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EV Lease Buyouts: Should You Buy Out Your EV Lease?
Published 4/7/25
Updated 8/6/26
TL;DR (9-minute read): An EV lease buyout is one of the most model-dependent decisions in the market. Based on Lease End lease buyout data, 78.9% of Tesla Model Y buyers have positive equity, while only 4.2% of Hyundai IONIQ 5 buyers do, at an average of –$4,394. The badge on your car matters more here than in any other segment. Check your specific model's position before you decide anything.
With your lease ending, you're asking a reasonable question: should I buy out my EV?
The honest answer is that it depends more on which EV you're driving than on almost anything about you. An EV lease buyout is one of the most model-dependent decisions in the market. Tesla holds its value. Korean EVs largely don't. The gap between those two outcomes is thousands of dollars, and it has almost nothing to do with whether the car is good.
Based on Lease End lease buyout data, 78.9% of Tesla Model Y buyers are sitting on positive equity at buyout. For the Hyundai IONIQ 5, that figure is 4.2%.
Same segment. Same lease structure. Same three years. Completely different financial decision.
This page walks through the model-by-model numbers, explains why the spread is so wide, and shows you how to check your own position in about five minutes.
A note on our data: Every equity, mileage, and coverage figure on this page is based on Lease End lease buyout data, drawn from completed buyout transactions. These describe what actually happened for real customers, not projections or industry estimates. Because our customers are all lease buyout shoppers, the figures describe that population rather than the used EV market at large.
What even is a lease buyout?
A lease buyout allows you to purchase your leased vehicle at the end of the lease term. Instead of returning the car to the dealership and entering into a new lease or purchasing a completely different vehicle, you keep the car you love.
At Lease End, we connect you with the best rates for a lease buyout loan, financing the vehicle's remaining value and making it yours to keep.
Who's Buying Out EV Leases?
Before the model data, some useful context about the people making this decision — because the EV buyout customer looks different from the gas buyout customer in ways that shape the whole picture.
Based on Lease End lease buyout data:
| Metric | EV Buyout Customers | Gasoline buyers |
| Average income | $165,695 — roughly 50% higher than gas buyout customers | $110,474 |
| Average credit score | 718 | N/A |
| Average down payment | $3,336 | $946 |
| Average amount financed | $39,696 | ~$30,700 |
| Average sell rate (APR) | 8.88% — the lowest of any fuel type | N/A |
Three things follow from this:
- The financing advantage is real. An 8.88% average sell rate is the lowest across every fuel type we finance, driven by the 718 average credit score. On a large loan balance, a rate advantage of even a point or two compounds into real money over a 60- or 72-month term. If you're an EV lessee with strong credit, you're negotiating from a good position.
- The income figure explains some of the behavior on this page. EV buyout customers earn about 50% more than gas buyout customers on average, which means more of them can absorb a negative-equity buyout if they want to keep the car. Some do exactly that. Wanting to keep a car you like is a legitimate reason to buy it out — but you should know you're paying a premium for it rather than discovering that later.
- A good rate on a bad buyout is still a bad buyout. This is the trap worth naming directly. Excellent financing terms make a negative-equity purchase feel affordable month-to-month while leaving the underlying problem untouched. If you're $5,000 underwater, financing that gap at 8.88% doesn't reduce it, it spreads it out and adds interest. Evaluate the equity position first, then the rate.
EV Buyout Equity by Model
This is the section that matters. Based on Lease End lease buyout data, here's every EV model with enough funded buyouts to report, ranked by the share of buyers holding positive equity at closing.
| Make | Model | Deals | % positive equity | Avg. equity |
| Tesla | Model S | 29 * | 82.8% | +$9,359 |
| Porsche | Taycan | 54 | 81.5% | +$7,192 |
| Rivian | R1S | 66 | 80.3% | +$9,942 |
| Tesla | Model Y | 432 | 78.9% | +$3,075 |
| Tesla | Model 3 | 328 | 73.5% | +$2,340 |
| BMW | i4 | 71 | 66.2% | +$1,031 |
| Ford | Mustang Mach-E | 58 | 50.0% | +$1,429 |
| VW | ID.4 | 171 | 41.5% | –$1,604 |
| Nissan | Ariya | 57 | 35.1% | –$2,537 |
| Kia | EV9 | 60 | 15.0% | –$2,164 |
| Audi | e-tron | 14 * | 7.1% | –$8,650 |
| Kia | EV6 | 84 | 4.8% | –$5,004 |
| Hyundai | IONIQ 5 | 95 | 4.2% | –$4,394 |
| Mercedes-Benz | EQE | 15 * | 0.0% | –$10,564 |
* Fewer than 30 funded deals — directional only. Treat these rows as a signal, not a settled number.
