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Late Charges

Every leased car must be returned by the lease termination date on the contract. The vehicle can be returned to any dealer of the same brand. (If you are using Leasing Direct for your new vehicle you can just return your current leased car to us.) Some banks may offer a small grace period of a few days, but beyond that fees will begin to accrue

Excess Wear

Leased vehicles must be returned in very good condition in order to avoid extra charges. It may be worthwhile to consider having a professional repair any dents or scratches before turning in the vehicle. If the tires have less than 1/8-inch tread, they should be replaced to avoid potentially costly tire replacement charges at the dealership.

Leasing Direct offers aftermarket products that can make the lease return process easier and more cost effective. If you purchased Safe Lease when you leased your vehicle, it will protect you anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000 (depending on the specific plan) of wear and tear damage including worn tires, dings, dents, scratches, wheel damage, windshield chips and interior stains and tears—and there’s no need to go through the hassle of getting these repaired.

Miles Allowed

Leases come with a pre-set mileage allowance per year. A three year lease with a 12,000/year mileage allowance should be returned with less than 36,000 miles to avoid overage charges.
Under-mileage: If your estimated mileage will be under your allowance, you can just return the vehicle at the end of the lease, however there is no credit for being under the mileage in the lease contract. If you purchased additional mileage (but didn’t use it), this is sometimes refundable.

Over-mileage: If your estimated mileage will be over your allowance you have three options—either arrange to drive the vehicle less, pay the mileage penalty at the end of the lease (typically $0.15-$0.30 per mile depending on the brand) or buy the vehicle at the end of the lease.

Payments

One way in which leasing and financing differ is the payment cycle schedule. When leasing a car, instead of paying a loan at the end of the month, you will pay your lease at the beginning of the month to cover the upcoming weeks.

Down payment

This fee is not usually required for car leases. However your first lease payment is due at lease signing which is the time when you would usually pay a down payment when buying a car.

Security deposit

This one time, refundable fee is usually slightly higher than your monthly lease payment. At the end of your lease contract, it will be returned to you less any disposition, mileage, or damage charges.

Taxes due on down payment

If you make a down payment (reduce Cap Cost) on your lease, certain state and local taxes will be charged depending on the state in which you are leasing. These taxes can be paid at the time you sign your lease. You also have the option to include these taxing in your monthly payments.

What exactly does $0 down mean?

While other dealers advertise a low monthly payment with thousands of dollars down (cap cost reduction), we take a different approach by listing all of our cars with $0 down (cap cost reduction).

Acquisition/Bank fee

An acquisition fee, also known as a bank fee, is an administration fee charged by the bank NOT the leasing company.