You Have 3 Options When Your Car Lease Ends. Here's What They Are & What You Should Do. 

I just decided to keep my car at the end of the lease, and want to share my experience to keep more money in your pocket. I contacted Hyundai a month before the end of the lease and discussed options including purchase. They said the easiest way was to go to a dealership and they would help to complete all of the paperwork. They told me my buyout was $14.5K which included state taxes. When we got to the dealership, they said the buyout was $15.2K, or $700 over what I was quoted by Hyundai. I declined and contacted Hyundai again. Seems you can buy your car from the finance company direct without $700 worth of documentation fees. Four pages of docs with 3 signatures and I mailed the check. I will have to go to DMV to transfer title, but well worth the savings.

Would love to see an update on this topic given current market conditions. My thinking is that a lot of people should buy their lease right now and sell the car

To me. Leasing means you'll never own it. But a Dealer just told me tonight " You buy what appreciate, and you use what depreciate " thats the best advice I ever heard.

Just bought out my 2020 Ram 1500 lease, which I have never done, and couldn’t feel more justified. After extending my lease six months beyond my contract, I came to the sad realization that dealer prices were not even trying to compensate for sky-high interest rates, even with perfect credit, and a new lease or purchase would’ve increased my monthly payment by over $400!!! I have been leasing vehicles for over 20 years now and have never felt less inspired to trade-in for something new. Fortunately, I had very low mileage on the 2020 Ram which put me at a reasonable residual value purchase at a payment almost exactly what I leased for through the same lender. I didn’t even have to go back to the dealer for my lease buyout as everything was done directly online with ease. Also, my lender offered very low cost extended warranty coverage and roadside assistance to my payment plan. I feel like I really won the battle at a time when the market is treating everyone like a loser. Screw these greedy Stellantis dealers as they are responsible for not lowering MSRPs at these ridiculous interest rates!

Great channel containing insider knowledge. I appreciate the great relationship that you have with your son, who is a very good interviewer.

Looking at my first-ever lease right now, so this was incredibly timely. Thank you, guys!

Im in my 2nd lease and will get my 3rd when its up in less than a year. I love leasing, after owning and having to maintain a vehicle for 20 years, this is so much easier and to me worth the payments and higher ins.

I love your "public service" type of videos. I would love to hear about the lease pass-through situation. Car manufacturers that accept it and the ones that don't.

Yes Please do A whole video on Just leasing cars. Thank You!! Love Your Channel.

In November learned abt Gap ins. Dealership added when I bought Hyundai Accent.Picked it up Monday nite. B4 noon Wednesday less than 48hrs was rearended, car was totaled ! Gap also gives $1000 down pmt on next car if U stay with same dealer. Thanx Gap 🌷

Would love to see an update on this topic given current market conditions

Well it’s November 2022, and my lease is worth 35% more than the contract signed on lease day…January 2020. I will be buying out the car and selling it to another dealer for over 30% profit ….rare opportunity as you gents say

Would loveeeee an update to this topic given current conditions

The 4th option is selling it to CarMax beforehand if they'll give you more money than the buying price. The example was given, but it should be considered a 4th option. Turn in, no re-lease. Turn in, lease new model. Buy at the end of the lease. Sell before lease end.

I leased a Prius fully intending to buy it at the end. However a woman with a big Lincoln Navigator rear ended me with 5k+ damages to the Prius. Believing, as I do, cars are never repaired perfectly. I turned it in and paid the 395 dollars. Currently leasing my 2020 Santa Fe and if I can avoid a crash I plan to buy it out in three years.

I have leased four vehicles in my 44 years. What I found was it was great! I found out all kinds of things I'd didn't like about each vehicle. In one case, it was a pile of junk and was very glad I didn't buy it. I now own my vehicles, but leasing worked for me.

Remember to count in any sales tax and registration fees you will have to pay if you buy the car. This will lower the return to you if you buy it because it is worth more than the residual value. This could change the decision you may want to make.

