What should I do at the end of my car lease?

Start here: buyout versus what the car is worth

Get two numbers from the leasing company, by phone or in the app: your payoff today, and the contract residual at the scheduled end. Then find out what a buyer will actually pay for the car as it sits, with your miles and your door dings.

If the market number is higher than the buyout, that difference is yours to use. If it is lower, the residual protected you and handing the keys back is probably the right move.

This flips with the used market, so a number from last year is not a number. Check it again before you decide anything.

Option one: return the car

You return it at the end, pay whatever the contract calls for, and walk away. Expect a disposition fee unless your brand waives it, a per mile charge for miles over the allowance, and charges for wear beyond the standard in your contract.

Get the inspection done early. Most brands will send an inspector weeks before the return date, which gives you time to fix a windshield chip or replace tires for less than the leasing company will bill you for them.

Returning is the right answer when the car is worth less than the buyout, when your miles are well over, or when the car has had a hard life. That is exactly the risk you paid the leasing company to carry.

Option two: buy it out

Buying out means paying the residual plus tax and fees, in cash or with a loan. You keep a car whose history you know, with no mileage worry and no wear bill waiting at the end.

It makes sense when the buyout sits below what the car is worth, when you are far over the mileage allowance, or when you simply like the car and do not want to shop. Credit unions and banks both write lease buyout loans, and those rates can differ from new car rates.

Check who is allowed to buy it out. Several brands restrict buyouts to the lessee or to their own franchised dealers, which changes your options if you were hoping to sell to anyone.

Option three: trade in the lease

Trading in the lease means a dealer pays your buyout and any equity goes toward the next car. It is the cleanest way to turn equity into a down payment, and in most cases it avoids the disposition fee.

Watch the right number. Equity is the difference between a real bid on your car and your buyout, so ask for both as separate lines. A generous sounding payment on the next car tells you nothing about what your current one was worth.

You can often do this early. Many leases can be ended a few months ahead when the next car is ready, and some brands run pull ahead programs that waive remaining payments when they want you back in something new. We check whether one exists on your brand this month.

Timing: start about three months out

Three months is enough to get your buyout, collect real bids, handle an inspection, and order a car if the one you want is not sitting on a lot somewhere.

Do not let the return date arrive with no plan. Month to month extensions exist on most leases, but they are not cheap, and a rushed decision at a return appointment is how people end up in the wrong payment.

What we do at lease end

Send us the year, make, model, mileage and your buyout. We get the car in front of more than one buyer, tell you whether there is equity, and work the next car as a separate line so one number cannot hide inside the other. If returning it is the right answer, we will say that.

Green Light Auto Broker is an autobroker. All new cars arranged for sale are subject to price and availability from the selling franchised new car dealer.

Questions