What is a Lease Buyout?

When your car lease is about to expire, you have two options. You can return the vehicle to the dealership and settle any remaining fees, or you can negotiate a car lease buyout. What is a lease buyout? The basic lease buyout definition is when a dealership allows you to purchase a vehicle at or before the end of a lease contract for the price of its estimated remaining value.

You’ll usually have two car lease buyout routes: a lease-end buyout or an early lease buyout. Learn more about each option below to determine if a car lease buyout is right for you, then learn how a lease buyout works.

Lease-End Buyout Explained

Most Kansas City drivers opt for the lease-end buyout. With a lease-end buyout, the price you pay for the vehicle is whatever its estimated value is expected to be when the lease expires. Typically, the expected value is outlined in the original lease agreement. Is a lease-end buyout a good option for you? Consider the following points:

• You love the vehicle enough to continue driving it for many years in Blue Springs
• Throughout your time leasing the vehicle, it hasn’t required any major repairs or anything beyond basic maintenance
• You’ve done your research and haven’t found a brand-new vehicle at a similar price that you would rather have
• You’re qualified for a great interest rate on a car lease buyout loan

A car lease buyout is a great way to pursue vehicle ownership for a great price! An added bonus is that because you’ve been the only one driving it, you already know its full service and maintenance history, which isn’t the case with other used vehicles.

Early Lease Buyout Explained

The second car lease buyout option is an early buyout. Here, you would purchase the vehicle before the lease reaches its intended expiration. This isn’t an option at every dealership, so you’ll need to ask if it’s a possibility. There’s more to consider with this option and you’ll want to be sure you’re going to get a good deal and won’t be paying more than you should. Here are some points that factor into how the early lease buyout price is determined:

• The expected lease-end value as outlined in the lease agreement
• The amount you still owe for the lease
• If depreciation has occurred at a faster rate than expected and the vehicle is now below market value, your lease buyout price might require you to make up that difference

Independence drivers who are considering an early lease buyout usually do so because they have concerns about lease penalty fees resulting from exceeding the mileage limit, failing to keep up with maintenance visits, or considerable damage to the interior or exterior.

How Does a Lease Buyout Work?

If your goal is to own your vehicle and you think a car lease buyout is a good option for your budget and finances, how does a lease buyout work? Here are the beginning steps you can take:

• Speak to your leasing institution. When you’re nearing the end of your lease, reach out to the institution you’re leasing with to inquire about your options. They can tell you more about how a car lease buyout works with them, including whether there are any fees associated with facilitating a buyout. 

• If you’ll be financing the buyout, apply for pre-approval. Some Blue Springs drivers choose to pay for their car lease buyout in full if they’ve been saving for it, but there are also car lease buyout loans available. If you plan to finance your lease buyout, now is a good time to apply for pre-approval with a few lenders to see how you qualify. Often, you can secure financing through the same dealership you had your lease with, but you can explore your own options, too.

• Negotiate and finalize the buyout. There may be room to negotiate your car lease buyout down to a lower price. Once you’ve settled on a price you feel comfortable with and secured your financing, all that’s left to do is finalize the buyout!

Explore Your Lease-End Options at Lee’s Summit Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram

If you think a car lease buyout is a good option for you and your lease is nearing its end, reach out to the finance center at Lee’s Summit Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram to see how we can help! If you decide you’d rather continue leasing, check out our inventory of new Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram to find a vehicle that suits you.