I lease cars for my business and I have never turned in a car to date. I would typically sell the car to a company like Carmax and pay the difference if there is a slight loss especially if I was over miles. I leased a 2019 M5 for 9 months and sold it to Carmax with $5k out of pocket. Happy to have driven it and sell it to see if I liked it or not. In the end I did not car for the car and want to try another brand down the road. I have also used Swap-a-lease a few times but it was a little more work and not all car companies will offer a way out.

My lease is close to an end and I asked the lease company if I could purchase the vehicle. They said yes but there’s no negotiation, I have to pay the residual value plus $350 for fees. This car is not worth the residual value so a purchase is not an option. If it was worth more than the residual value you will have to pay sales tax on that vehicle and much of the profit you think you have may not be there. I do have to pay a disposition fee of $400. The lease company said if you lease another Chrysler vehicle you won’t have to pay the fee, but when I went to the dealer to look at another vehicle they included the disposition fee in my payoff which infuriated me and I just left.

We all should listen to each other more than we do. Active listening requires work. Your Father has the wisdom that comes with age and experience.

There’s also a 4th option at lease end. You can sell the car or trade it in for another car at another dealer. Similar to if you owned it. Many don’t know this.

I have had good luck leasing Toyotas. I had positive equity in 2 of the 3 (had an accident on record with the other 1). Any dealership would love for you to just turn it in at lease end. Even when I told them I wanted to trade it in, they worked their numbers for my new vehicle without the equity I had in essence trying to steal it from me. I went to 3 different websites to figure out “trade in value” for my vehicle which obviously is less than resale because the dealership will still need to make a profit when they sell it and negotiated a fair trade in price. Ended up having around 3-$4,000 equity which I used to pay taxes fees and even a little cap cost reduction (down payment). Bottom line as all these videos prove, do your homework. Know what your trade in is worth and how much they’re gonna turn around and sell it for. Check your local dealerships and see how much your vehicle is being sold for used. Don’t let them steal that money from you. They make tons off of people who think when the lease is up you’re left with nothing. That’s not always the case if you lease the right car

I sold my Toyota back to a dealer last year because the market value was higher than the RV. Ended up receiving the difference

I had a leased vehicle that had two years left on the lease. I traded it in on another brand of vehicle and the buyout was a little over a thousand more than what the new dealership offered me for the trade in. I was ok paying the $1,000 negative equity rolled into the purchase of the new vehicle.

Thank you for this video. Right now I’m currently leasing a Jeep Compass and my quoted residual price is $13300. I agreed to a 36 month loan for 36,000 miles. Since 2019 I only accumulated 12,500 miles as of today. Yes it’s 2021🤣. Thank you Rona and homebody lifestyle. 🤷🏾‍♀️. My lease is up February 22 and there’s no way I’m turning the car in. It will be worth more . Might as well keep it because I doubt I can add 20,000 miles in one year.

Perfect timing. Toyota Tacoma lease is up in June.

i know you had asked for suggestions in other videos.but how about a video on leasing vs used car buying in this current environment we're in. I guess it's subjective and maybe it's more of a topic for a finance channel, maybe..but i do value your guys take on things

Great conversation. You two are a perfect combination. Great easy to understand information. But what about now that there's a shortage of cars? Please can you speak to that in terms of buying out a lease? I have a 2018 Jeep Summit w 16,800 miles and my lease is up in 4 months.

Thanks so much for sharing! I've heard a theory before that "real (helpful) information comes out of casual conversations." (may not be exact phrases). That's exactly what I was feeling while watching the YAA videos.

I think this video today would be very different. I leased my car for 3 years in spring 2020 at a very good discount on the sales price and normal residual value and low money factor. Car prices are now through the roof (if you can get one) and I bought 12k miles per year but have only used 4k/yr (on average) because with covid now I'm working from home vs driving to an office. I'm pretty sure I'll buy my car at end of lease as I expect to have a residual value that is significantly lower then my fair market value (assuming there are still shortages 18 months from now).

Just got 4800 back on my tucson lease. Had 4 months left on the lease. Killed it!!! Was able to get a better car than I was looking at originally due to the extra cash

You guys have really improved your broadcast since this time. Both are great though and much appreciate your knowledge. Keep growing!