First, the context that reframes the whole table
Before reading any individual row: across the overall lease buyout market, 92.7% of buyers hold positive equity. Not 78.9%. Not 50%. Nearly everyone.
That number belongs at the top of this section because it changes what "good" means here. The Tesla Model Y's 78.9% is the strongest high-volume EV result in the dataset, and it still sits roughly fourteen points below what a typical buyout customer experiences. EVs as a category underperform the broader buyout market, and the best EVs are merely closer to average than the rest.
So there are two comparisons to keep straight:
- Compared to other EVs, Tesla is clearly the favorable outcome.
- Compared to cars generally, even Tesla is below the norm.
Both are true, and the second is the one people miss.
Tesla: the most favorable EVs by volume
The Model Y (432 deals) and Model 3 (328 deals) are the two largest samples in the dataset by a wide margin, which makes them the most reliable numbers on the page. Roughly three out of four buyers in both models paid less than retail book value at closing.
The margins are real but modest: +$3,075 average on the Model Y, +$2,340 on the Model 3. That's meaningful money, it's also thin enough that your specific car's mileage, condition, and trim can move you across the line in either direction. Which is exactly why the check below matters more than the average.
The Model S posts a stronger 82.8% at +$9,359, but on 29 deals. Directional.
(More in our Tesla lease buyout guide.)
Korean EVs: most buyers are underwater
| Model | Deals | Positive equity | Average position |
| Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 95 | 4.2% | –$4,394 |
| Kia EV6 | 84 | 4.8% | –$5,004 |
Read those correctly: roughly 96 out of every 100 IONIQ 5 and EV6 lessees reach buyout owing more than the car is worth, by about $4,400 and $5,000 respectively.
These are not thin samples. 95 and 84 funded deals with results this consistent is a pattern, not noise.
It's also not a comment on the vehicles. Both are well-reviewed cars that their owners generally like. What happened is a residual-value problem: used values for Korean EVs fell as the new EV market expanded rapidly, while lease residuals had been set too high at signing. A residual is a forecast of future value made three years early, and these forecasts were wrong in the lessee's favor while the lease ran, and against them at the buyout.
So what should an IONIQ 5 or EV6 lessee do? In most cases, return the car. That's the point of a closed-end lease: the residual risk belongs to the leasing company. When their forecast was wrong, you're entitled to hand back the keys and let them absorb it. You are not obligated to correct their projection with your own money.
Real exceptions are covered below, and note that 4.2% is not zero. Run your own number.
The rest of the field
The middle is genuinely mixed. The BMW i4 (66.2%, +$1,031) and Ford Mustang Mach-E (50.0%, +$1,429) both land in positive territory on average, but the Mach-E is a literal coin flip, half of buyers are underwater. For models in this band, the average tells you almost nothing about your car. The check is the only thing that will.
The VW ID.4 (171 deals, 41.5%, –$1,604) has the third-largest sample in the dataset and sits in unfavorable territory, though nowhere near as deep as the Korean models. The Nissan Ariya (35.1%, –$2,537) and Kia EV9 (15.0%, –$2,164) follow the same shape.
The German luxury EVs are the worst dollar outcomes in the table, and this deserves a flag because it's easy to miss under the percentages. The Mercedes-Benz EQE shows 0.0% positive equity across 15 deals, averaging –$10,564. The Audi e-tron: 7.1% across 14 deals, –$8,650.
Both samples are small enough to be directional rather than conclusive. But a zero-out-of-fifteen result with a five-figure average deficit is not a number to explain away. If you're coming off an EQE or e-tron lease, the burden of proof is heavily on the buyout, check carefully, and expect the answer to be no.
