Want to Lease a Car? Want to Get Out of Your Lease? Swap It!

I normally don't lease cars. I buy them used and drive them forever. But last year when my husband needed a vehicle and we weren't sure what to get, we followed a tip from Phil Reed at Edmunds.com and used the Internet to find a great deal on a lease. Two websites: SwapALease.com and LeaseTrader.com allow you to either find someone to take over your lease, or to find a good deal on a lease someone wants to get out of. You don't actually have to trade your lease for someone else's -- all you have to do is either find someone willing to take over the remainder of your lease or find one you'd like to take over.

Using one of the services (I honestly can't remember which) we took over the lease of a Ford Mustang convertible for two years from a woman who was pregnant and needed a different car. Instead of paying a deposit, she paid us to take over the lease! We did have to get approved by Ford Motor Credit, but oddly enough the lease never appeared on our credit reports. The monthly lease payment was lower than a similar payment if we bought the vehicle, though of course we wouldn't own it after the payments were finished. In our case, though, we were obligating ourselves for two years with the car, which we felt was safer than a three or four year commitment.

The best deals seems to come out of Detroit where autoworkers get employee discounts but then need to get out of their leases for one reason or another. In our case, my husband flew to Detroit in the early summer and drove the Mustang back to Florida. Tough life, isn't it?

Unfortunately, he also totaled the car last year. But the car was worth more than what we owed on the lease, so we ended up getting a check for the difference when all was said and done. (Thanks Geico for handling things so smoothly!)

Would I use Swap a Lease or Leasetrader again? Very likely, yes. If you do your homework and choose the right vehicle it can be a much better deal than a dealer lease.