I went to my bank after getting payoff amount while still having a few months left on lease, plan was always to buy at lease specially with high mileage, then todays used car rates I felt it better to sell and buy new for lower rate, but owe a bit more than it’s being appraised for and don’t want to go in upside down with new car plans either, so I plan to sit back watch you guys like a stock market to see when it’s best for me.

I purchased a 94 Chevy S-10 pick-up at the end of a 3 year lease at the residual value and the salesman got mad that I purchased it. (That truck ran forever. Then I gave it to my brother-in-law for a debt. Then he gave it to our nephew in college. It was rusted bad, but it just kept going.) Then, I leased an Oldsmobile Cutlass (2000 model I believe) and at the end of the lease the residual value was something like $13,000. I wanted to buy it, but the dealer wouldn't come down on the residual value. And he even showed me the contract and said, "This is the purchase price you agreed to at the beginning of the lease." So I didn't buy it. Then about a month later I received a note saying the car was sold at auction for something like $10,800. I don't know how I happened to receive that information, but I took it to the dealer and said, "I would have paid $11,000 and you would have had a happy customer." It was like a postcard from the auction site.

I leases a car about 25 years ago. You really have to make sure to read the lease agreement. I leased a car for 4 years & I drove 18,000 miles a year. The lease agreement said that during the four years that I would put 80000 miles on the car. If I went over milage, it would be 16 cents a mile. This charge could really add up. I got out of the lease a year early by paying off the lease early.

Intelligent conversation with actually useful tips. I would just add some graphics to really have the numbers stand out.

Hi guys. I love your videos! I am struggling on whether I should turn in my leased Lincoln, or purchase it. My 36 month lease for my 2018 Lincoln MKX is up Aug. 1. Because of covid, I only put 7,700 miles on the car. The tires still have the little nubs on them and are basically brand new. The car is in great, if not excellent condition. I checked the value with Edmunds and Carmax and the value is substantially higher than the residual value quoted on my lease contract. My salesman at the dealership, with whom I've leased my last two Lincolns with, said that the dealership would consider buying the car and passing the profit onto me to put towards my next vehicle. I'm not sure that the profit that he spoke of will be as profitable as it would be if I bought the car at the residual amount myself and took the deal from Carmax. I'm wondering though if my profit would whittle down since I'd be financing the residual in order to get the car in my possession, I'd definitely ask if there is a prepayment penalty, since I'd basically be turning around and selling the car to Carmax. I'm sure I'd have to at least make one payment. Then I'd have to consider my next vehicle. I have bought new, used, and leased new cars. I have likes and dislikes for all of them. I like being able to test out a car with a leasing option, in case I don't like the car after using it for awhile, but hate that I have literally nothing to show for it at lease end. I hate that a new car depreciates so drastically just driving it off the lot, and so if I don't like the car and choose to sell it, most times i'm left upside down. And I have had miserable and costly experiences buying a used car. I will probably lease my next vehicle for 36 months. That being the case, is it better to just go with the dealership passing along the profit to me? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Also, don't forget in my example. I lived and leased my car in IOWA. I moved to TEXAS. Texas considers a lease as a rental and therefore is charging sales tax every month on the payment. I just got a bill for $1900.00 .

Have you guys done a vlog yet about taking over a lease from a distress lease owner? If none please do if you guys can.

Fast forward two years and the supply chain bottleneck has raised the value of cards like 40%. You can sell the leased car to a place like Car Max. If the value is greater than the residual for the lease, pocket the difference. Never turn it in at the dealership.

I've had to use GAP on a financed Ford Focus and it really helped when my wife got in an accident. We were able to get in our next car within a week. Car only lost $300 in its value after putting 30k miles on it. Pretty eye opening when it happened.

I sold my leased 2016 Honda Civic touring (buyback was 14,500) for 17,500 to a used car company and walked out with a check for 3000. This is in Canada. I was super surprised and happy ! I never bought the car from the dealer. They did so I avoided paying the tax on the 14,500. This type of deal has to be made before the lease ends. The man who bought the car from me said it only generally happens with civics and Carolas.

