Free preview · from the dealership side of the desk
Most people treat the end of a lease as a return: drive it back, sign a form, walk away. Sometimes that’s right. But if your car is worth more than the lease payoff, the difference is equity, and it belongs to you. Say your payoff is $24,500 and the car would bring $27,500. That’s $3,000. Hand the car back without checking and you leave it on the table.
From the dealer side, a lease return with equity is one of the best used cars a store can get: known history, usually low miles, often still under warranty. Stores are happy to “take care of your lease.” The question is whether your equity shows up on your contract or quietly disappears into the deal. Below: how a lease payoff works, who’s allowed to buy your car, a worked equity example, your options in order of control, where equity disappears, the tax and paperwork details, and what to say.
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In the full guide
- How a lease payoff works
- Who's allowed to buy your car
- Worked example: finding the equity
- Your options, in order of control
- Early in the lease vs. near the end
- Where the equity disappears
- The tax and paperwork details
- What to say
- Your game plan
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