I might be taking a job that requires driving to a different city, perhaps a few hundred miles. I will be driving there, staying the week and driving back. My current car is old and I don’t trust it on the open highway. Also, I declared bankruptcy about 18 months ago, but the bills I have been paying since then have been kept up to date. How hard do you think it will be for me to lease a car?
I assume you mean rent a car. In my experience, anyone over 25 with a valid driver’s license and a credit card with a big enough limit can rent a car. That is all it takes.
He means lease a car, you know… pay a monthly payment, stay under a limited amount of kilometers, give it back in a few years, etc etc.
Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer to this question either.
That’s far from clear in the OP. There is reference to a one-time trip and fear of bring the existing one on the open highway. I interpreted that as a rental but I could be wrong.
My interpretation was that he’d be doing that drive every week.
Also, where I come from, you only need to be 21 to rent a car.
In general, leasing a car requires better credit than buying. Also, a lease probably isn’t a great idea if you’re going to be putting that many miles on it. Most of them charge an additional fee if you go over their mileage limit.
On a reread, I see that you are probably correct and the OP used the right term. I should not have doubted it.
Leasing a car does require a credit check as does financing one of any sort. Some car dealers claim that they can get financing for anyone with a full-time job. That may be technically true but your credit score can determine your rate and the rate may be terrible for someone with crappy credit. I would recommend that the OP get the free copies of his/her credit report from the 3 major credit bureaus to see what is going on before even looking for a car. This is free although plenty of web sites find a way to charge for them so just ask if you don’t know how.
BTW, the 25 year old age restriction is a policy of most of the major rental car companies. It is widespread but it isn’t a law and I rented before I was 25 as well. You just have to look around.
For the car rental company I just stopped working for, if the renter is between 21 and 25 he must pay an additional $34.95 per day surcharge, which basically amounts to mandatory insurance with a $5000 deductible.
Enterprise (not sure if this is true of all locations) has a 21-25 surcharge of under $100 a week. How did this company get away with charging $34.95 a day?
I believe the company in question probably just didn’t want to have under-25 renters at all. If they feel like paying double, they’ll grudgingly accept them, but if they walk out the door, no tears shed.
What does Enterprise charge per day for under-25s? I’ve noted I can pay 40% less at some rental companies by the week versus paying by the day.
As to the OP’s question, the answer is that you may be able to find a lease or you may not. If you come to the table with a huge deposit, they’ll probably be able to work something out.
As an unsolicited bit of advice, DON’T DO THE LEASE!!!
They’re almost never a good deal if you’re broke, which probably describes a recently bankrupted individual with a clapped-out car.
Look at purchasing a used car in the 3 to 7 year old bracket. There are tons of unsexy cars out there that can be had for a reasonably good price and won’t need anything besides oil changes and brake pads for the next two years.
Yes, the point was that I would not be putting on a lot of miles. It will be every week.
And you want to lease (long term for at least two years) a car, rather than* rent *it day-by day? 
If so, then it depends. You can get a normal lease without super good credit. But when buying you need super good credit in order to get those special rates they advertise.
OTOH, you can buy a car with worse credit that you need to lease, as buying is much more flexible. They will just require a large Down and a higher interest rate.
Leasing a car and then driving a bunch of miles onto it is a bad idea. Lease costs go up astronomically when you move from a 10,000 mile lease to an 18,000 mile lease (mmiles per year, not total).
I’d suggest either renting a car one-way, buying a more reliable used car, or fixing up your current car. All are better options than paying out the wazoo to lease a new car and t hen putting a lot of miles on it.