Good video. I have always figured that a lease is generally more profitable for the dealership over time than a sale. If that is true, then a lease is more expensive to a customer over time than a purchase (the profit to a dealer is always a cost to the customer). Something that is not talked about in a lease is that the dealership also builds a profit margin into a lease just like it would do in a sale. And as you might guess, I do not lease. But that does not mean I am opposed to it for others especially those that are "well-healed" and don't mind paying more for the "perks" or leasing versus buying.

I lease my cars for 36 mo. After 2 yrs, I check my payoff amt against the value(kbb) and almost always end up with a profit. In fact, I will be getting a car tomorrow with a $3500 profit. And they gave me $3700 off the price.

Another question guys, should you get your card pre-inspected by the company before returning?

I being leasing car for about 25+ years, normally are 4 years contract 15K miles per year. The way I see lease is. You like luxury cars, and you hate dealing with breakdowns, then the way I figured the cost of lease is like move the down payment to the end of the lease (that is the residual value, is like given a 20,000 downlpyment) but the down payment is not given, then figure the monthly payment imagining 20,000 down... it is of course low payments but at the end of the lease will be time to pay the down payment if.... you like to keep the car, but if the car was not something you like to keep, then like you said, just return it and you done... some times the dealer done this... they called me about 2 month before the end and offered me to forget those 2 or 3 payments if I purchase another vehicle from them... and I done that maybe twice... what you think about my philosophy? Maybe is just a thinking to make feel good when I lease. It works for me...

Ironically, supply chains are disrupted now and some cars are really hard to find (thus in demand). My 2021 4Runner may be worth more than agreed sales price on my 24mo lease at end. Like more after 24 mos w mileage than it sold for brand new. Crazy times!

The good thing about buying the car rather than leasing, is that you own the car at the end. A lot of cars hold up and are still useful after the loan is paid off, even if their sales value is pretty much nothing at that point.

So I leased a Toyota Tundra in 2015 and when the lease was up I sold it to a Hertz dealer for 6.6K over the payoff of the car. They bought the car from me, paid off the lease holder and I pocked the difference of 6.6K. I then went to Toyota leased another higher trim level Tundra with 6.6K down. I just sold that Tundra back to the Toyota dealer without leasing a new Tundra (they literally have none) and got 6.5K back. Currently sitting on that 6.5K waiting until the factories ramp back up and hope to lease another Tundra later this year. I've also leased an Audi A4 and a Honda Civic Hybrid and there was no equity in either of those when I turned those in.

Yes to stories from Ray! $52K for a Chrysler minivan?? A Porsche Macan starts at $52k!

Ok I’m new to leasing and my lease is up in December. Right now I have a ram 1500 and I want to move into a ram 2500. I’ve talked to the salesperson about wanting to move to a ram 2500. She said she would looking into my payoff and about finding a new vehicle for me. A few weeks later I called back about the status of what she was going to find out and got back to me a few days later. When she got back to me she said that I would be better off ordering a new truck, due to it being so hard to find them during this pandemic. She also asked how many miles I have on the truck now and I told her 19,000, which is way less than what was figured during the start of the lease. I also told her that I don’t want to be over a certain monthly payment and I’m having a hard time getting a brand new vehicle within that amount. She told me that with the equity I have in the truck now, that I should be in the price range. The reason I want to move to a 2500 is because I pull a 16’ enclosed trailer for my business and I also have a 36’6” camper. If it wasn’t for my business and having the camper, I would keep the truck I have now. Right now the truck is in my name, but my accountant says to put my new truck in my business name seeing how it’s mostly used for work than personal. My question is, is my salesperson trying to pull a fast one on me or should I do something different? Will I have trouble with having the current truck in my name and wanting to get the new one in the business name? I know nothing about this stuff. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Very different situation now. Second hand market is insane right now, if you were able to get a lease in 2018-2019, you would definitely want to buy out your lease.

Good content. I actually negotiated with the dealer to pay off the car so I didn’t have to pay any fees associated with tear and wear . I was switching from one brand to another. It worked out well for me.

might want to revisit "residual value" versus market value at this point. With this inflation, I think people are buying out their lease and reselling for an insane amount of money!!

Big oversight on your part. YOU don’t have to buy the car before you sell it. If you can get ANY car dealer to buy it and sell it for you, they will give you the difference. They can buy it cheaper than you because they don’t pay sales tax. I recently did this with a luxury sedan.

