Exit Your Lease Early

Leased vehicle is over miles

So you’ve found yourself in a situation where your car is well over the allotted miles on your lease.  What to do?  One option is to pay the overage off directly to a seller upon transferring your lease.  This is calculated based on the number of miles the vehicle is over at the point of transfer multiplied by the over mileage penalty imposed in the lease contract ($0.20 per mile, for example).

Another approach to consider is simply buying the vehicle out at the end of the lease.  Most leases have a “buyout price” that states how much you should be able to purchase your car for at the end of the lease.  If turning your vehicle into the leasing company will incur thousands of dollars in “fees”, you may consider buying the car at the buyout price and then reselling it yourself or perhaps refinancing it into a loan.  This will help you avoid excess mileage fees.  Beware: your vehicle may still be worth less than you are paying for it because of the additional miles.