How to Swap a Lease

If you need to break a lease on a car, it can be costly and difficult. Thankfully, there are other options. Transferring a lease is one option, you can buy your car outright or trade it in for a brand-new lease.

In this post, we review the options if you want to break your lease and explain everything you need to know about how Swap a Lease works.

Content List

What is Swap a Lease?

How to Swap a Lease

How to Find Someone to Swap a Lease With

What Happens When You Find Someone to Swap a Lease With?

Pros and Cons of Buying a Used Car With Swap a Car Lease

What are the Benefits of Buying a Used Car With Swap a Lease?

What are the Negatives of Buying a Used Car With Swap a Lease?

What is the Best Way to Pay for Swap a Lease Deal?

How the Escrow Process Works for Swap a Lease Payments

What is Swap a Lease?

A transfer or swap of a lease is when you transfer ownership of a vehicle that is subject to an auto lease. The current driver of the car transfers the lease to another person on the same terms as outlined in the original auto lease. Most people decide to use a swap a lease service because of a change in their employment, family, or financial status. In some cases, swap a lease is used as an easy way to lease a new car.

How to Swap a Lease

If you want to swap a lease, the first step is to check with the finance company that they will allow this. The current owner of the lease should also check if there are any charges, such as admin fees that may apply. As for how much it costs to swap a lease, the fees are usually between $200-$500. If the finance company confirms they will swap a lease, the owner will need to find someone to take it on.

How to Find Someone to Swap a Lease With

There are lots of websites that specialize in helping lease-owners find someone to take over their lease. These marketplaces make it very easy to list a swap a lease opportunity. It then gives buyers a simple way to search for the best swap a lease deal. Here are some of the most popular swap a lease websites in 2019.

These specialist websites can help you calculate the exact cost of a swap lease arrangement. Unless you can find someone locally to take over your lease for you, these websites are a great place to start your search.

What Happens When You find Someone to Swap a Lease With?

Regardless of how you find a buyer for your lease, the finance company will perform a credit check. They will want to confirm they can afford the repayments. Providing they pass the relevant checks, they will be able to take over the lease. They will have the same payments and terms from the original agreements. The paperwork can then be handled, and the lease will be formally transferred. Once complete, they will need to transfer the registration and, if needed, get new license plates.

What are the Main Considerations for Swap a Lease?

Condition of the Vehicle

At the end of a lease, a vehicle will need to be returned in a reasonable condition. It will be carefully checked by the dealership. If there is any damage, this will need to be considered and paid for. If you are thinking about getting a new car with a swap a lease arrangement, the condition of the car will need to be checked carefully.

A lease agreement will need to be checked first. Each company will take a different view on the definition of reasonable condition. Some agreements might specify things such as the tread depth on tires or scratches on bodywork as items that will need to be fixed.

Using a service such as Carfax to generate an independent report is also a good idea. This can help you confirm that the car has not been involved in any serious accidents.

Mileage

Almost all lease agreements will have a mileage cap. It’s a maximum number of miles that the vehicle should be driven over the lifetime of the lease. For any miles over this limit, there is usually a per-mile charge applied. The average cost of this is typically 15 cents a mile. If you want to take on a car via a swap a lease agreement, make sure you check the current mileage and the limit. You don’t want to exceed any of the caps during your period of ownership.

If you do a few calculations, and it looks like the mileage limits might be reached, you still have options. If the current owner of the vehicle wants to swap a lease quickly, they may offer a cash incentive to help cover the extra costs you could incur.

Maintenance

Although servicing a new car isn’t usually required, for vehicles older than three years, this could be something you need to consider. Most car leases ask that cars are regularly maintained and serviced. So, if you want to enter into a swap a lease agreement, you should obtain proof the relevant work has taken place.

Other Costs

Most of the costs involved in a swap a lease agreement will be clear, such as the monthly payment. However, there are other costs that a buyer should consider. In certain states, lease transfers are taxed in the same way car sales are taxed. Make sure you check your local state laws around taxation for lease transfers.

Insurance is also another cost that needs to be checked before you sign a swap a lease deal. Many lease companies will stipulate the minimum level of cover and maximum deductible value. Aside from finding the cheapest auto insurance cost that meets their demands, personal liability coverage is often needed as well.

Pros and Cons of Buying a Used Car with Swap a Car Lease

If you want to buy a used car with swap a lease, weighing up the costs as well as the considerations is key. In this section, we explore the benefits and negatives of buying a car with a swap a lease deal.

What are the Benefits of Buying a Used Car With Swap a Lease?

  • You often get lower payments compared to buying new.
  • The mileage is often lower than buying a second-hand car.
  • You only need to commit to a short-term contract.
  • Plenty of good deals on the various swap a lease marketplaces.