The high-end performers carry a caveat worth stating. The Rivian R1S (+$9,942) and Porsche Taycan (+$7,192) post the strongest equity in the table, but on average buyout prices of $83,390 and $64,282. The equity is real. It also sits on top of a very large loan, which makes the financing decision consequential in a way it isn't on a $35,000 car.
Mileage: EV Lessees Drive Less
Based on Lease End lease buyout data:
| EV buyouts | Gasoline buyouts | |
| Average mileage at closing | 28,382 | 37,958 |
| Share under 30,000 miles | 63% | 39% |
EV lessees arrive at buyout with about 25% fewer miles, and nearly two-thirds come in under 30,000 on a typical 36,000-mile allowance, against 39% of gasoline deals.
The likely causes are a mix: EV drivers using the car more selectively, shorter effective lease terms in the early adoption wave, and the common pattern of an EV being the second vehicle in a two-car household.
Why it matters, in two directions that point opposite ways:
It works in your favor. A 28,000-mile car books higher than a 38,000-mile one, and you'll likely avoid mileage overage charges, which run 10 to 30 cents per mile and are among the most common unpleasant surprises at lease return. On Tesla especially, where the average equity margin is a modest $3,075, low mileage is one of the more likely factors to land you on the favorable side of that 78.9%.
It's already baked into the numbers above. This is the part that catches people. If low mileage were the whole story, EV equity would look strong across the board. It doesn't. Every figure in the equity table is inclusive of this mileage advantage, the IONIQ 5 and EV6 are underwater despite low miles.
Which tells you something useful: negative equity on a soft-residual EV isn't a wear-and-tear problem you can outrun by driving carefully. It's a market-value problem set when the lease was signed. Treating your car well is worth doing, and it will not close a $5,000 gap.
Low mileage moves you up within your model's range. It doesn't move you into a different model's range.
Coverage Decisions Specific to EV Buyouts
Two coverage questions come up at every buyout. EV buyers answer one of them about like everyone else, and the other very differently.
GAP: the highest take-rate, by a small margin
Based on Lease End lease buyout data, 57% of EV buyout customers add GAP coverage, at an average price of $1,118. That's the highest rate of any fuel type, though only modestly ahead of gasoline buyers at 55%.
Worth being precise about that: EV buyers aren't behaving dramatically differently here. GAP is a common add-on across the board, and EVs edge it up slightly.
What is EV-specific is the size of the exposure. GAP pays the difference between your loan balance and what your insurer pays if the car is totaled or stolen. EV buyers finance $39,696 on average, about $9,000 more than gasoline buyers, against an asset whose market value has moved quickly and unpredictably.
The clearest case: models where equity is positive but thin. A Tesla Model Y buyer averaging +$3,075 has a narrow cushion between market value and loan balance, narrow enough that ordinary depreciation in year one could flip it. GAP covers that exposure for $1,118.
One thing many people don't realize: most leases include GAP automatically, and that built-in coverage typically ends at buyout. A number of people find this out only after a loss. And if you're rolling negative equity into the loan, you're starting upside down by design, GAP moves from useful to close to essential.
VSC: 17.5%, and the Tesla number needs context
Based on Lease End lease buyout data, 17.5% of EV buyout customers add a Vehicle Service Contract, against 39.3% of gasoline customers and 38.2% of hybrid customers.
That's a large gap, and it is mostly not about what EV buyers want.
Tesla's 6.2% take-rate is structural, not a verdict on the value of coverage. Tesla makes up the majority of funded EV buyouts in this dataset, and Tesla operates a proprietary service network that doesn't fit the standard third-party VSC model. Third-party administrators build their business on networks of independent repair shops; when a vehicle can't practically be serviced in that network, there's very little product to sell. Tesla owners aren't rejecting coverage, most are never offered comparable coverage. Because Tesla is such a large share of the sample, that 6.2% drags the overall EV figure down substantially.
If you're buying out a Tesla, look at Tesla's own extended service agreements and budget for out-of-pocket service at Tesla's rates. The repair exposure doesn't disappear because the take-rate is low.
For non-Tesla EVs, availability is improving as the aftermarket catches up to EV volumes, but the landscape stays thinner than for gasoline vehicles. Not every policy that covers an ICE car extends to an EV. Before closing, ask specifically:
- Is the high-voltage battery pack covered — and for total failure only, or for capacity degradation below a threshold? Get it in writing.
