Lease buyout: buy, return, or buy and sell?

At the end of a lease you can usually hand the car back, buy it, or buy it and sell it. Enter your lessor’s buyout quote and what each path would cost, and see the cash side by side.

Work from a current buyout quote from your lessor, not the residual value in your contract: the quote is what you’d pay today. Any sale price comes from you, ideally a written offer.

Keeping the car isn’t ranked against returning it: one leaves you with a car, the other doesn’t.

When would you buy it?

At the end of the leaseEarly, before the lease endsNeeds an all-in payoff quote that already includes tax, fees and remaining payments.

The buyout quote

Buyout amount on the quote

Quote good through (optional)

Does the quote already include sales tax?

YesNo

Sales tax rate on the buyout (optional)

Applied to the buyout amount. Some states tax lease buyouts differently; ask your lessor. New York: rate lookup.

Fees not in the quote (optional)

Purchase-option fee, title, registration.

Lease payments the quote leaves out (optional)

If you return it

Disposition or turn-in fee (optional)

Payments still due on return (optional)

Excess mileage charge (optional)

Miles over the allowance times the per-mile rate in your contract.

Excess wear charge (optional)

Your estimate, or the inspection report’s.

If you buy it and sell itA dealer’s or buyer’s offer for the car

Sale offer (optional)

A written offer if you have one.

Higher offer, for a range (optional)

Costs of selling (optional)

Fees, repairs, a second title transfer.

Does your lease let you complete this sale?

Some lessors won’t sell to a dealer or other third party directly. Check before relying on this option.

YesNoNot sure

If you keep it and finance the buyout

Down payment (optional)

APR (optional)

Loan term (optional)

In months.

How the worksheet works

Buyout, all in: the quote, plus tax, fees and payments it leaves out. If the quote includes tax, none is added; the worksheet never counts it twice.
Return: the turn-in fee, mileage and wear charges, and any payments still due.
Buy and sell: the all-in buyout minus what you’d get after selling costs. A negative number means money left over. It’s compared with returning, and the break-even sale price is where the two cost the same.
Keep: the all-in buyout and, if you enter loan terms, the monthly payment.

A worked example

Fictional numbers: a $20,000 buyout with tax at 8% not included and $300 of fees outside the quote, a $400 turn-in fee, and a $23,000 offer with $200 of selling costs.

Buyout, all in	$21,900.00
Sale offer, less selling costs	$22,800.00
Buy and sell: net cost	−$900.00
Return: cash cost	$400.00
Buying and selling leaves you better off by	$1,300.00

The break-even sale price is $21,700.00: below that, returning the car costs less. The result holds only if the lease allows the sale and the quote is still current.

Questions

Why not compare keeping the car with returning it?

Returning costs a few hundred dollars and leaves you without a car; keeping costs the buyout and leaves you with one. Comparing those properly needs the cost of your next car, insurance and depreciation over the same years, which this worksheet doesn’t try to do.

Why does the quote need to be current?

Buyout amounts drop as you make payments, and quotes expire. The residual value in your contract usually leaves out tax and fees.

What can I negotiate?

See the CFPB’s guide to what you can negotiate when buying and financing a car.