It has been a tough year for me financialy. I had leased a 2009 TL FWD in June 2009 for 36 months. Back then, fiances were good, but this year - a different story. Although I am not there yet and hope the moment will not come, but if cannot meet my obligations, does Acura allow for any hardship provisions in breaking the lease before the due date? I wanted to ask advice from members on this and possible alterantives.
Thanks.

 

Can't comment on if Acura addresses hardship issues or not but the only company I've heard advertised doing this is Hyundai. If Acura doesn't, the best way out of the lease is to try and get someone else to take it over ala www.swapalease.com Sorry about your financial situation, hope it gets better and the lease thing works out.

 

I've leased with Acura for a while now and as far as I know they do not offer it. Most companies don't. Hyundai is the only one I know of that offers it. GM did for a while but not any longer. You'll have to try to get someone to take over the lease as the other guy suggested.

 

I know what you mean, man! I'm almost in the same boat...I financed, not leased. Things were going really good when I got my truck, but got layed of 4 months ago, and work is really hard to come by. I'm currently on unemployment but my rent is $1200!

If 'push comes to shove', where I simply cannot make any more payments, does anyone knows what would happen? I financed through my bank, and it's the 1st time I've ever financed an auto.

 

My biggest concern is what would happen to my credit report. The swapalease.com site sounds good. I did some research but all comments say that the person who gets your lease should have A+ credit; otherwise that could affect my credit rating. My lease is with Acura (American Honda), not with a bank. I have not contacted them yet.

 

I'm sorry about your situation. I can't offer any advice, but I really hope things work out for you. And you're right to try to protect your credit rating, especially these days. It's a hell of a lot more important than a car. Best of luck!
Frank

 

Thanks for the responses so far. This is the 6th TL I've owned and have been loyal to the brand for over 10 years. I work as hard and the next guy and I pride myself on what I have accomplished. I feel very strange to find myself in this situation, a little embarrassed perhaps, but not denying what is going on. I am self-employed and have managed to work through difficult periods in the past. I remain optimistic but will be honest and tell you that I am doing some soul searching right now, as I write this. It is bad, and I am sure there are people out there who are struggling and have it even worse. I hope and pray that we can all find a decent way out of the current situation…sooner rather than later.

 

I worked in auto dealerships for a many years. Some of that time as an F&I manager. I'm afraid, at least during my time in the job, there are no easy fixes to problem like yours. You might be able to have someone assume your lease, but you would need to check Honda Financial before going that route to see if they would allow an assumption. Do you know how much is still owe on the lease? If you are even, (rather doubtful) then you could simply sell the car and pay if off. If you are upside down (most likely the case). Selling will not help you. You asked about what happens to your credit score. Well, slow pays, while not the greatest thing to have on your report, are far better than repos. If at all possible, make your payments, even if they are 30 days late. During the period I worked in finance, rarely did any finance company start repo proceedings until the note was 60 days past due. When a car ends up as a repo, your financial obligations do not end. When the finance company sells the repo, they then come after you for the shortage. Usually, these shortage end up as Judgements filed in court. I truly wish I could offer some sort of good news. As 2010 draws to a close, maybe our nation's economy will improve in 2011 and things will turn around for you. I sure hope so. Good luck and have faith.

 

Thanks for the encouraging words. I really appreciate it. I have faith and believe...it is just rough rigth now. I tried calling Acura Financial yesterday around 5:30EST, but they had alredy closed and I think they are not open on weekends, but will try them again to see. On myacura.com, the payoff amount of the lease is $29000.

 

You can call 800-824-1170. That is an automated number that will give you a pay off with your SSN and Zip code 24/7. Just follow the prompts. I'd seriously look into selling it on your own. I lease all my cars with the minimum miles and sell it privately towards the end of your lease term.

And Hyundai did offer something like what you're asking, but it was actually through an outside insurance company.

 

Ive been in the car business for a long time.... heres your options....