- Are drive units and inverters included, or carved out as "powertrain-adjacent"? These are large-dollar components.
- Is the onboard charger and DC fast-charge hardware covered? Often missing from older contract templates.
- How many shops in the network are EV-certified in your metro? A nationwide network only helps if its shops can work on your car.
More in our guide to whether a VSC is worth it.
How to Check Your Own Position in Five Minutes
Everything above is an average. Your car isn't. Here's your actual number.
1. Get your payoff amount. (1 minute) Check your lease agreement for the residual value, or call your leasing company for a current payoff quote. Use the quote where you can get one — it reflects remaining payments and fees that the residual line alone doesn't. Note the expiration; quotes are often valid only 10 to 15 days.
2. Look up your retail KBB value. (2 minutes) Go to Kelley Blue Book and enter your year, make, model, trim, actual mileage, and honest condition. Pull the retail value.
Use retail specifically — that's the figure the equity table above is built on, so it's the one that lets you compare your result against your model's numbers directly. Trim matters more than people expect on EVs; battery size and drivetrain configuration can move the value by thousands.
3. Subtract. (10 seconds)
Retail KBB value − payoff amount = your equity position
4. Add the fees. (1 minute) The buyout isn't just the payoff. Add your state's sales tax on the purchase price, title and registration, and any purchase option fee in your contract. This commonly runs several hundred to a few thousand dollars and moves marginal cases across the line. Then compare against what returning would cost, disposition fee (typically $350–$500) plus any mileage overage or wear charges.
5. Decide with the number in front of you. (1 minute)
- Clearly positive — buying out is usually right. That equity is yours only if you take it.
- Near zero — your fee comparison, how much you like the car, and what a replacement costs today are the tiebreakers.
- Clearly negative — returning is usually right. Exceptions below.
To model the loan side, the Lease Buyout Calculator will show your payment with and without coverage.
What to expect by model
Tesla Model Y or Model 3
The data says you're more likely than not to find positive equity, but the margin is modest (+$3,075 and +$2,340 average). Confirm rather than assume.
Hyundai IONIQ 5, Kia EV6, VW ID.4, Nissan Ariya, or Kia EV9
Most buyers in your position are underwater. That doesn't automatically mean don't buy out; it means go in knowing the math runs against you.
Mercedes-Benz EQE or Audi e-tron — small samples, but the worst results in the dataset by a wide margin. Check carefully and expect an unfavorable answer.
Rivian R1S, Porsche Taycan, or Tesla Model S — the equity story is favorable, but buyout prices average $83,390, $64,282, and high five figures respectively. The financing decision deserves as much attention as the equity one.
When buying out a negative-equity EV still makes sense
Not never. Three situations:
Replacement costs more. The real comparison isn't your buyout against your car's value, it's your buyout against the total cost of whatever you drive next. If a comparable used EV costs more than your underwater buyout, being underwater is still the cheaper path.
Your return charges are large. Heavy mileage overage or wear-and-tear charges are avoided entirely by buying out. Run both totals before assuming return is cheaper.
You'll keep it a long time. Depreciation stops mattering to someone who never sells. If you'll own it eight years, the equity position at year three matters much less than whether you want to drive it for the next five. A legitimate reason, just make sure it's the reason you're choosing, not a story told afterward.
Why should I buy out my lease?
If you've been leasing an EV or hybrid, it's difficult to imagine driving anything else. Not only have you grown used to the incredible fuel savings, you've likely adjusted how you live and drive to accommodate your EV or hybrid. With that, many drivers face the dilemma of what to do when the lease ends.
This decision isn’t just about practicality—it's also emotional. After all, you’ve spent years getting to know your car, appreciating its quirks, and enjoying the smooth, silent drive. So why part ways now?
This is where a lease buyout comes into play.
1. You already know your car.
One of the most compelling reasons to buy out your lease is that you’re already familiar with the vehicle. You know its history, how well it’s been maintained, and whether it has any quirks.
There are no surprises, which can offer peace of mind that you're not likely to get when purchasing a used car from a dealership.
2. You want to avoid additional leasing fees.
When you return a leased car, you might face additional fees for excessive wear and tear, mileage overages, or minor damages. By opting for a lease buyout, you can avoid these extra costs altogether.
