Q: How to cancel auto lease before first payment due without excessive cost?
05/28/2019 veh driven home,in garage since. 92 miles now. Contacted VW Lease,advised to contact dealer. Sales mgr informed me I would have to pay the entire 48 mo. ($399.57) $19179.36.
A:
In most situations I am familiar with the dealer who leased the car has no authority to enforce the lease financing agreement. The financing company owns the leased car until the end of the lease, at which time the person leasing it has an option to purchase it from the leasing company. If they do not exercise the option the dealer has the first opportunity to buy it from the leasing company--and usually does if the car is in great shape. If it is in bad shape the leasing company usually unloads it somewhere else. So: In this case if you surrendered the car in great shape the leasing company would either sell it to the dealer or (more likely) would re-lease it--because it has only 92 miles on it.
Bottom line: If you give it back the leasing company must try to "mitigate its damages"--by re-leasing it immediately.
I suggest you hire a lawyer to help convince the financing company to do the right thing here.
Justia Ask a Lawyer is a forum for consumers to get answers to basic legal questions. Any information sent through Justia Ask a Lawyer is not secure and is done so on a non-confidential basis only.
The use of this website to ask questions or receive answers does not create an attorney–client relationship between you and Justia, or between you and any attorney who receives your information or responds to your questions, nor is it intended to create such a relationship. Additionally, no responses on this forum constitute legal advice, which must be tailored to the specific circumstances of each case. You should not act upon information provided in Justia Ask a Lawyer without seeking professional counsel from an attorney admitted or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. Justia assumes no responsibility to any person who relies on information contained on or received through this site and disclaims all liability in respect to such information.
Justia cannot guarantee that the information on this website (including any legal information provided by an attorney through this service) is accurate, complete, or up-to-date. While we intend to make every attempt to keep the information on this site current, the owners of and contributors to this site make no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information contained in or linked to from this site.
