Lease End Options

How to prepare your vehicle for turn-in

Have your vehicle inspected by the dealership that you are planning to turn it before your lease is up.  This will give you time to determine what your options are, relative to vehicle repairs and vehicle drop-off.
 
To do this, you must schedule an appointment at the dealership to have an ‘end of lease evaluation,’ which may take several weeks to get.  They will tell you what the vehicle is worth, what you owe, and what your options are.  With this information, you can use Swapalease and other sites to investigate whether turning your car in is the best option.  You may find that a lease assumption will save you a lot of money.
 
If the dealer assesses damage on the car and gives you an estimate of cost to repair, take it to a local body shop to compare the cost difference.  If the body shop is cheaper, negotiate with the dealer.  If the dealer will not budge on the price and you decide to turn in the vehicle, have the damage repaired elsewhere prior to returning. 
 
Since dealers will assess a fee for minor scratches and dents, you may want to try to touch-up the small scratches with ‘scratch remover’ that you can find in an auto repair section of a store.  You may also want to use the repair paint that may have come with your vehicle, but be careful… if you do not know what you are doing, you may end up doing more damage than repair.
 
Finally, clean your vehicle and remove any personal possessions.  If it looks like it has been maintained well, the dealer may cut you a break on some of the scratches.