3. You may have positive equity in your vehicle.
Your EV may be worth more than the payoff amount in your lease, but whether it is depends heavily on the model. Based on Lease End lease buyout data, 78.9% of Tesla Model Y buyers hold positive equity; 4.2% of Hyundai IONIQ 5 buyers do. It's also worth knowing that EVs trail the broader buyout market here, where 92.7% of buyers are positive.
Where the equity exists, it's a real advantage: the cheapest version of your car is the one already in your driveway, and that value goes to whoever buys it next if you hand it back. Where it doesn't, returning is usually the better move. The five-minute check above tells you which situation you're in.
4. You don't have time to shop for a new car.
Shopping for a new car can be a hassle. There’s the time spent researching, visiting dealerships, and negotiating prices. If you already love the car you’re driving, a lease buyout saves you the trouble of starting that process all over again...and the headache that that inevitably brings.
5. You want to be conscious of your impact on the environment.
Keeping your EV or hybrid on the road longer is a sustainable choice. Manufacturing new cars—even EVs and hybrids—has a significant environmental impact due to the resources required.
When you buy out your lease and continue to drive your current vehicle, you’re extending its lifespan and reducing the demand for new vehicle production.
EV Models We Handle Buyouts For
At Lease End, we’ve helped thousands of drivers successfully transition from leasing to owning their vehicles.
Here are some of the EV and hybrid models that drivers have opted to keep:
- Toyota Prius
- Honda CR-V Hybrid XL
- Chevrolet Bolt EV
- Kia Niro EV
- Hyundai Kona Electric and Hyundai IONIQ
- Audi e-tron and Audi e-tron Sportback
- Ford F-150 and Ford Mustang Mach-E
- Genesis GV80
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque
- Jaguar I-PACE
- Porsche Taycan
And as of November 27, 2024, Tesla now allows lease buyouts. Drivers leasing a Cybertruck, Model X, Model Y, Model S, and Model 3 can buy out their lease. End your lease, keep your Tesla 😎.
The Process of Buying Out Your Lease
If you’ve decided that a lease buyout is right for you, the process is straightforward with Lease End. Here’s a brief overview:
Step 1: Tell us about your car.
We’ll ask some easy questions about you & your lease to prepare for your purchase.
Step 2: View your loan & coverage options.
Review your unique financing and customizable vehicle coverage options.
Step 3: Sign your buyout documents.
We’ll prepare the documents you need, and you’ll eSign securely on your Lease End account.
Step 4: Relax—we'll take it from there.
We’ll arrange titling, registration, & new plates for you so you can skip the DMV trip.
Let's talk the environmental benefits of EVs and hybrids in general.
Electric and hybrid vehicles produce fewer lifetime emissions than traditional gasoline-powered cars, which helps to reduce air pollution and combat climate change.
Additionally, EVs do not emit tailpipe pollutants, and hybrids use less fuel, making them a greener option for daily commuting.
However, it’s important to acknowledge that while EVs and hybrids are more sustainable than their gas-guzzling counterparts, they are not a perfect solution. The production of EV batteries, for example, involves the extraction of raw materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which can have significant environmental and ethical implications.
Moreover, the electricity used to charge EVs isn’t always generated from renewable sources, which means that the carbon footprint of these vehicles can vary depending on where and how they’re charged.
That said, according to the EPA, the overall environmental impact of EVs and hybrids is still considerably lower than that of traditional vehicles, especially as renewable energy becomes more prevalent.
By choosing to buy out your EV or hybrid lease, you’re contributing to a more sustainable future while also enjoying the benefits of cutting-edge technology.
EV lease buyout is one of the most model-dependent decisions in the buyout market. The spread between the best and worst outcomes in our data runs from +$9,942 to –$10,564, wider than anywhere else we see.
Do the five-minute check. If you're holding equity, buying out is usually the strongest move available, and that value goes to someone else if you hand the car back. If you're deep underwater, returning is what a closed-end lease is for, and there's no shame in using the option you've been paying for.
If the buyout is right, we'll handle the rest — run your numbers with the calculator, or enter your license plate or VIN below to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Should I buy out my Hyundai IONIQ 5?
Usually not, on the numbers.
Based on Lease End lease buyout data, across 95 funded IONIQ 5 buyouts, 4.2% had positive equity, averaging –$4,394. Roughly 96 out of 100 buyers paid above market value.
