Lease End 90-Day Playbook: What to Do When Your Lease Is Almost Up

Your lease maturity date is circled on the calendar and the dealer is already texting you about "exciting opportunities." You have three months to make the right call, and the wrong move costs you thousands.

This is your 90-day playbook for lease end. We'll show you how to check for hidden equity, negotiate a buyout or new lease, and avoid the dealer tricks designed to rush you into a bad deal.

TL;DR

• Request your lease payoff quote 90 days out and compare it to your car's actual value on Carvana, CarMax, and Vroom to see if you have equity.
• If you have $2,000 or more in equity, buy out the lease yourself and sell or trade it immediately. Do not let the dealer "appraise" it without getting outside offers first.
• Schedule your pre-inspection at 60 days out so you know what damage charges are coming and can decide whether to fix items yourself.
• Ignore dealer letters about "equity release" or "pull-ahead" programs until you run the math yourself. These offers almost always benefit the dealer, not you.
• Start shopping for a replacement vehicle at 75 days out, not 30 days out, to avoid panic decisions.

What you need to know first

Your lease contract has a residual value, which is the purchase price you can buy the car for at lease end. That number was set three years ago based on what the finance company thought the car would be worth. They were often wrong.

In 2026, many lessees who signed in 2023 have equity because residual values were set conservatively after the 2021-2022 used car spike. If your residual is $22,000 but CarMax will pay you $25,000, you have $3,000 in equity. You can capture that by buying out the lease and immediately reselling the car.

The dealer knows this. That's why they're calling you early. They want you to trade in your leased car and roll that equity into a new lease or purchase with them, but they'll lowball your trade by $1,500 to $2,500 because you don't know what it's really worth. Your job in the next 90 days is to figure out the numbers before they do.

Most lease contracts allow you to buy out the car at any time, but some captive lenders (like Toyota Financial and Honda Financial) restrict third-party sales in certain states. If you live in a restricted state, you'll need to buy out the lease yourself, wait for the title, then sell it. That adds two to four weeks and a short-term loan, but it's still worth it if you have real equity.

Step 1: Get your payoff quote at 90 days out

Call your leasing company or log into your account and request your lease-end purchase price. This is your residual plus any remaining payments, purchase option fee (usually $300 to $500), and applicable taxes.

Write down three numbers: your residual value, your purchase option fee, and your total payoff if you bought it today. Some states charge sales tax on the residual when you buy out a lease. Others don't. Know which camp you're in because it changes the equity math by 6 to 10 percent.

Example: Your residual is $23,000, purchase fee is $395, and your state charges 7 percent tax on lease buyouts. Your true cost to own the car is $23,000 + $395 + $1,610 (tax) = $24,005. That's the number you compare to resale offers.

Step 2: Check your car's real value at 85 days out

Get instant offers from Carvana, CarMax, Vroom, and at least one local dealer that buys cars outright (not just trades). Enter your VIN, mileage, and condition honestly. These offers are good for seven days, so you'll need to refresh them as you get closer to lease end.

If the average offer is $26,500 and your buyout cost is $24,005, you have $2,495 in equity. That's real money. If offers come in at $23,000 and your buyout is $24,005, you have no equity. In that case, you'll likely return the car unless you want to keep it for personal reasons.

Do not tell the dealer you're "just checking values." Do not let them appraise your car until you have outside offers in hand. Dealers will lowball you by $1,000 to $2,500 and tell you that's "market." It's not. Use our sell or keep tool to run the buyout versus return math with your actual numbers.

Step 3: Schedule your pre-inspection at 60 days out

Most lease companies offer a free pre-inspection where they'll flag damage that exceeds wear-and-use guidelines. Schedule this at 60 days so you have time to fix or dispute items.

You're on the hook for anything beyond normal wear: dents larger than a half-dollar, scratches through the paint, cracked glass, tire tread below 4/32nds, missing equipment. The lease company will charge you $150 to $400 per dent, $75 to $250 per scratched panel, and $50 to $100 per worn tire.

If the pre-inspection estimates $1,200 in damage charges, get quotes from a local body shop or paintless dent repair shop. Often you can fix the same damage for $500 to $700. If you're buying out the lease anyway, skip the repairs entirely because you're keeping the car.

Step 4: Decide your move at 45 days out

You have four options.

Option A: Return the car. You have no equity, you don't want to keep it, and damage charges are under $500. Clean the car, return it to the dealer, walk away. Make sure you're under your mileage cap (usually 36,000 miles on a three-year lease). Overage is typically 20 to 25 cents per mile.

Option B: Buy it out and keep it. You like the car, the buyout price is fair compared to replacements, and you want to drive it for another three to five years. Finance the buyout through a credit union or bank at 6 to 8 percent APR for 48 to 60 months.

Option C: Buy it out and flip it. You have $2,000-plus in equity. Buy the car, get the title, sell it immediately to the highest bidder. If you're in a third-party sale restriction state, you'll need to bridge-finance the buyout for two to four weeks until the title arrives.

Option D: Trade it in on a new lease or purchase. This only makes sense if the dealer is giving you full market value for the car and the new deal is competitive. Get outside offers first so you know what full value actually is. Compare the trade-in credit to your Carvana and CarMax offers. If the dealer is within $500, you can trade for convenience. If they're $1,500 low, walk.

Run your options through our lease vs buy calculator to see whether leasing again or financing a purchase makes more sense for your next car.

Step 5: Execute at 30 days out

If you're returning the car, schedule your return appointment and arrange your replacement in advance. Do not return the car and then start shopping. You'll have no leverage and you'll rush into a bad deal.

If you're buying it out, finalize your loan and submit your purchase paperwork to the leasing company at 30 days out. The title process takes two to four weeks in most states. If you're flipping the car, line up your buyer (Carvana, CarMax, dealer) so you can sell within a week of receiving the title.

If you're trading it in, negotiate the new car deal and the trade-in value separately. Do not let the dealer blend them. Get the new car price in writing, then negotiate trade value based on your outside offers.

Mistakes to avoid

• Waiting until the last 30 days to check for equity. The dealer is already working on you at 90 days out. You need the same head start.
• Believing the dealer's "equity estimate" without outside verification. Dealers will undervalue your lease return by $1,500 to $3,000 to pad their margin.
• Returning a car with $3,000 in equity. That's a check you're leaving on the table. Buy it out, sell it, pocket the difference.
• Fixing excess wear damage when you're buying out the lease anyway. If you're keeping the car, damage charges don't matter. Save the money.
• Signing a new lease the same day you return your old one. This is how you overpay by $50 a month for three years because you had no time to shop.

When to ask for help

If you're in a third-party buyout restriction state (check your lease contract or call the leasing company), you may need help structuring a short-term loan to bridge the buyout and resale. Most credit unions will do a 60- to 90-day bridge loan at 7 to 9 percent APR, but not all. If your credit is under 680 or you don't have $5,000 to cover the gap between buyout and resale, talk to a credit union loan officer before you commit to the flip.

If the dealer is pressuring you into a new lease with promises of waived payments or loyalty discounts, bring the offer to a broker or use our refinance verdict tool to pressure-test the deal structure. Dealer "pull-ahead" programs almost always come with higher money factors (interest rates) or inflated vehicle prices that erase the value of the waived payments.