[dsad1]

Has anyone here assumed a lease on swapalease?

I am looking for a "fun" car for 12 months or so and I am thinking of assuming a lease. What should I watch out for? I am wondering if the risk/hassle isn't going to be worth it for 12 months or less.

[Alfisti]

I've done it, was seamless but the dealer hates it and does their best to make it awkward.

Usually a heavy fee from dealer so need to negotiate that. Also, obviously check for wearables you will be on the hook for.

[UPSROD]

Just buy the car!

[DocL]

I assumed the lease on my 2018 M3 in September of 2019. There were 19 months left and the car only had 11k our of the 36k miles on it. It was super easy and there was no dealer involvement. I applied through BMWFS and once approved they took care of all the paperwork. I just had to bring paperwork to DMV to get plates.

My lease would have ended tomorrow, but I bought it off the lease in February. The buyout was around $10k less than retail value.

[Alfisti]

No dealer involvement? WTF? How is that even possible?

[e92hunter]

In the US, you don't go through the dealership for lease transfers. All lease transfers are handled by BMWFS directly and the DMV. There is a huge market for lease swapping here, unsure why you would need to use the dealership in Canada for getting out of a lease.

[Merami fan]

Just a $500 transfer fee. The "seller" may cover that, but usually doesn't. Just get clear pics of everything. Only thing I would mention is that I've heard BMWFS has gotten extremely strict with credit on lease takeovers. As in, much harder to take over a lease on the same car than it is to sign a new lease on one.

[MmmmmM2]

Originally Posted by dsad1

Has anyone here assumed a lease on swapalease?

I am looking for a "fun" car for 12 months or so and I am thinking of assuming a lease. What should I watch out for? I am wondering if the risk/hassle isn't going to be worth it for 12 months or less.

I'm looking for someone to assume the lease on my 2018 BMW 340i ZHP. 11 months left on the contract and the car has 14,200 miles. If you are interested, send me a PM.

[jmg]

Lease transfers depend on the lender. BMWFS is the lender for BMWs and they make it very easy. A $500 fee and you're off to the races. I've taken over a BMW lease and it took about 3-4 weeks at the most. Paperwork was actually very easy, it's the waiting for DMV to process the paperwork before you actually hand the car over that takes time. I know people who have been turned down because of their debt/income ratio, so it's not as easy to qualify, but I haven't had any problems.

BMWFS washes the original owner's hands of any and all liability once the lease is transferred. The new owner is responsible for any and all non-warranty covered claims on the car including wear and tear for lease return and missing equipment. So if the original owner got an upgraded wheel but swapped them out to a cheaper standard wheel and didn't give you the original, you are going to buy a new set of upgraded wheels. MSDs are returned to the NEW lease holder, so most people ask for the MSDs to be paid by the new leaser.

Other banks keep the original owner liable if the new owner is delinquent.

Some banks don't allow lease transfers at all.

[Alfisti]

$500????The fuck, it's up to $2K here.

[David70]

Originally Posted by dsad1

Has anyone here assumed a lease on swapalease?

I am looking for a "fun" car for 12 months or so and I am thinking of assuming a lease. What should I watch out for? I am wondering if the risk/hassle isn't going to be worth it for 12 months or less.

When considering assuming a lease 2 years into a 3 year lease, if you have to pay the full standard monthly payment aren't you likely to come out ahead by just buying a 2 year old car and keeping it for a year? Seems like the largest part of the lease is paying for the depreciation and 2 years in it already went through the steepest drop.

As an example, if the car leases for $600 a month, the year you have it costs you $7200 and it makes sense overall from year 0-3 as an average but not as much from year 2-3. Same reason that a 2 year lease costs a lot more per month than the 3 year.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by David70

When considering assuming a lease 2 years into a 3 year lease, if you have to pay the full standard monthly payment aren't you likely to come out ahead by just buying a 2 year old car and keeping it for a year? Seems like the largest part of the lease is paying for the depreciation and 2 years in it already went through the steepest drop.

As an example, if the car leases for $600 a month, the year you have it costs you $7200 and it makes sense overall from year 0-3 as an average but not as much from year 2-3. Same reason that a 2 year lease costs a lot more per month than the 3 year.

It's almost the same argument for leasing overall. Low upfront cost and easy exit. You end up paying more for the luxury of a more expensive car and the ability to get out of it easily. In this case though, you are in a 2 year old car. This is why I would only take over a lease with an incredibly low payment that was negotiated well, had plenty of incentives, and has excess miles that I can put on it ie it was a 10k/yr lease and they only drove it 7k/yr which leaves a lot of utility left for the remaining year. Essentially, you would be getting a 15k/yr lease for the price of a 10k/yr lease.

In the end though, used is pretty much the better deal in most cases.

[David70]

Originally Posted by jmg

It's almost the same argument for leasing overall. Low upfront cost and easy exit. You end up paying more for the luxury of a more expensive car and the ability to get out of it easily. In this case though, you are in a 2 year old car. This is why I would only take over a lease with an incredibly low payment that was negotiated well, had plenty of incentives, and has excess miles that I can put on it ie it was a 10k/yr lease and they only drove it 7k/yr which leaves a lot of utility left for the remaining year. Essentially, you would be getting a 15k/yr lease for the price of a 10k/yr lease.

In the end though, used is pretty much the better deal in most cases.

I think leasing makes a lot of sense for the person that wants a new car every 3 years, I don't see leasing a used car for a year, especially with the hassles that come with it. I agree negotiated well or excess miles makes it better.

Buy the 2 year old car and then keep it for 6 months or 18 months with far less hassles, mileage doesn't matter and nobody is doing a return inspection on wear caused by someone else.

EDIT- thinking about this further, maybe there are leases where people have a large down payment and took more of the hit, making the monthly payment low enough to make sense?

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by David70

EDIT- thinking about this further, maybe there are leases where people have a large down payment and took more of the hit, making the monthly payment low enough to make sense?

I've seen this before but they typically want a signing fee paid to the original lessee to help offset the money they put down on the lease. IF you can find one without this it can be a great deal.

I foresee a difficult sell convincing the 'seller' that he's already enjoyed the benefits of the sharp depreciation therefore his money down shouldn’t be considered in the deal.

[TrevorM3]

Originally Posted by David70

I think leasing makes a lot of sense for the person that wants a new car every 3 years, I don't see leasing a used car for a year, especially with the hassles that come with it. I agree negotiated well or excess miles makes it better.

Buy the 2 year old car and then keep it for 6 months or 18 months with far less hassles, mileage doesn't matter and nobody is doing a return inspection on wear caused by someone else.

EDIT- thinking about this further, maybe there are leases where people have a large down payment and took more of the hit, making the monthly payment low enough to make sense?

The answer to this question goes deep into the nuances of leasing. I will spare all of you that. But if you have to put down alot of money to lower the payment, you basically dont understand leasing and should probably do some research.

Assuming a BMW lease is very easy.

[Alfisti]

He is right though, I took over an X1 lease where the other guy put down 6K plus the dealer fees etc etc, so the monthly payment was significantly reduced. I don't get it myself bur hey, i'll take it.