Web Services Can Grease Transfer of an Auto Lease

When M. Simonne Hinkle went looking for a new car, she knew exactly what she wanted and how much she ought to pay. The trouble was, in nearly a year of looking, auto dealers were asking for a bigger down payment and monthly payments than she thought her dream wheels warranted.

But during one of her many Internet searches for the right make and model, the Los Angeles technology executive found an alternative — a lease transfer service that matches customers like her with drivers who want to jettison their auto leases early.

Within a month, after working with Swapalease.com, she was the proud owner of the exact Mercedes CLK convertible she longed for — and for about $5,000 less than the best price she had been able to negotiate at a dealership.

"I got it from this guy in Manhattan Beach who had negotiated the exact deal that I wanted on the perfect car," she said. "We got the best of both worlds." ...

Jo Clemente fell in the no longer-in-love group. Unlike Hinkle, he had leased his Lexus GS 300 impetuously. Within three months, the Studio City film editor knew he didn't want to live with the 36-month contract he had signed. It was a great deal, he said — just the wrong car for him. Ten days after Clemente signed up with Swapalease, a San Diego doctor took the Lexus and its lease off his hands.

"It was frighteningly painless," Clemente said. "I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop — for something to go wrong. But it never did."