-if you owe 29,000.00 on the car i would first find out if that payoff is your pay off or a dealer pay off.
* in WA state (where I live) a dealer does not pay tax on a lease pay off, and since you didnt pay tax up front most likely your paying tax monthly, your pay off may be a lot less than you think, in WA the TAX rate is 9.6% so you would calculate 9.6% of 29000.00 then subtract that amount from your pay off to find your "dealer pay off" which would be roughly 26000.00. how is this going to help you you ask?
-well since its a dealer pay off if you were to trade it in on something cheaper say... a civic of something to get your self a cheaper payment, you would have a 3000.00 difference between paying it off yourself.
-say your car is worth 27000.00 on trade, with the 29,000.00 payoff, you have <2000> negative equity, if you trade it in, and your pay off is 26000, you have + 1000.00 in positive equity (down payment) towards something else

option 1: go into a dealer and see if they are interested in buying it from you, find out what they would buy it for, and how much you owe, you may OR may NOT be in a good position, if you have equity, they may cut you a check back for the difference, if your negative, you'll have to come up with the difference, in either case it would get you out of your lease, get your lease paid off with no penalties, ect. but then if the TL is your only car, you may be stuck with no car?

option 2: trade it in on a cheaper car (civic accord ect), again you need to find out what the TL is worth, what you owe and find a cheaper car. my guess is if you leased this from Acura you have decent enough credit to lease a cheap Civic or finance one for a couple hundred bucks a month for the time being. until your finances are in a better spot (this would also be a better option if your in a negative equity position, as you could roll the balance into a different cheaper loan)

you could even trade it on a cheap used car, as long as you dont have too much negative equity to roll into a cheap car.

option 3:
A: sell it , autotrader, craigslist ect, again find the real pay off (yours/dealers) sell it, take the check pay off your loan, and either keep any equity or pay any negative equity to get the title.
B: if you have a hook up at a dealership you may be able to find a buyer for it on autotrader ect and bring them with you to the dealership, this way it saves you the sales tax(if applicable) the dealership will in essence buy the car from you and sell it to the new person at the same time, for the price YOU set, saving you any sales tax from paying it off yourself(if your state works this way)

swap-a-lease is not nearly as good a deal as it sounds like. they charge you a huge fee to post it i believe, which still doesn't guarantee some one will take over. waste of time and money, not to mention I dont believe Acura/Honda finance allow people to assume leases. the person assuming it would have to contact acura and run their credit, ect to see if they even qualify for the terms. not to mention the person looking to assume your lease probably wont do so unless your in a really good position in it. but its a moot point because im 99% sure acura/honda doesnt allow lease take-overs, nor do they have any "hardship" programs unfortunately.

the good thing about the options I have given you is you dont have to worry about any mileage penalties, fees , ect, its just a trade-in/wholesale value and a payoff just like if you financed it, just need to know what the real payoff is, depending on who is making the payoff.

the ONLY time your going to have any penalties is if you were to finish out the lease and give the car back to Acura ( and you were over your miles, or the car was beat, and had more than 1500.00 damage). which raises another few questions about how many payments you have left, how many miles and the condition of it, compared to your residual. it may be better financially to give it back to the lease company, but this probably would only work if you were close to your lease being up, so unless it is, dont worry about what I just said. LOL

as long as you make your payments ontime for the time being, your credit will not be effected, it will NOT be effected if you trade it in either, it will just pay off that loan, which will actually help your credit.

hope this helps, and feel free to hit me up with any questions,

Ive had 7 Honda/Acura Leases on my own, and have facilitated hundreds for clients so im pretty well versed. but from the little info i have right now, id say you may just want to go trade it for something cheaper,(new or used, new lease or purchase) it would get you out of your current expensive payment and still allow you to have a car, if you need one... AND STAY AWAY FROM SWAPALEASE, its a joke.

 

to add to what the guy said above too....

if you just simply CANT afford the payment at the due date thats, ok.

you have a 10 day grace period with Acura before they charge a "late fee" and legally they cant even report a late pay on your credit, until its 30 days late. so just make it on the 29th day hahaha, nothing can be reported negatively on your credit, until then, although i wouldnt recommend it, because it WILL effect your standing with how Acura Finance looks at you in the future, if you ever want a new loan with them. BUT IT WILL NOT EFFECT YOUR CREDIT SCORE until its past 30 days late, and no-one but Acura finance will know about it . once its 30 days late they will report a "30 day late" on your credit which is not good, but still could be a lot worse things to report, like a REPO.

with that being said, same thing goes with the payoff.... if you cant make the payment and just want to get out of the car, make sure the payoff is made before that 30 day late also.... say if your payment is due on the 5th of JANUARY, and you cant make the payment and decide to trade it in, just make sure the PAYOFF is made before FEB 4th, but you have to give about 7-10 days after you trade it in before the dealership will make the payoff, they may want to make sure the new loan is funded before they send a check to pay off the old loan. so in that case youd want to trade it by say JAN 15-20th to give time to make the PAYOFF by FEB 4th, so you dont have to make the JAN payment, and you wont get a 30 day late also!

but thats worst case scenario, if you just have no other choice.