Most car leases will run for between 2-4 years. A swap a lease will usually happen at the midpoint of the contract term. Because most people who choose to swap a lease need to do so quickly, they are often compelled to offer a decent cash incentive that will cover the cost of the transfer.

What are the Negatives of Buying a Used Car With Swap a Lease?

  • Increased risk due to possible unknown or undetected issues.
  • Finding swap a lease with low mileage isn’t easy.
  • There are limited savings when compared to taking out a new lease.
  • Elevated administration costs possible due to state laws.

As long as you follow the guidelines outlined above, there aren’t too many things you need to worry about. You can get a nearly new car at an affordable cost and a shorter than average contract terms. The mileage and the condition of the care will need to be carefully checked and accounted for. This is because many people want to sell a used car using swap a lease due to an issue with the car or higher than average mileage. However, as mentioned, as long as the proper checks are carried out, you can get a great deal.

What is the Best Way to Pay for Swap a Lease Deal?

Just like any other major financial transaction, you need to proceed with caution. As the buyer of a used vehicle, you want to make sure you are protected. There are many ways you can pay the seller. Here are the details of each.

Cash

Paying with cash isn’t always the best way to pay for a used car. Carrying large amounts of cash around comes with its own risks. Should anything go wrong with the car after you hand over the cash, there is very little comeback. However, with this option, there are no fees.

PayPal

Paying for a swap a lease using an online service such as PayPal offers little protection should the vehicle arrive as described for automotive purposes. There are usually fees associated with online transactions that range from 2-5%. These need to be factored into the overall costs.

Escrow Services

A bonded escrow service can reduce fraud for use car sales transactions. You set the terms of the sale. This includes the inspection period and may include a clause that means you can get a complete vehicle inspection before you accept the car. If the swap a lease car fails the inspection, then you have already secured the option to return the vehicle. If this happens, the escrow service will return the full amount of money to you.

So Much More Than Just a Money Transfer

When you use Escrow.com, there is a range of other benefits that are tailored to the used car buying process. This provides the buyer, and the person selling a used car additional peace of mind.

Escrow.com also provides several additional motor vehicle services to give you peace of mind. Lien Holder Payoff services guarantee there is no outstanding debt on the car, giving you confidence when you buy. If the car is free of debt, the Title Collection ensures you get all the correct legal documents issued, taking the hassle out of the legal ownership transfer process for buying a used car with a swap a lease agreement.


How the Escrow Process Works for Swap a Lease Payments

When a Swap a Lease transaction occurs, the Buyer transfers the existing lease to a Seller, essentially paying for someone's service to take over an existing lease. The current party, who has the active lease, will become the "Buyer," as he/she will be the one to pay the other party (will become the Seller) an incentive to take over the lease.

  • The Buyer (who will take over the lease) becomes the "Seller" (who will receive the incentive).
  • The Seller (current owner of the lease) becomes the "Buyer" (who will give the incentive).

The Escrow Process Explained

Step 1 - Either Buyer or Seller will need to set-up a vehicle transaction. It is highly recommended that the transaction creator indicates on the description of the vehicle that it is for a Swap a Lease arrangement. The sale price would then need to be entered as the incentive amount.

Step 2 - The Buyer and Seller will both need to agree to terms. After registering at Escrow.com, both parties will agree to the terms of the transaction, which includes a description of the vehicle, sale price, and inspection period.

Step 3 - The "Buyer" pays Escrow.com. The "Buyer" submits a payment by selecting wire transfer. Escrow.com will verify the payment. The Processing time will vary by the chosen payment method.

Step 4 - The "Seller" ships the vehicle to the "Buyer." Since the merchandise is actually the lease and not the vehicle, the" Seller" is authorized to send the lease form/instructions upon payment verification. It is highly recommended for the "Seller" to mark the transaction as Shipped as soon the payment is posted on the transaction, so the "Buyer" can mark it as Received as soon as the paperwork is in place.

Step 5 - The "Buyer" inspects and accepts the vehicle. No shipping will be required because the "Seller" will just receive the lease.

How will the 'Seller' receive the incentive if the "Buyer" is unresponsive?

In this case, the seller would prove the transfer of lease/ownership by signing the paperwork and receiving confirmation from the dealership/entity that is holding the lease. Both parties would be notified of the switch and confirmation of the changing of hands of the lease. This is so they can always just show a confirmation in an email or forward us the confirmation email from their dealership, enabling us to start the inspection period.

There is no need to ask for the lease, the confirmation email will suffice. Escrow.com would not receive the lease paperwork.

Step 6 - The Seller will then be paid by Escrow.com. Escrow.com pays the Seller by check, ACH, or wire transfer. The transaction is then considered to be complete.

Find out how easy it is to use Escrow.com for buying or selling a car with swap a lease. Take a look at this quick step-by-step guide about how to buy a used car online securely.