Lease Equity Check: Compare Payoff With Vehicle Value

For this worksheet, potential net lease equity means the sale proceeds you could receive minus the complete cost of acquiring and selling the vehicle through an allowed path. It is not the total of your lease payments. The CFPB explains that lease payments generally cover depreciation and rental charges; purchasing at lease end depends on a purchase option in your agreement.[1]

Residual value is the contract figure used for the end of the lease. It is not a live market offer. The Federal Reserve explains that a lease-end purchase-option price may be a fixed amount, usually the residual, or may reference an independent used-car guide; a disclosed purchase-option fee can also apply.[2] Ask for today's itemized payoff rather than assuming that the residual is the complete amount due now.

Request a dated, written payoff from the lessor using its official account portal or the contact details on your statement. Record the VIN, quote expiration, eligible purchaser, purchase-option fee, taxes already included, outstanding obligations, and payment instructions. Ask which items are estimates and which charges would be collected separately. Do not add remaining payments again if they are already included in the payoff.

Ask the lessor whether your intended buyer can pay it directly and whether that buyer needs a different quote. If you must buy the car yourself first, confirm title-release timing and the tax, registration, financing, and resale steps before relying on an outside offer. A customer payoff does not establish that any dealer or online buyer can use it.

Obtain current, written VIN-specific offers with the actual mileage and condition. Record each offer's expiration and deductions. Dealer retail asking prices are context, not cash offers to you. For a private resale without a committed buyer, use a conservative range and label it an estimate. Align the offer and payoff validity windows with the expected closing date.

A — Realistic proceeds: the written offer for the allowed sale or trade path, after any buyer deductions. If no firm offer exists, enter a low and high estimate instead of treating a listing price as settled proceeds.

B — Applicable payoff: the written amount for the purchaser who will actually acquire the vehicle. Confirm what the quote includes and that it remains valid through payment.

C — Additional acquisition costs: applicable sales or use tax, purchase-option fee, title, and registration costs not already included in B. The Federal Reserve identifies tax, title, and registration as buyout costs.[2] Confirm your own tax treatment with your state's official revenue or motor-vehicle agency; this guide does not supply a state tax rate or promise a resale exemption.

D — Additional transaction costs: financing interest and fees for the expected holding period, repairs you actually intend to make, and selling or transfer expenses not already deducted from A or included in B or C.

Potential net equity = A minus B minus C minus D. Do not subtract the same charge twice. Keep a note beside each line showing its source, date, and whether it is confirmed or estimated. Recalculate if the offer, payoff, buyer, or timing changes.

Suppose an allowed customer-buyout-and-resale path has a $28,000 written offer, a $24,500 customer payoff, $1,500 of additional tax, title, and fees, and $200 of other costs. The worksheet gives $28,000 minus $24,500 minus $1,500 minus $200 = $1,800 in potential net equity. These are hypothetical inputs, not typical costs, a tax quote, or a My Lease Equity valuation.

If the offer instead falls to $25,500 while those costs stay the same, the result is negative $700. A positive gross gap between offer and payoff can therefore disappear after costs. An expired offer, a different dealer payoff, or a title delay requires a new calculation rather than a promise that the original amount is yours.

Calculate return costs separately: any remaining obligations and applicable disposition, excess-mileage, or wear charges from your contract and inspection. The CFPB notes that ending a lease early can involve costly early-termination charges, and that returning at lease end can involve fees.[1] A negative resale result does not, by itself, tell you the total cost of returning.

Do not deduct return-only charges from a buyout path unless the lessor says they also apply there. If you want to keep the vehicle, compare the complete buyout cost and financing with the cost and condition of alternatives; a resale worksheet alone does not decide whether keeping a familiar car is worthwhile.

Pause if the lessor has not confirmed buyer eligibility, the tax treatment is unresolved, title timing exceeds the offer window, or the decision works only at the highest estimated value. Those are missing inputs, not proof of equity.

My Lease Equity offers a free directional signal about whether your lease may have equity. An optional paid detailed report provides the estimated values, payoff comparison, and itemized taxes and fees behind the analysis, subject to the selected tier and available inputs. A report is still an estimate: verify payoff, market offers, and lessor rules before transacting.

My Lease Equity is not a dealer, vehicle buyer, or marketplace. Neither the free check nor a report purchase automatically sends your information to dealers. Dealer sharing requires a separate, explicit opt-in. You can start with the free check without agreeing to dealer contact.