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If your lease-end buyout price is below what the car is worth, buying it is often the best car deal available to you: you know the history, and the equity is yours at signing. What decides whether it pencils out is the rate on the buyout loan, and that rate is built differently from the one on an ordinary refinance.
The difference is that a buyout is not a refinance at all. There is no existing loan to take over, so the lender is writing a purchase loan on a car it has never financed, with the title traveling from the leasing company through the lender to you. Most credit unions price that as a used vehicle purchase, which is why buyout quotes track used car pricing rather than refinance pricing, and why the lenders that do buyouts well are the ones that also absorb the paperwork.
These are the network's buyout lenders, ranked, followed by how the pricing, the fees, the sales tax, and the timing actually work.
Best overall for lease buyoutsFeatured partner
5.24%
Est. APR from
550+
Min credit
2-5d
Funding
Consumers Credit Union pairs buyout financing with nationwide availability and open $5 membership, so any lease holder in any state can use it. With the RefiJet advisor coordinating the payoff to your leasing company and the title chain, the hardest part of a buyout becomes a couple of signatures.
On pricing and repayment it is the most complete offer here: an estimated 5.24% at the top credit band, terms from 36 to 84 months so you can choose payment or total interest, rate discounts tied to member checking, and credit considered from about 550, the deepest floor of the network's credit unions. It also supports cash-out and co-signer changes, which matters if the buyout is one move in a larger cleanup.
Fastest buyout funding
4.99%
Est. APR from
560+
Min credit
1-3d
Funding
Lease-end deadlines are real deadlines, and Mountain America's typical 1 to 3 day funding is the network's best answer to a turn-in date bearing down. Footprint applies (UT, AZ, ID, MT, NV, NM), and the last-published 4.99% floor with checking discount prices the buyout sharply.
Speed is the whole argument. A payoff quote carries an expiration date, and a lender that needs a week or more to fund is a lender that can push you past it and into pulling a second quote. If you are inside the footprint and inside 30 days of turn-in, start here.
Best cash-flow cushion
5.49%
Est. APR from
580+
Min credit
3-6d
Funding
First Tech finances buyouts with up to 90 days before the first payment and can roll tax and license into the loan, useful because buyouts front-load exactly those costs. Open membership through association makes it available nationwide.
Read that second feature carefully, because it is the one most buyers miss: sales tax on the buyout price and the title and registration fees are due at purchase, in cash, unless a lender will finance them. Rolling them in raises the balance and the interest you pay on it, but it is the difference between buying the car this month and not. Estimated 5.49% at the top band.
Best for upside-down buyouts
4.99%
Est. APR from
560+
Min credit
2-5d
Funding
If your buyout price runs above the car's current value, America First's refinancing up to 125% of Kelley Blue Book absorbs the gap. Mountain West footprint, newer vehicles (about 7 model years), last-published 4.99% floor.
The 7 model year vehicle limit that rules America First out elsewhere is a non-issue on a buyout, since a car coming off a two to four year lease sits comfortably inside it. What you are buying here is the allowance: when the residual your contract locked in years ago has aged worse than the used market, a lender that lends past book value is the only one that can close the deal.
See your lease buyout offers in 2 minutes
See my buyout offersHow lease buyout loan rates are set
The first thing to understand about buyout pricing is that you are not shopping refinance rates. Because the lender is buying a car out of a lease rather than taking over an existing loan, most credit unions quote the buyout off their used vehicle schedule, and several publish a single rate sheet that covers new purchases, used purchases, and refinances at the same tiers. Expect the quote to land near used car pricing for your credit band and term.
From there, the rate is assembled from a short list of inputs, and only the first two of them are about you at all.
- Your credit tier
- The largest single lever, and the reason two people buying identical cars out of identical leases get different numbers. In this network the top band sits at the last-published 4.99% floors from Mountain America and America First, with estimated pricing near 5.24% to 5.49% elsewhere, and each step down the credit ladder widens the gap.
- The term you choose
- Terms here run 36 to 84 months. Longer terms usually price higher and always cost more in total interest, so the cheapest headline payment and the cheapest loan are rarely the same loan.
- Loan to value
- Lenders compare what you are financing (residual plus fees and any tax you roll in) against the car's book value. A buyout priced below the car's value is a low loan-to-value deal and tends to price like one. A buyout above the car's value is an exception, which is where an allowance like America First's 125% of Kelley Blue Book decides whether there is a loan at all.
- The car itself
- Age and mileage at buyout still matter, even though a leased car is young. A 36 month lease returned with 45,000 miles is valued differently from the same car with 15,000, and the valuation feeds straight back into loan to value.
- Discounts you can actually get
- Member checking relationships and automatic payments are worth real basis points at several credit unions, including the checking discount inside Mountain America's published floor. They are applied at closing rather than negotiated.
- What is not a lever
- The money factor on your lease. That rate ended with the lease, and it has no bearing on what the buyout loan costs.
APR figures on this page are illustrative unless we name them as published, and every published floor assumes a well-qualified profile with the lender's stated conditions met. Your real number comes from the lender at underwriting.
