Car lease/financing advice

[rngrwalker]

I lease my 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe. At the time I got it, my FICO was low and got a joint lease with my husband. The best deal we got was a 4 year lease with a payment of $453. Even thought I like my vehicle, I'm tired of the high payment. My auto FICO is around 754. I'm thinking I might be better off financing a mini van or maybe another SUV. It was my first time leasing and I'm not a fan, given the fact that at the end of my lease term, I would've paid for 4 years and have no car to show. My lease is not over until October of 2017, if you were in my situation, would you wait until the lease is over and try to get a cheaper lease or should I try to get a better payment now either by trading the lease to another one or financing a car?

[6speed8]

Depending on how much you like the Santa Fe, get another Hyundai or Kia (same company) product. They always have great deals and dealers get great incentives to deal on them. I don't mean to sound like I work for them lol but we're on our third Hyundai / Kia product and couldn't be happier. 2008 Sonata was traded at 120,000 miles (still on the road at nearly 250,000)  for a 2012 Kia Forte SX 5 door. 80,000 on it now and it's been great. Asking price with dealer add-ons (window tint, nitrogen-filled tires, oil changes up to 45,000 miles,etc) was $24,800. Out the door for $21,200. Just added a 2015 Sonata Sport 2.0T Limited in March. Asking price with pretty much the same add-ons was $36,500. Out the door for $27,200 along with $2500 factory and $2000 Hyundai Finance cash back. My scores were 650-680 but with $6000 down - plus the cash back towards the down payment, Hyundai approved me at 4.9%.If you go for another Hyundai, they'd probably be more amiable to getting you out of your lease early.

[rngrwalker]

Thank you for your response. I'm very happy with my Santa Fe, I just want a cheaper payment. Not opposed to getting another Santa Fe as long as I can save some $$

[RonM21]

I'm not sure about what other route to take here OP, but your thinking is correct about it being so high of a payment. With yiur current score it would be much better. What makes this interesting is that you are almost a year from the end. The thought of holding out at this point isn't a bad one either.

[jrands]

Have you tried getting your car appraised at a Carmax to see if the market value is more than the current buyout price of the vehicle? If not, I'd start there to get a better idea of whether trading your car in now would be okay, or whether it'd be best to just see out the lease. You look to have a great credit score that should get you competitive rates whether you lease or finance. If you have some equity in your vehicle  now and can find a good deal on a new vehicle, then it might be a good idea to get out of your current lease into a less expensive payment.