I hate to put this here since it's not really a business question (but it is a business decision in a way) but I don't know where else to post.

I leased a car last year - I hate commitments. Got an amazing price. Then a couple months ago I decided to move to Vietnam. I was only going to stay for three months and work, then go back home to my regular job. I love it here and want to stay.

Now, I've heard of swapalease where you can swap a lease. But, I could also just be an ass and not pay my bill. They could repo the car and nobody loses. Right? Otherwise it's going to be a huge pain trying to get my car leased with just my family helping me overseas, with me coordinating from a different time zone.

Appreciate any advice here.

Just for a little exercise, what are the potential downsides you see to this plan?

Oh toothsayer. I'll play your game. Credit? Well, if I never come back, who cares? They haven't figured out how to chase people into this country.

What does the lease say?

I wish I knew; it's tucked away and I don't have an electronic copy. I could probably get one from the company.

That seems like a good place to start.

Here is what you do. Turn in the lease the proper way. Have someone drop it off (call the leasing company first). What will happen is that they will send you a bill in the mail for what you owe. When you get the bill, try to settle for a lower amount. If that fails, make payments on it, and see if they will agree to that.

The path of least resistance is to let them repo it. That is the worst choice by far. If you put enough time into making phone calls with the lease company and developing a legit plan to minimize the damage to you, as you have in making this thread, you will get a clearer understanding of a path forward.

You could always claim that you are about to file bankruptcy, to see if they would then work a deal to avoid the hassle, as they would avoid losses since they would not get payments in that scenario until the BK was finalized.

You will regret taking the easy way out, so buckle up and put in a little time to resolve this. You will feel great once it is over, if you do the right thing here. In this case, the right thing is actually your best option, so that makes it easy.

You have no clue what your plans are. Illness, family, legal obligations, a global recession - you don't know if you'll have to return back home. To return back with wrecked credit when you might need it the most is crazy, especially when it can be easily avoided.

Is it really that hard to get out of a lease the proper way? I say do the small amount of work now or you'll likely regret it imo.

lol don't get it repo'd. The repo fee will get tacked on to your bill, just a completely unnecessary expense.

just work on transferring the lease or surrender the car and pay the penalty. pretty small price to pay for keeping your credit intact in case you need it.

OK thanks for the responses. Seems like a consensus on no repo. I'll go on swapalease and see how it works out and post an update if anyone is interested.

What type of car is it and how much is the lease? Per month, and total remaining? Also, where is the car now? Is anyone using it? Asking for a friend..

I abandoned my car lease when I moved abroad a few years ago. It was called "voluntary repossession" or something, I just drove it to the car dealership, told them I was done with it and handed over the keys. They later sent me a bill for the unpaid amount but I just ignored it.

I did move back to the US eventually but haven't had any negative repercussions, however I haven't tried to make a major purchase like a house or car with credit. It comes down to a cost/benefit analysis. Pay the bill to maintain good credit which will be useful if you need/want it, or don't and potentially pay more for credit later.

2017 Ford Focus, $199/month, approx 2 years left.

Car is in a suburb of Wash. DC. Nobody is using it. I disconnected the battery so it's fine sitting. 12,000 miles right now (12,000 per year max on the lease but overage is only 15 cents per mile).

Great car, clean, runs great. Zero problems.

Have you noticed a difference to your credit score?

With that cheap of a lease, and with the car in great shape, you would be making a horrific mistake if you bailed out on it and allowed your credit to go bad. There is nothing to decide....go to Swap A Lease, or have someone take it over. Heck, the dealer might even take it without a huge penalty if you explain your situation.

Yes my credit score took a hit. I also defaulted on a few thousand of credit card debt. I later applied for another credit card with Chase but was denied (same company I defaulted on) and then applied for one with Capital One and was approved. I haven't tried to make any other purchases using credit like a car or house so overall it hasn't been much more than a minor inconvenience.

WTF??? You're gonna default and mess up your credit for $2400? Are you trolling us all?

Step 1: Call the lease company and see what your options are. They'd probably happy to work out a deal. If that doesn't work
Step 2: Friends or family or swapalease.com. Plenty of people would like a car for $50/week.

$2400 buys a lot of rice in 'nam

Call the company and see. You never know and it doesn't hurt to check your options. If you have a Ng_____ suname tell them your mother is sick and you had to take off in a hurry and you have no money. If you're not behind some companies will gladly waive and pick the car up. They can release and if you have no money there's no point for them having such a recent model sitting around depreciating where they likely won't get the lease money back if they run it into default (can't get blood out of a stone).

It's way worth it in future EV to spend a few hours exhausting your options to get out of this cleanly.

I mean, call the dealer I guess. But I work in automotive and I’ve tried to get out of a lease early by calling multiple dealers and they are generally not flexible, specifically if you are early in the lease and don’t plan on leasing another vehicle. Most dealers I talked to took the total payments that I owed on my vehicle and rolled into the price of leasing new vehicle. I asked why the hell I would ever do that when I could basically just own two cars for that price and their argument was that it would save me in insurance lol...

This is a slam dunk spot to abandon your car lease. Why would you ever worry about your credit score when you are living in Vietnam? Only fish worry about their credit. Getting access to credit is super easy regardless of your score so paying it is super -EV.

Do you really spend hours of your time in order to save a few worthless dollars? Haven't you ever heard of Opportunity Cost?

"I did it several times."'--Chuck Norris, MIA I and II

With all of the information sharing, you had better hope that Vietnam equivalent of Equifax/Experian/TransUnion/LexisNexis doesn't have your info yet.

Contact some nonprofits in the area. There are definitely some who could use a moderately-priced newer leased vehicle. Work out the business end so you come out even or close to it.

Your credit score should be considered a resource. Figure out which way to use it has the highest EV. Usually that means to keep it high so you can get cheaper credit in the future, but another way is to use it to get lots of unsecured debt and then default on it.