Lease-swapping sites can relieve car remorse
Naples resident Tom Tadych thought the Mercedes 350 E he leased around this time last year was going to be the perfect ride for him and his wife.
And it was until he drove it back north to Egg Harbor, Wisc.
"It rode quite nice down here," Tadych, 64, said. "It had the sports suspension on it and I think a lot of people would have been fine with this car. Mercedes is a wonderful automobile, but the roads down here differ tremendously from the roads up north."
Tadych signed a 39-month lease in April and drove it north in May. It wasn't long before buyer's remorse set in.
"It wasn't what I thought it would be," he said. "Driving it up north, I felt all the imperfections in the road and I realized I made the wrong choice."
At first, Tadych thought he was stuck and his options didn't look too good.
He could have taken the car back to Mercedes-Benz of Naples and terminated the lease early, which would have been costly or he could have traded it back in for another car, but that too would have put a dent in his wallet since he still would be on the hook for payments on his original purchase.
But then Tadych found LeaseTrader.com. Founded in 1998, the South Florida-based company was designed to help people get out of their leases before their contract is up.
"There are a lot of people like Tadych, snowbirds, who will lease a car down here in the winter or spring and then travel back north and realize the car they leased isn't a good fit," said John Sternal, LeaseTrader. com's vice president of communications. "What has been happening is that people are now coming to us to help them get out of that buyer's remorse."
Before LeaseTrader.com and others like competitor swapalease.com, drivers with leased cars had those two costly options, explained Sternal.
But because those options were pricey, drivers with leased cars often engaged in the illegal practice of sub-leasing.
"If you sub-lease a car and it's returned trashed or someone misses payments, it's on you," said Dennis Stout, a salesman with Mercedes-Benz of Naples. "From what I've seen LeaseTrader and Swapalease really filled a void."
It definitely did for Tadych. After logging on to the site, Tadych followed a simple step-by-step process of posting all the specifications about the car, including mileage and lease payments and waited for a response.
"I even offered mine with an incentive to those interested," Tadych said. "I put an extra $2,000 down and lowered the next person's payment from $689 down to $625."
But what really enticed Tadych about LeaseTrader was that those interested in his car were all qualified buyers.
By using LeaseTrader, Tadych unloaded his car within six weeks and found a Lincoln MKX that was more suitable for his needs.
"People should always ask themselves how they're going to use their cars," he said.
This story posted by LeaseTrader.com, the automotive service company that lets people transfer out of their Car Leases early. If you're looking to swap a lease or transfer out of your car lease, please visit www.leasetrader.com