under LH’s private transfer section:
Alternatively, you can list your car for a fee with www.swapalease.com or www.leasetrader.com which are two large lease transfer marketplaces that have a large user base of people actively looking to assume leases.
Lease Buyout:
You can have a third party buyout the car. In order to do that, you would call your leasing company and get the current “dealer payoff quote” which is the amount of money needed right now to payoff your car which will satisfy your lease agreement. Once you have that number you can take your car to your local Carmax and see what they would offer to buy your car. If the amount is near or above your dealer payoff quote, then you can sell it to them and you would be out of the lease. Alternatively, you can get an online quote from vroom.com or carvana.com who will give you an instant online offer. If you accept the offer, they would come and pick up the car from you and pay you on the spot. Ideally you would get a quote from all sources as they may vary significantly. For more information, please see forum discussions:
For additional information, make sure to check out Leasehacking 101: How to End Your Lease Early
Call the leasing company and get a retail and dealer payoff. This is the amount you will need to satisfy the loan. Residual is the amount due after all of the lease payments are made.
