How to Buy a Car at the End of Your Lease

You have come to the end of your auto lease andOnce you know this, you must find out the actual
you enjoy you automobile enough you want to buy it.value, also called market value, of your car. In other
However, you must do some research in order to getwords, how much does your vehicle retail for in the
a great deal.market? To identify a good, reliable estimate you
To begin with, you should find out the cost of buyingshould carry out some pricing research.
out your lease. Read the fine print of your contractCheck the price of the car, with similar condition and
and try to find the "purchase option price".mileage, with several dealers. Visit web sites, such as
The price is established by the leasing company andCars.com, as well as Kelly Blue Book for detailed
typically includes the residual value of the car at thepricing information. This will give you a reasonable
end of the lease as well as a purchase-option feeestimate of your car's retail value.
($300 to $500).Now, you need to compare the two amounts. If the
When you signed the contract, your monthly paymentsresidual value is lower than the actual retail value, you
were calculated as the difference between the car'shave a winner. However, there is a good chance a
price and its expected value at the end of the lease,vehicle coming off a lease is on the high side.
and also a monthly financing fee.Do not lose hope though. Leasing companies are
This estimated price of the vehicle value at the end offamiliar with the fact that residual values on their cars
the lease is called residual value. It is the loss in valueare greater than their market value. Because of this,
of the car over the lease period. For instance, a carthey always try to find fair offers. You can reduce the
which costs $40,000 and a 50% residual percentageprice of your leased car with some persuasive
will have an estimated $20,000 value the end of thenegotiating tactics.
lease.