That reflects used values for Korean EVs falling as the new EV market expanded quickly, against lease residuals that had been set too high at signing, not a problem with the vehicle, which reviews well and which owners generally like.
In a closed-end lease, that residual risk belongs to the leasing company. Returning the car is how you hand it back, and doing so isn't a penalty or a failure, it's the option you paid for across three years of payments.
The exceptions are real but specific: large mileage or wear charges you'd avoid by buying out, a replacement that would cost more than the underwater buyout, or plans to keep the car long enough that today's market value stops mattering. Run the five-minute check either way, 4.2% is not zero.
(Same reasoning for the Kia EV6: 4.8% across 84 deals, –$5,004 average.)
Does a Tesla lease buyout make sense?
For most Model Y and Model 3 lessees, yes, with one honest caveat.
Based on Lease End lease buyout data, 78.9% of Model Y buyers (432 deals) and 73.5% of Model 3 buyers (328 deals) hold positive equity. Those are the two largest EV samples in the dataset, so they're the most reliable figures available.
The caveat: the margins are modest, +$3,075 and +$2,340 on average, and both trail the 92.7% positive-equity rate across the overall buyout market. Tesla is the best EV outcome, not an exceptional outcome in absolute terms. Confirm your own number rather than assuming.
Tesla has allowed lease buyouts across its lineup since late 2024, including the Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck.
Two Tesla-specific things to plan around: payoff quotes are typically valid only 10 to 15 days, so line up financing before requesting one; and extended coverage options are limited, 6.2% VSC take-rate, because Tesla's closed service model leaves third-party administrators little to work with. Look at Tesla's own service agreements instead.
Details in our Tesla lease buyout guide.
Why are EV residual values so low?
Residual value is a forecast, made at lease signing, of what the car will be worth three years later. Two things went wrong with those forecasts on EVs.
They were set too high. To keep EV lease payments competitive against gas cars, residuals were written optimistically. An optimistic forecast is a cheap lease payment while the lease runs, and negative equity at the end.
The used EV market moved against them. As the new EV market expanded rapidly, used values fell faster than the forecasts anticipated. Korean EVs saw this most sharply.
Secondary factors compound it: rapid improvement in range and charging tech makes older EVs feel dated faster than older gas cars, battery-health uncertainty makes used buyers cautious, and new-EV price cuts pull used values down with them.
This doesn't hit every EV equally, which is the central point of this page. Tesla holds value considerably better than most, and the spread from best to worst in our data runs from +$9,942 to –$10,564. The model-level number is what matters, not any EV-wide generalization.
Do I need GAP coverage on an EV buyout?
Worth serious consideration. 57% of EV buyout customers add it — the highest rate of any fuel type, though not dramatically ahead of gasoline buyers at 55%. Average price is $1,118.
The EV-specific case is about exposure size rather than unusual risk. EV buyers finance $39,696 on average, roughly $9,000 more than gasoline buyers, against an asset whose used values have moved fast and unpredictably. GAP pays the difference if your car is totaled and your insurer's payout falls below your loan balance.
The clearest case is a thin positive-equity position, a Model Y buyer at +$3,075 has little cushion, and normal first-year depreciation could erase it.
One thing many people miss: most leases include GAP automatically, and that coverage usually ends at buyout. More in our GAP coverage guide.
Susan Lake
August 23, 2026
Buying out my lease on my own had me…
Buying out my lease, on my own, had me going through many hurdles and obstacles. The leaseholder, Genesis Finance, said I had to get the buyout information from a dealer. The dealer provided me with a written buyout that my bank found unacceptable, plus I would have to deal with all the motor vehicle department transactions, so I decided to try Lease End. Amazing within a couple of hours everything was done barely lifting a finger to send photos of our driver's license, insurance card, and registration. They arranged the financing with a lender well known to me, as I already have some banking relationships with, at a rate better than I was entertaining from my credit union. They got all the information directly from Genesis finance and handled all the motor vehicle paperwork. All I had to do was Auto sign the loan agreement online. The service was outstanding everyone that I dealt with, which were few, were amazing, confident, courteous, friendly and efficient. What an incredible experience couldn't ask for more. Everything taken care of just like that. I still have trouble believing it was so easy.