Ending lease early - worth it?

macman

kmb500 wrote: »

Because I was thinking they base it on the current value of the car.

I dont know what the T&C of my contract are because I've no idea where I put the damn thing lol. And no digital version of it.



Spoke to them and they said they will finalise a quote but usually it's 50% of remaining payments. That's not worth it. They did say I can transfer the lease though so I will look into that.

No, it's based on a proportion of the remaining payments, as you have found out. Depreciation on a lease contract is their concern, not yours. I think you are confusing personal contract hire with personal contract purchase.
Salesmen will always be delighted to transfer the lease, as it locks you into a further term.

kmb500

motorguy wrote: »

Personally i would drive on at as long as possible.

I know with a job loss there is an urge to get rid of everything that is costing you money, however this will cost you many many thousands to do, and then you'll have no car, and you'll need a car when you get another job.

Hold your nerve in the meantime until you get a clear picture of your finances when you're in a new job. A few months of mild discomfort is much better than an awful lot of pain for no reason now.

Thanks. I dont want to do anything irrational especially with a large decision like this. I wasn't thinking of going without a car, it would be buying something cheap and old instead.

MountainMan101 wrote: »

Presumably you'll still need a car. It might be worth phoning to see if you can renegotiate the lease - reduce the annual miles, or extend the lease (lowers the cost per month) or shorten the lease (increases the monthly cost but ends it sooner).

For example if they reduced you to a 24 month lease, and you still quit early you'd only have 50% of 8 months to pay not 50% of 20 months.

It might seem like they hold all the cards, but they don't want you to just fail to pay. There is a win-win solution, albeit they win a bit more than you.

That's true I could renegotiate it. The point about 24 month lease is a good point. When I first took the contract there was 24, 36 and 48 options. I will look into it, hadn't thought about that. The person on the phone yesterday just gave me a basic answer to early termination fees, I did ask if there are "or other options" and she just said she didn't know. Not very helpful.

macman wrote: »

No, it's based on a proportion of the remaining payments, as you have found out. Depreciation on a lease contract is their concern, not yours. I think you are confusing personal contract hire with personal contract purchase.
Salesmen will always be delighted to transfer the lease, as it locks you into a further term.

I know it's their concern not mine I just thought that migiht be how they calculate what fee to charge (i.e. how much they need back in order to be in the red on my contract) but no it is just an arbitrary 50% of the rest fee.

foxy-stoat

They told you the fee, but that will be on top of the amount that gets you to 50% of the total outright purchase price.

kmb500

Got the quote back. The full amount is £2014.19 which isn't quite as much as I expected but still I cant imagine its worth it if I lose my job... then again I suppose it is 8 months of payment rather than 19, but I'd still be buying another car.