I’ve been thinking about getting out of my current lease ( 17 C43) to get into a new one. I am planning on posting the car on some forums and craigslist and then if necessary on swapalease. The thing is I will be asking for a down payment. At what point in the transfer process should I receive it? Should it be right after their credit gets approved? Or when they are actually picking the car up, or somewhere in between?
I figure when they are picking the car up it is too late since the car is already theirs. So is there a point in the middle of the process when the transfer is approved I can tell Mercedes to wait to finish it pending downpayment?
I have done a few lease transfers with a down payment required. I typically feel that you don’t get the car until the money is exchanged. In one transaction we wrote a simple outline of the transaction, like a bill of sale stating the amount once the transfer was finalized. I personally would not give money until the process is finalized. A little trust is needed on both sides.
Bmw will not hold a transfer process or get involved with the actual transaction. Mercedes would likely be similar. That is for you to handle. You or the other person can always cancel up until a certain point in transfer process.
I have found that a down payment on a transfer makes the process more difficult on a private transaction. People generally want zero down or an incentive. If the effective payment is good enough people will pursue it. If it is an average lease deal it will not move quickly.
It’s a matter or negotiating it. Obviously it’s not in your best interest to wait until the car has been transferred to receive down payment. It’s also unreasonable for some guy to give you upfront cash not knowing if the transfer will be successful. Sometimes you get lucky and talk the other person into it.
Mercedes isn’t going to take your input in how they’re processing the transfer because the down payment you’re asking for isn’t something they’re involved in or want to be involved in.
I wrote up a simple contract that $1500 was due at pick up of the car. If they didn’t pay it, yes the car is legally still theirs, but they would have to pay the court system to prove that. I have possession of the car, keys and the contract stating what is due before exchange.
Anywhere I look up proper phrasing of something like this? This seems like a solid idea. Figure after the buyer agrees to start the process they sign this contract.
I handled it this way:
(1) After the test drive, when the person transferring it over expressed interest, I had a simple contract written up explaining the steps and when the upfront money would be due (MSD amount + small amount credited for the registration already having been paid for a year).
(2) He signed and then I sent him the credit application email.
(3) Once he was approved, they emailed me the lease transfer paperwork that both of us had to sign. This is the equivalent of “signing the lease” so I treated this as the car being his once he signed, so I took payment at that point, parked the car in a covered, heated garage pending completion of the transfer. I did it this way because legally the car was his at this point.
(4) Once MBFS finalized the transfer a few days later and sent out the paperwork, he picked it up and was able to get it registered.
To some extent you need to size up the person you’re dealing with. If you get a bad feeling that they could screw you, then consider trusting your gut and not following through. You could take every protection in the world, and if someone wants to be out to take advantage of you, they’ll probably find a way. I’ve done two lease transfers in the past and they went flawlessly, but I did my due diligence to figure out if I was comfortable with the people taking it over.
I used escrow.com when transferring my lease. I signed the transfer documents once the transferee deposited the money to the escrow account. The funds were released when the transaction was finalized. Piece of mind for both the buyer and the seller.
