Doing a lease transfer is one of the many, and in fact, the cheapest way to get someone else to get your lease. As I've explained in previous articles, multiple reasons would influence on that kind of decision like family growth, job change or just because you want to get a new model that has just been released on the market.
Doing a Lease Transfer takes some time
The most important thing to do in this situations is to start early. If somehow you think or expect that you need to transfer your lease, then you should start that moment. The biggest and most important step on transferring your lease is to make sure that someone wants it, and the best way to do it is to make it public so that everyone can see it.
First Thing, Know Your Credit Score
This is vital. You will regret transfering your current car if you don't have a good credit score to jump into the next one. First, always check your credit score to avoid unpleasant surprises. Our partner agency, Borrowell Canada, offers a FREE Equifax Credit Score in only 2 minutes.
If after doing so, your Credit Score is low, then you will need to focus on Improving Your Score with Borrowell before going to the next step. This will be one of the main factors for ending up into a bad deal.
Second Step, Start by Listing It
Listing "your transfer" is the first and most important step. You need that everyone knows what you need and what you are up to. People need to know how much you pay per month and how many months the contract has left. They need to know the exact sub-model if there is any extended warranty or even if there is a Lease Protection.
All those details give an additional value to your listing and the more quality it has, the better for your promotion and the quality of the final deal you will get. Imagine yourself as a salesperson for a moment: You don't want people to think that you are hiding something the day they get your car. You need to be clear, honest and descriptive enough as you would like to read yourself from someone else's offer.
Explore the Lease Takeover Marketplace
The Civic is one of the most popular vehicles on the lease transfer market.
Incentives help to transfer faster
Yes, it is right. For paying the same, I would go to a new car dealer and get a new car. Taking someone else's lease is something I strongly evaluate only if there is a considerable saving regarding costs and time. And this is why people acquire Lease Transfers; otherwise, it is not worth paying the same or more.
You just need to see what other people do and how much are you willing to pay to transfer and what would be your limits. Some people offer 1,000 in cash to whoever takes their Honda CR-V Lease. For vehicles like Mercedes-Benz, Audis or BMWs, the incentives people offer are normally higher.
You need to transfer your lease "in good shape."
When you lease a car, you have a set of limited dents and scratches that are allowed to be in the car at the moment of the return of the vehicle, but the rest is your responsibility. You will need to evaluate yourself if it is worth to call the insurance to deal with it or fix it yourself, but definitely, if you are intended to pass your "contract" to someone else, then they will assume every responsibility.
The new lessor will surely negotiate the incentive based on the status of the vehicle. As same as when you own a car the resale value of your vehicle is affected by the visual damage or mechanical if it is still out of the warranty period, the same goes for the lease. When you lease a car, it is highly important to protect the aesthetics of your vehicle as if it would be yours.
Some Dealer Fees Apply
And yes, doing the transfer can be done in a few hours, but it takes paperwork, contract updates, credit checks... and there is a fee, of course, usually between 299CAD - 799CAD per transfer.
There are multiple people involved, car inspections and more. Remember that the owner of the car (either the bank of the financial institution from the OEMs) leased you a vehicle under a term contract based on your will to pay and theirs to give you the car. If someone else is acquiring the contract, they need to ensure that it will continue working.
Do your math always
Car Leasing works well if you do it right. If from the very beginning you got a good deal, then you won't need to pay any incentive to put your car out there for a Lease Transfer. Just take into account that if spending the same amount of money, people can get a 1 or 2 years contract than getting a new one for five years, then many of them will go after the long-term ones.
If you make it all work this way, the only expense you will have is paying the Dealer Fees, but with no additional incentive or anything, that may compromise your original purpose.
