How to Calculate a Lease Buyout in Richardson

Richardson and Plano car shoppers often wonder: If you have a leased vehicle, and you’re thinking you might want to buy it out, what does that process look like? Town North Mazda is here to offer answers! Find out how much you could pay every month by checking out our guide on how to calculate car lease buyouts on leased vehicles, and then be sure to utilize our online payment calculator or contact us for additional assistance.

Buying Out a Lease: Here’s What You Should Know

Check out your monthly leasing statement. You should see either a “buy off amount” or “payoff amount” listed somewhere inside. This amount should include the residual value of your vehicle at the start of the lease, the total remaining payments, and possibly a car purchase fee (depending on the leasing company). Can’t find that information in your leasing statement about how to calculate a lease buyout? You can calculate your estimated lease buyout amount yourself by doing the following:

1. Find out the residual value of your vehicle. You’ll still need to dig up your lease contract for this. You’ll find the residual value as it was calculated at the beginning of the lease in this contract. What is the residual value? It’s the estimated future value of the vehicle at the time when your lease ends.
2. Determine the actual value of the vehicle. Your car may have decreased in value from when the lease began, due to unavoidable depreciation, or any wear and tear associated with normal driving. Conversely, if you’ve driven the average 12,000 miles a year that most McKinney and Dallas drivers do, it may not have decreased nearly as much as you thought! You can use a trade-in valuation tool to get the real-time market value of your car.
3. Compare residual value vs. actual value. If the actual current value of your car is greater than the residual value from your lease contract, then purchasing your vehicle is probably a fantastic deal. If it isn’t, you still may be able to negotiate with the dealer on the purchase price of your leased Mazda car!
4. Account for license and registration fees. If you do wind up buying out your current lease, certain costs of ownership are transferred from the leasing company to you. This includes things like title transfer costs, licensing, and registration fees. Check with your local DMV or our finance center to learn more.
5. Account for sales tax. There is a local sales tax rate when you buy out your vehicle, which you may also find on your DMV site or state government website.

Learning how to calculate your car lease buyout is important. But you should also know more about buying out a lease at the end of the contract vs. early. Find more information on that just below!

Lease-End Buyouts vs. Early Lease Buyouts

Lease-End Buyouts: If you are at or near the end of your lease, you will probably be able to negotiate a better buyout. If the dealer thinks you are planning on returning your lease, they may offer you a better deal to keep the vehicle instead!

Early Lease Buyout: Trying to end your lease agreement early? You’ll likely have less leverage than if you were to wait until the end of your contract, but it may not be wholly impossible to negotiate a lease buyout.

Trust Town North Mazda For More Financing Tips

Now that you know more about how to calculate a car lease buyout, we invite you to contact us with any other questions you may have about auto financing vs. leasing! We’re here to help you however we can at Town North Mazda!