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Get out of my lease

6832 Views 31 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  Rand
Hi all,
Has anyone had success getting out of a new lease without losing their shirt?
I was just told by the dealer that it will cost me $7500+ to return the car.
i leased a 2021 Cherokee limited 2 weeks ago.
It is not the car for me. The driver seat is uncomfortable and my neck and back hurt. I’m not able to adjust the seat to work for me. Ive driven Subaru outback’s for so long - thought I’d change it up. It’s not right for me.
dies anyone have experience paying to get out of a new lease they can share with me?
thank you.
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Hi all,
Has anyone had success getting out of a new lease without losing their shirt?
I was just told by the dealer that it will cost me $7500+ to return the car.
i leased a 2021 Cherokee limited 2 weeks ago.
It is not the car for me. The driver seat is uncomfortable and my neck and back hurt. I’m not able to adjust the seat to work for me. Ive driven Subaru outback’s for so long - thought I’d change it up. It’s not right for me.
dies anyone have experience paying to get out of a new lease they can share with me?
thank you.
I have got out of leases early several times, I always got out unscathed because I was selective about what I bought and worked rebates, employee pricing and I have a good, longstanding relationship with a Sales Manager at my FCA dealer.

Coming from another brand vehicle and buying a Cherokee, I can only say this: I hope you aren't attached to your cash, because its going to take a pile of it to rectify the mistake you just made.

There is a 99% chance your lease is through Chrysler Capital. Bad news there, CCAP doesn't allow leases to be transferred between married couples if both of them weren't listed on the original lease. You can't sell or transfer your lease, so that's not an option for you at this time.

Here is the truth about what you are looking to do: Its a horribly bad idea, almost as bad as you buying a car without taking a test drive long enough to decide the seats were not for you.

Seriously you will need your Jeep to trade in for an amount that is equal to the remaining payments on the lease, plus the lease buy out price plus the $1,500 early termination penalty and a $300 disposition fee. There is a good chance that your 2 week old Jeep is now $10,000 less than all those amounts.

The idea of going to a RAV4 may sound appealing, but remember that when the Toyota dealer takes care of your lease, it doesn't get rid of the fact that buying out the lease is more than the trade in value on the Jeep you just purchased.

For every $1,000 the Jeep is worth in value less than the lease buyout, the RAV4 payment will go up $100 a month on a 5 year loan or 3 year lease. Once you have exceeded 120% of the MSRP of the RAV4 (in other words the negative equity is more than 20% of the MSRP) the bank or leasing company won't extend you any more credit.

They will then require you to put cash down in the amount of negative equity that remains after they finance or use the 120% value as the capitalized cost for the lease.

You will part with a large sum of cash, between $6,000 and $9,000 in my experience to get rid of this vehicle and the next slap is that because you borrowed more than the MSRP and the vehicle depreciated when you sign your papers, you need GAP insurance to cover your from financial impact against a total loss situation on the vehicle where your automobile insurance will never cover the amount you borrowed on the vehicle.

The only way you can successfully do this without paying that money is to have bought a vehicle with really high resale like a Wrangler, which you did not. (A Cherokee doesn't hold its value like a Grand Cherokee or Wrangler) and then trade it in on a vehicle with a $6,000-$9,000 rebate to cover the negative equity. Right now the only vehicles with rebates like that are the biggest and most expensive RAM trucks and Highest end Chargers and Challengers.

Take your Jeep to an auto trim shop and have them adjust the foam to help you get a seat adjustment you can live with.
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I noticed that a 2021 Cherokee on a local dealer's lot has them listed on the window sticker...
Hi all,
Has anyone had success getting out of a new lease without losing their shirt?
I was just told by the dealer that it will cost me $7500+ to return the car.
i leased a 2021 Cherokee limited 2 weeks ago.
It is not the car for me. The driver seat is uncomfortable and my neck and back hurt. I’m not able to adjust the seat to work for me. Ive driven Subaru outback’s for so long - thought I’d change it up. It’s not right for me.
dies anyone have experience paying to get out of a new lease they can share with me?
thank you.
Yep, “I’m committing fraud FCA, I’m a criminal”. Great advice. LOL



.
You didn't lease the car from FCA, its leased through a leasing company like Chrysler Capital.

They permit modifications to the vehicle within certain limits. Window tint, speaker replacement with better speakers, pin stripes (vinyl) or leather seat cover upgrades are all allowed. The contract specifically states that these are not the only modifications allowed and that any modification that is deemed to materially change the value of the vehicle in such a way to negatively effect resale will be considered chargeable item on lease return.

In all reality, having the seat foam shaved to achieve the OPs need for a better seating position isn't even going to be an issue at lease turn in, even if you tell them you did it. It won't materially devalue the vehicle to any reasonable buyer. If the lease return agent wanted to be a dick they might tell you to have it put back before turning the car in.

If the dealer decides to buy the vehicle and put it on their lot for sale after the lease is over, none of that will even matter as the leasing company doesn't have any interest in the car once the dealer buys it.

Nothing about what anyone is recommending regarding modifying the seat is wrong.

What was done incorrectly was entering into a leasing contract on a car you can't sit in comfortably and then people telling the OP they could transfer the lease or return the car or have the lease moved to another vehicle. None of these things can happen in this case.

Lets try writing the OP with factual information regarding what happens when you chose to end a lease early and what they can do.

I've done it 7 times since 2012, all on FCA products leased through Chrysler Capital, the lender 99% of FCA dealers use 99% of the time for leases. I know what their leasing contracts say and I know how to negate negative equity. It is a complicated process that involves getting the dealer to give you more for your trade than its worth by guaranteeing future business and then picking a vehicle with a hefty rebate to negate the negative equity. On top of that you need them to pull out all the stops and lease you the vehicle for 5-7% below invoice capitalized cost using non published programs they get reimbursed for by CCAP, FCA and the dealer ownership group. You need to know what those programs are and suggest they use them. Its lots of work and even then you can't always bury 100% of the negative equity.

Based on the situation the OP is in, they don't have a longstanding relationship with a sales manager at a FCA dealer and I doubt their dealer shows them above market trade in prices, off the POC real pricing or is willing to share with them non published discounts, dealer give backs CCAP give backs and FCA give backs. Change the seat.
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Guess I'm part of the 1 percent as my 2019 is leased through Ally Bank. I'm no expert on leases, but I'm assuming that like buying a vehicle, a dealership looks at your credit rating and that has a determination on who finances the loan and or lease. Dealerships usually have several lenders they can work with.
Ally is also a lender CDJR dealers use. CCAP is easier as they are FCA recommended captive auto finance group. They finance the cars for the dealer to buy them and they provide all the MOPAR plans financing also.

I’ve leased 10 FCA vehicles and only one was leased through Ally. That was because Ally had a drastically higher resale value on the vehicle I was looking at and the payment was something like $200 a month better with Ally.

That is not normal.
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