No, you typically can’t lease a car for one month. Most leasing companies won’t offer you a new vehicle for a single month lease. However, leasing a car for a short period of time could be possible, depending on who you decide to go with. Apart from that, you can also buy a lease from another owner who wants to terminate a little earlier. This is called a lease takeover, though the time period may vary from one month to several years.
Short-Term Car Leases
If you were to try and apply for a car lease through a traditional leasing company, the average lease term is around 24 to 36 months. You’d be hard-pressed to find an automotive manufacturer’s leasing company that’s willing to lease you a brand-new vehicle for less than 24 months. In addition to the difficulty of finding a one-month lease, you’re likely to pay more each month. The shorter your lease, the higher your monthly payment.
If you want a one-month car lease, you may have to look into lease to own vehicles from an in-house financing dealership. In-house financing means the dealer handles all the financing themselves, and they can often offer lease to own agreements that can be short. However, you’re likely to pay weekly or biweekly payments instead of the usual monthly installments – and the shorter the agreement, the higher your payments.
There are also some car rental companies that can offer long-term vehicle rentals, and they may even offer discounts the longer you rent the car. Some rental vehicle companies may not check your credit, either, which can be a bonus for borrowers with less than perfect credit. It’s also typical of an in-house financing dealership to skip the credit check, since they don’t need to rely on third-party lenders to approve their buyers.
Auto Lease Takeover
If you only need a car for a month or two, then it may be worth your time to look into lease takeovers. These are sometimes referred to as lease transfers or lease swaps.
Lease takeovers are what they sound like: you take over someone else’s lease, usually with the original terms. If you qualify for a lease transfer, you’d finish out the lease so the original lessee can walk free.
However, you, and the original lessee, and the leasing company all have to agree to the lease takeover. This means that you need to have enough income to cover the lease payments, and typically have a higher credit score.
New vehicle leasing is generally reserved for borrowers with good credit, and those with lower credit scores tend to have better luck getting into an auto loan instead of a lease.
Finding the Financing for Your Credit
You typically won’t be able to find a one-month car lease, as traditional leasing companies typically stick to 24- or 36-month terms. Not everyone can qualify for a new vehicle lease, or even a lease takeover. Borrowers who go through an in-house financing dealer for a lease to own car may find that the weekly or biweekly payments are just too much to handle.
If your credit score isn’t that great, then you’re likely to have better luck with a bad credit auto loan through a special finance dealership. The subprime lenders that offer these loans work with borrowers in all types of unique credit situations, and they consider more than just your credit score – and CarsDirect knows where they are!
To get matched to a dealer in your local area that has the lending opportunities for your credit, fill out our free car loan request form today.