From an insurance perspective: very rarely would a lien holder require the liability limits to be 100/300 that you mentioned... that coverage limit does nothing for the car. It pays for damages to other people and property. Now the lien holder can *absolutely* say the comprehensive and the collision deductible can only be $500 for example. But even if the vehicle is financed that requirement may be implemented by the finance company. I get those calls all the time. Also GAP coverage is offered by most (sadly not all) insurance companies and is often times very inexpensive so if your dont have it, call and ask your Agent. If you ever do an insurance video I will be sure to give it watch. There definitely needs to be more correct information given about it! Thanks for the informative video. (:

So if my car is currently worth 17k but my cars lease residual value is 10k can I go into the dealership and buy the car and get the 7k off the car? My lease ends in December and I’m trying To look at all my options

Every time I looked at lease vs buy it was cheaper for me to buy. I thought as convoluted as the car buying process was, it was clearer to see what I was paying for than figuring out a lease.

So what’s the best option when your lease expires?

When U lease a car you save money but with the agreement that you signed You can only drive so many miles per year and then they can hit you with a fee for every mile over the maximum according to the contract you signed a good example would be if you can drive 15,000 miles a year and you did 25,000 They could make you pay a quarter a mile fee for every mile over the max The other downside to leasing is you always have a payment you never own the car you keep rolling it over and leasing something else Some people like that they like having a new car every few years it keeps down on the maintenance because you're less likely to have major problems I'd rather own the car and then hopefully get 10 years out of it

Is it wise to take over someones lease and buy back the vehicle at the end of the lease contract? Do people want to get out of their lease because there is something wrong with their vehicle? Or is financing a car is a better more reliable option all together?what are the hidden costs of leasing? What exactly are the costs the customer has to put toward the vehicle in terms of repairs?

Right now I have a civic that the buy out is 12k and I have had offers from dealers and carmax for 17k!

The third option is a great option. I’ve been leasing Honda Accords for years and making always absolutely always a couple of thousands at least before the lease is up. I even remember once making four thousand. One disclaimer: keep the miles under the allowed mileage.

Why are insurance companies allowed to total vehicles at only 80% of "what they are worth"? That seems criminal in my mind (I live in NY).

Great Video, There are 3 months left on my lease and the Dealership is bugging me already. I like it . It has low miles and I want to purchase it. I am going to try to wait til the end.

Yes deep dive into leasing

but what if our miles are about to go over? and lease ends in a year?

i wish i knew this stuff before my first lease.

If my lease ends next month and my vehicle is worth more then my residual value can I turn it in and get into a new vehicle, with the positive equity from turn in value minus the residual value?

Give your Lexus lease back. So we can buy it. We have two now and looking for an upgrade.

Well done, gentlemen, thank you so much. Exactly my situation, my almost premium car's lease will end in December w/ less than 12,000 miles. I anticipate working w/ Carvana or Carmax. Hope to make out pretty well.

What’s crazy right now with car values being up. People can make some big cash off there cars. I have a 2020 WRX lease, lease ends this coming January. My residual value is 16k. My car right now is worth 27K per KBB And my Carfax has it at 30k. I’ve got some crazy options to cash out.

Great tips . Any advice or videos for a lease that will be over the miles at the end of the lease. Can you purchase more miles before you turn it in? Thank you in advance for the help

Do you have to put a down payment on a lease? Should you put a downoayment on a lease? If you decide to buy the vehicle when your lease is over, what will the new payments be? Or how are they calculated?

My lease on an Infiniti is about to end. I want to buy the car but when I went to 2 different Infiniti dealerships they both decided to add a $995 Doc Fee and several other fees in addition to the $300 purchase option fee. Is this legal?

You forgot to mention state sales tax. Next Jan my cadillac C5 ends and the residual is $29,000. If I buy it and resell I will need to get $31,000 to break even. Also add $400 for turn in. I'm not sure I will purchase, even though it will have less than 10,000 miles. This was my first lease (2 yr.). I trade about every 2yr. Plus has a summer car.

