Your lease is ending, and the dealership expects you to hand the keys back and sign a new lease. That default is not always right, and one comparison tells you which way to go.
The lease also set a buyout price at signing, called the residual value, and it is what you can buy the car for when the term ends. That number was a forecast written years before anyone knew how the car would hold its value, and forecasts miss in both directions. Where it missed low, the car is now worth more than your buyout price, and most leases give you first claim on that gap.
Two numbers decide it. Your buyout price sits in the lease paperwork, and your car’s market value is on any valuation site, priced to your exact year, trim, and mileage. A few conditions push the answer either way:
- You are over the mileage limit. Most leases charge 10 to 30 cents a mile over, so 4,000 extra miles at that rate costs $400 to $1,200, a charge that disappears the moment you buy the car.
- You would owe for wear and tear. Those charges and the $300 to $500 disposition fee both disappear on a buyout.
- You drove well under the limit, or kept the car immaculate. Either one means more equity than the residual assumed.
- You no longer need a car, or you want a different one. Hand it back, whatever the numbers say.
The buyout does not have to run through the dealership. Lease End handles the loan, the payoff, and the title and registration online without a showroom visit. Many credit unions finance lease buyouts directly as well.
Run the comparison before your return appointment rather than at it. Payoff quotes are often good for only 10 to 15 days, and the dealership won’t volunteer that the car is worth more than what’s on your contract. If the numbers favor buying, Lease End can get you financed and out of the dealership’s hands before your appointment date.
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