 

PS the DEALER PAYOFF line is 1800-205-8236, that should get you your dealer payoff by pressing prompt 3, where the automated line will ask for your SSN and zip code. it will then give you the DEALER PAYOFF, which if you talk to someone there they may be hesitant to give out, because your not a dealer, and not a lot of people know about the "dealer payoff " thing, but the automated dealer line has no clue if you are a dealer or not.

again this may be a moot point because if your state doesnt work that way with taxes ect it may not matter.

 

Thanks for the advice jmorton3381. Really appreciate it. I called the 800 number and my payoff is $27693, less than the $29000 obtained from myacura.com. I will contact my dealership tomorrow to get details about trade-in or them buying off the car. I understand about getting into another car - that adds to the pressure, but I will make sure to look into this before moving forward.

On another note, I thought that leased vehicles cannot be sold to a third part as technically I do not own the car, Acura does. If I do sell it, how would I explain to Acura that the car is now with Joe X somewhere? right?

Again, many thanks on the advice regarding swapalease.com and my inquiry. I will post again when I find out more info from the dealership. I am encouraged by your advice and the details you offered – great help!

 

it makes no difference, its still your car, the bank just holds legal ownership until the car is paid off. you dont have to explain anything to them, you just sell it to whoever you want. just know that if you sell it to a private party who is not a dealer your payoff to get the title is 29000, if you sell or trade to a dealership your pay off is 27693.00. an the difference is the sales tax. all you do is once you sell it you send a check to acura finance for the entire payoff amount (if you trade it in or sell to a dealer they will probably send in a check to Acura for you) once the loan is paid off they will send YOU (or the dealer) the title, which you would intern sign over to the new owner that paid you the cash to buy it.

keep in mind though if the dealership says "we'd buy it for 25,000.00" you'll have to give the a check for the negative equity difference (2,693.00), in turn if the dealer says we'll buy it for 28000.00 you'll get a check back for 307.00.

same goes if you sell it to a private party... you agree on a price with them of 28000.00 youll have to come up with the difference between the 29000.00 pay off and what you sell it for <1,000.00> at which point you get the check from them for 28,000.00 plus your 1,000.00, send it off to acura finance, they release the title(lien) and vice versa if you sell for more then 29000.00, you'd pocket the difference.

thats why i was saying if you can find a buyer for it, and can convince the dealer to buy it from you, for how much your selling it to that said person, then the dealership intern sells it to them for that same amount youll be in a better spot. because your payoff went down by 1307.00, but you can still sell to a private party, who will most likely be willing to pay you more for it than a dealership...

 

a lease is really no different than a regular car loan, except 36(or 48-60, whatever term lease you have) months into it you have an option to give the car back, as long as you kept the miles under the limit and its in acceptable condition. you also have the option to buy it out after the 36 months for your "RESIDUAL" amount + TAX. which should be on your paper work somewhere, the residual was set and decided already before you bought it, they just calculate a depreciated percentage amount from the original MSRP. At that point miles, condition, ect make no difference because your not giving it back to Acura, so they could care less how many miles are on it, because you have to buy it for the SET residual.


so you got some options DONT WORRY!!!

 

AND YES technically acura does own it, just as bank-of-america (or any bank) would own your car/house/boat whatever else you have a loan on, regardless wether lease or traditional finance. But its still yours you can do whatever you want with it.

 

Looks like you've been given some good advice here. Stay positive and I wish you good luck. Something will work out for you.

 

Good advice indeed. I spoke to my sales rep at the dealership...as an unofficial calculation, they would offer me $22K. So that won't work out since my payoff is much higher. I am going to see the sales rep in two weeks to see if we can do something else. I am also going to explore selling the TL (it is going to hurt) and getting another vehicle. I will keep you posted. Thanks for all of your help and advice.