One way I see the lease contract is that that money that you had to invest as down payment to get the payment low to your budget, you save it to the end. What I mean if the residue value is 15000 then just image you drop those 15000 in the bigining as down payment and you will came to a low monthly payment. Except on lease if you don’t like the car, then just return it and walk away. If you like it so much, then refinance or save those 15000 and pay cash. My 5 cents

Hello ... I have a question how do they determine what the car will be worth 3 years from now?

I had leased a car once from a credit union. at the end of the lease the residual value was higher than the market value. I was able to offer the credit union less than the residual value for purchasing the car. They excepted. I saved $2000 on the purchase by doing so. Not sure this would work with a lease from a manufacture.

Maybe just this area but Lexus has always asked for all our leases back early. The last one a few months ago they BEGGED for it back and it had over a year left.

This vid was not a comprehensive tutorial , I've leased my last 4 cars with Nissan, every lease, I've turned in the vehicle 4 months early, and leased a new Nissan ( A Maxima), I resumed the new lease at the same payments and conception fee's with no payment or penalty on the Vehicle I turned in, kind of like passing the baton to myself, and only paying inception fee's on new car.

If you want to terminate your lease early the dealer can pay those payments to the leasing company and roll them into the new car loan rather than paying it in cash especially if their are rebates available

I have sold a Lease 9 months early to the dealership who paid the car off and made it a certified vehicle on their lot. I went into a new car of the same brand and didn’t have to pay the end of lease fee.

residual value is taxed plus the dealer charges $99 for their 120 point inspection which is also taxed. My buyout was 18,995.00 after all is calculated it is 21,100.00.

If you sign a new lease and you want a similar car and payment as the lease you turned in do you need to put down another down payment?

Thanks for sharing such a wealth of knowledge Ray.

Assuming you can make money buying a car coming off lease and you plan to flip it, how do you avoid all the costs in buying the car from the dealership (sales tax, registration fees, license fees, etc). Or do you need to factor these costs in when buying and flipping the car? Love your videos btw. Like you, I’m in the DC area.

Appreciate your knowledge, thank you fellas !

If your lease is up during the COVID-19 and the dealer says they can’t take back your vehicle you must kept it a few more months. They can’t do that you signed a contract when to bring the vehicle back and they must take it.

BTW on the Deficiency Value it becomes an unsecured debt therefore it can become negotiable where you can pay a negotiated amount.

My 2018 4Runner TRD Pro has a residual value of $30K. Vroom is offering $45.5K but I'm still six months out. I know used cars are probably peaked, but if I'm going to have to cover $4K in lease payments to buy it out, I'm not sure it makes sense to sell now and take the hit. I may be completely wrong of course. I can't imagine what Vroom is smoking offering me nearly the original sell price of the vehicle. The mileage is very low, just under 11K, but Vroom is 5K over the other places I've shopped my truck to.

Never leased a car nor plan too but that was so interesting.

Thank you! About to lease my first vehicle!

I was looking to lease a car last year November, it was very interesting that I got three quotes and all three were the same monthly payment for 48 Month lease with no down payment, each quote had its own dealer discount and different residual value, the three cars were Honda Accord 2L Turbo the value on website $37K( CAD), Subaru Lagacy XT( GT) around $39K and Audi A4 for $48. All three had same monthly lease payment!!! So it all depends on the residual value, lease rate, the discount and your luck ! I got the A4!

Please give us more on leasing. Thank you

I’m presently leasing and I feel like I made a mistake,now I first have to buy it ,then trade it in ,that seems like just an extra hassle

My husband and I did that 20 yrs ago..we bought the car at end of lease and sold it for 7 thousand dollars more!

All my vehicles over 47 years I have made 1 payment and done. Then I keep them for many years if purchased new. I am holding off in this market because cash is no longer King but instead is treated as 3rd class.

I’m going to pay off my 3 year lease this month. I owe 15k on a 2022 VW TAOS… but they are going for 20k used currentlydue to the inflation over the last few years. 🤷🏼

I'm leasing my dream 4runner trd off road ,just to pay less monthly , after the lease ends I'm buying it , most likely the residual will be half of the real value , in top of it the tax will be less since it would be on half of the remaining balance ..