Are you looking options for terminating a car lease early? Since the pandemic began, there’s been an increase in people looking to terminate a car lease early to save money. In difficult times, it’s important to cut costs. Terminating a car lease early is a logical solution, however, there are costs associated with doing so.

During my latest car hunting process, one of the questions I had was what to do with my three-year lease agreement with 12 months remaining.

I decided to lease a Honda Fit for my business for only $235/month after tax. About 80% of the cost is deductible since I primarily use Rhino for going to conferences, visiting consulting clients, and giving the occasional Uber ride when they are going my way.

When I was in my 20s, I’d always just pay cash for a vehicle and flip it a year or two later for even money or a small profit. I loved the hunt and the negotiation process. As I got wealthier, I put more value on time and simplicity. I wanted minimal maintenance headaches. I also wanted the option of just handing the keys in when my lease term was up.

But due to the desire of owning a mid-life crisis car and only having one indoor parking spot, I wanted to learn what my options were for an early lease termination.

Here are your options for terminating a car lease early after speaking at length with a couple vehicle leasing department personnel.

A car is the ultimate status symbol for insecure people. Let me explain why not following my 1/10th rule for car buying is more due to the unhealthy desire for status rather than the inability to be frugal.

As I was returning home in Rhino, my 2015 Honda Fit, a late model Porsche Cayenne SUV came zooming towards me. We were on a quiet and narrow residential street so I was going slowly. I’ve driven the street hundreds of times before and have never had a problem passing a car going the other way.

Instead of slowing down, the driver in the Porsche SUV started honking her horn for me to pull over to make way for her, as if she owned the road.

There was no need for me to do anything since I was well on my side. But if you’re going fast, it’s harder to calibrate the space you have between cars. I slowly kept on going and she slammed on her breaks and started screaming.

If you were to guess what the average new car price is nowadays, what would you guess? I guessed $23,000, since my Honda Fit is sweet and only costs $19,600 new. Given I’m frugal, leaving a 20% upside pricing buffer seemed logical. Too bad I was way off!

According to the valuation analysts at Kelley Blue Book reported the estimated average transaction price for a light vehicle in the United States was $37,876 in February 2020. New-vehicle prices increased $975 (up 2.6%) from February 2019, while falling $126 (down 0.3%) from last month.

Are you kidding me? The average new car price in 2020 is now almost $38,000? In 2021, I’m assuming the average new car price will be even higher, partially thanks to production shutdowns during the global pandemic.

I guess we must all be quite wealthy because I don’t know many people with a median household income of $67,000 who can afford such a price.