Trade-in an upside down car for lease? Im in a pickle...HELP

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Hello everybody. Im a little shame on posting this but here we go.

Im trying to make sense and make a decision of my situation (it really is my wife’s situation before we got married) regarding being upside down on a 2017 Jeep Renegade Sport. Long story short, her old BMW was dying and she traded it in to the first thing she saw and dealer said Ok.

After 3 years of owning it she still owes $19k on the Renegade, ouch!!! 2017 Renegades trade in value are around $10k-11.3k in my area (per KBB). Her monthly payments are $550, Double Ouch!!

So I have been looking into options into what to do in this situation. We thought of “Whats done is done and we continue payments for another 3 years and be done with it”… but we have a teenage son and he barely fits in the back seat. Not only that, we are having a baby! AND, Im 6’3", if I drive that means the back driver-side seat is unusable.

So with that said, we would like a bigger SUV. And this is where I need help from you guys.

What are the pros and cons in trading in upside down (roughly $9k) for a lease?

I figure, by the time we finish paying off Renegade, the Renegade value it’ll be like $5k. Is it worth to continue paying $550?
If we trade in for say, a $300 / month lease with minimal to no down payment, plus adding the upside down it’ll be like $550 per month (Im just guessing this number). Which is the same monthly we pay now for a car we don’t want nor fit in as family. Any thoughts of which SUV to look for? I heard Infinity has good incentives.

Let me make it clear, we don’t mind the $550 payment, however I DO MIND $550 on a RENEGADE… For God’s sake, we could get a really nice SUV lease for that much if it wasn’t for the upside down.

Thoughts? What to do?

Thanks

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It could be at $550 a month if you add the upside down + a $300 month lease. Here’s the thing though: a $300 SUV isn’t impossible but for what you’re looking for it will be difficult. And assuming that you get the $300 SUV, you will have to deal with the loan to value percentage. I think you could do it, but you will either be paying more than $550 a month or you will be looking at money due at signing. Best of luck😎

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Read the LH article on this topic (its titled something like “ending your lease early?” but it deals with negative equity). And the many threads on the same.