twilightround

I've found a Porsche I want to buy. It is on the swapalease site. I've talked with Porsche Financial, and they have told me what it would cost to buy. But I've also talked with a person at the swapalease site, and been told something quite different. I'm writing to see if someone here who knows a lot more than I can explain the process to me. Swapalease tells me that I can't buy the car from Porsche Financial unless I am a dealer. Instead, they say, they will buy the car from Porsche Financial and then sell it to me. For this Swapalease will charge me $1000. Swapalease also tells me that if I could buy it from Porsche Financial, I would have to pay sales tax twice. Porsche Financial says "no, we would not collect sales tax because you are a California resident." But, Porsche Financial will take no responsibility for the transfer of title. They will accept the money that is the "payoff" of the lease, but after that, the lessees would have to sign the title documents over to me. In other words, I would have to pay all the money, then rely on the goodwill of the lessees to sign whatever papers are necessary to transfer the title. While I have no reason to doubt the goodwill of the lessees, this does not sound like a sound business practice to me. I am hoping that someone here has done this before and can inform me as to how it ought to work.

twilightround

No replies? Maybe this is not as common an issue as I thought. Or maybe I'm in the wrong forum, but I can't see where else to post. Incidentally, Porsche Financial says they are no longer transferring leases because of covid-19 issues. I don't see why that would stop them from processing papers, and they say customers can still lease carts, and also that they will still accept money to pay off leases, but no transfers. I wonder if other leasing companies are also refusing to process lease assumptions or transfers. If so, I also wonder whether Swapalease ought to be telling customers before they pay to be on the site. Is there a professional in the house who can suggest how this situation ought to be handled?

B59

A Porsche dealer could help with the transaction also. Any dealer could do it, but a Porsche dealer would already have processes in place with PFS. They basically buy the car from Porsche financial and sell it to you. The dealer may also charge a fee, but could process the transaction and handle the title transfer, tax collection etc... Hope this helps.

uniqueMR

You know why don't you just buy directly from the Porsche dealer? Check Porsche inventory nationwide.
I have no clue how swapalease site works. Why hassle!

B59

Agreed. You are much better off buying a certified Porsche from a Porsche dealer. But if you want to buy something off swap a lease, my previous comment applies. Personally, I’d never buy anything other than a GT car or limited production car like a GTS or Targa directly off lease. Rarely do the lease purchase prices reflect below market value outside of the limited run vehicles. Unless they were leased using mileage estimates well in excess of what was actually driven. Might as well buy one that is up to date on maintenance and has an extended warranty from Porsche attached.