Residual value, the purchase option fee, and what you actually finance
Your lease contract names the residual value: the price the leasing company agreed, years ago, to sell you the car for at lease end. That number is fixed. What the car is worth today is not, and the gap between the two is the entire case for or against buying it.
The amount you finance, though, is bigger than the residual, and this is where buyouts surprise people.
- Residual value
- Straight from the contract, usually labelled purchase option price or residual. It does not change because the used market moved.
- Purchase option fee
- A one-time charge some lessors add for exercising the buyout, commonly a few hundred dollars. It is disclosed in your lease and it is not universal, so read the contract rather than assuming either way.
- Sales tax, title, and registration
- Due at purchase in most states, and often the largest line after the residual itself. See the state-by-state note below.
- The disposition fee you avoid
- The fee for handing the car back at lease end. Buying the car normally means you never pay it, which belongs on the buyout side of the ledger when you compare the two paths.
- Excess mileage and wear charges you avoid
- Turning in a car over its mileage allowance or with damage triggers per-mile and reconditioning charges. Buying it makes them moot, which can quietly swing the decision for a car you drove hard.
- Remaining payments, on an early buyout
- Buying out before lease end generally settles the payments left on the contract as well as the residual, so it costs more than waiting unless the equity or the mileage math says otherwise.
Add those up before you apply, because that total, not the residual, is the loan you are asking for. Some lenders will finance the tax and fees, which First Tech states it does for tax and license, and some will not. Every dollar you roll in is a dollar you pay interest on, so finance them because you need to, not because you can.
Sales tax on a buyout depends on your state
Most states treat a lease buyout as a vehicle sale and charge sales tax on the buyout price when the title transfers, on top of the tax you have been paying inside each monthly lease payment. A handful of states work differently: Texas, for instance, taxes the vehicle up front at lease signing rather than taxing the payments, which changes what is owed at buyout. Some states also give credit for tax already paid.
Two practical consequences. First, budget for it as a real cost, because in most states it is due at purchase and it scales with the residual. Second, confirm your own number with your state's motor vehicle agency or department of revenue, or with a tax professional, before you sign anything. We compare lenders; we do not give tax advice, and this is the one buyout cost that genuinely changes at the state line.
Work backward from your lease-end date
Payoff quotes are dated documents. Your leasing company quotes a buyout amount good through a specific date, and the figure moves as payments post, so a quote pulled too early expires before funding and a quote pulled too late leaves no room to close.
Start 30 to 45 days before turn-in. That is enough time to get approved, get the quote, have the lender send certified funds, and let the title work begin, without the quote going stale in the middle. Funding itself is fast at the top of this list, with Mountain America typically 1 to 3 days and the nationwide options typically 2 to 5, but the title chain is measured in weeks no matter who funds it.
Keep paying the lease until the buyout funds and the account closes. A missed payment during the handoff is an expensive way to save nothing, and it can reprice the loan you just applied for.
What the leasing company will ask for
A buyout has more paperwork than a refinance because ownership is changing hands, not just the lienholder. The specifics vary by lessor, but the shape of it is consistent.
- A written buyout or payoff quote
- The controlling number, with an expiration date and instructions for how the lessor wants to be paid.
- An odometer disclosure statement
- Federal law requires a written mileage disclosure when ownership transfers. Lessors send their own form, and many want signatures from both sides, sometimes notarized.
- A bill of sale and title paperwork
- The leasing company signs the title over and your state records your lender as the new lienholder. Expect weeks for the paper title even when everyone moves quickly.
- Certified funds
- Most lessors want a cashier's check or a wire, not a personal check, which is why financing should be approved before you request the final quote.
- Insurance in your name as owner
- Your policy changes from a leased vehicle to an owned one with a lienholder listed. Lenders confirm this before funding.
One point worth knowing, because it trips people up: several captive lenders, including GM Financial, Honda and Acura Financial Services, and Ford Credit, restrict third-party buyouts, meaning an outside dealer or a car-buying site cannot buy the car out from under your lease. Those restrictions apply to third parties, not to you. As the lessee named on the contract, you can buy your own car and finance it with a lender of your choosing, which is exactly what the loans on this page do. If you plan to buy and then immediately sell, do the buyout first and sell the car as its owner.
How to compare lease buyout lenders
The rate is the headline, but a buyout is a logistics problem as much as a pricing one, and the cheapest quote from a lender that will not deal with your leasing company is not the cheapest deal. Six things separate the good buyout lenders from the ones that merely have a low number.
- Do they finance buyouts at all
- Plenty of lenders that advertise auto refinancing quietly decline buyouts, because the title transfer is extra work. Of the network here, Consumers Credit Union, Mountain America, First Tech, and America First do them.
- Who runs the title chain
- Ask it directly: does the lender send the payoff to the leasing company and handle the title and lien work, or does it fund you and leave the choreography to you? With a RefiJet advisor coordinating, the buyout comes down to a few signatures. Without that, expect to be the one on hold with the lessor.
- Funding speed against your date
- Match the funding window to the lease-end date, not to the calendar in your head. Inside 30 days, Mountain America's 1 to 3 day typical funding is a different product from a one-week close.
- Term options and total interest
- A lower payment over 84 months can cost more than a higher payment over 60. Ask for both, and compare the total of payments, not the monthly line.
- Repayment features that fit your cash flow
- First Tech's up to 90 days before the first payment buys breathing room after a buyout drains cash for tax and fees. Autopay and member checking discounts reduce the rate itself. Confirm how extra principal payments are applied if you plan to pay ahead.
- Membership, and what it means
- Credit unions are member-owned cooperatives, so financing a buyout through one makes you an owner of the lender as well as the car, and the member rate discounts are a share of that. Membership is rarely a barrier: Consumers Credit Union opens with a one-time $5 fee that is reimbursed, and First Tech opens through a partner association, both nationwide.
Check one number before you decide
Open your lease contract and find the residual value, then look up what your exact car, with its exact mileage and options, sells for today. Market value above residual means instant equity, and financing the buyout captures it. Market value below residual means you are paying above retail for a car you already know, which is sometimes still worth it and always worth knowing.
For illustration, take a contract residual of $18,000 on a car the used market now values around $21,500. That $3,500 gap is yours at signing, and it also makes the loan a low loan-to-value deal, which is the profile lenders price best. Flip the numbers and the same buyout needs a lender that will lend past book value before it can happen at all.
Then start the loan 30 to 45 days before turn-in. Payoff quotes, lease-end fees, and disposition dates all have dates attached, and the title chain takes weeks even when everyone moves quickly.
We ranked the network lenders that finance lease buyouts by availability, funding speed, pricing, repayment features, how much of the payoff and title work they absorb, and how much of an over-residual gap they will lend against. Published floors are cited as published (Mountain America and America First at 4.99%); all other APR figures are illustrative estimates for a well-qualified profile. Fees, taxes, and the buyout amount itself come from your lease contract, your leasing company's payoff quote, and your state. Read our full methodology
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best lease buyout lender?
For most people, Consumers Credit Union: it finances buyouts in all 50 states, opens membership to anyone for a reimbursed $5 fee, considers credit from about 550, and runs terms from 36 to 84 months. Mountain America is the pick when a turn-in date is close, at 1 to 3 day typical funding inside its footprint, and America First is the pick when the buyout price is above the car's value.
What are the best lenders for a car lease buyout loan?
Of the lenders funding through this network, Consumers Credit Union, Mountain America, First Tech, and America First finance buyouts. They differ on what matters: nationwide availability, funding speed, up to 90 days before the first payment, and lending up to 125% of Kelley Blue Book. The 2-minute match screens your state, car, and credit to show which of them apply to you.
What are lease buyout loan rates right now?
Buyout loans are priced off used vehicle rates rather than refinance rates. The lowest published floors in this network are 4.99% from Mountain America (with its checking discount) and America First, with estimated pricing around 5.24% to 5.49% elsewhere at the top credit band. Your rate depends on your credit tier, the term, and how the amount financed compares with the car's value.
How do I get the lowest lease buyout loan rate?
Four things move the number: take the shortest term you can afford, keep the amount financed low relative to the car's value, claim the discounts on offer such as member checking and automatic payments, and compare more than one lender, since buyout pricing varies more than refinance pricing.
Can I refinance a leased vehicle into a member-owned credit union loan?
Not exactly refinance, but yes in substance. You buy the car out of the lease with a loan from the credit union, which makes you the owner and a member of a member-owned cooperative rather than a lessee. Consumers Credit Union and First Tech both offer open membership nationwide, so joining is not the obstacle it sounds like.
How do I compare lease buyout lenders on service and repayment?
Ask who sends the payoff and handles the title work, how fast funding lands against your lease-end date, which terms are on offer and what each one costs in total interest, whether tax and license can be financed, whether the first payment can be deferred, and what the membership requirement really is. Those six answers separate the lenders that make a buyout simple from the ones that just quote a rate.
Do I pay sales tax when I buy out my lease?
In most states yes, on the buyout price, at the time the title transfers. A few states, Texas among them, tax the vehicle up front at lease signing instead, and some states give credit for tax already paid. Confirm the treatment with your state's motor vehicle agency or revenue department before you sign.
Can my leasing company stop me from using an outside lender?
No. Some captives, including GM Financial, Honda and Acura Financial Services, and Ford Credit, restrict third-party buyouts by outside dealers and car-buying sites, but you as the lessee can still exercise your purchase option and finance it with the lender you choose.
Is buying out my lease a good deal?
When the contract's residual value is below the car's market value, usually yes; the gap is equity you keep. It can also pay off when you are over your mileage allowance or facing wear charges, since buying the car makes both moot. Compare the residual, the market value, and the fees on both paths first.
How long does a lease buyout take?
Budget 30 to 45 days end to end. Funding is the fast part, typically 1 to 3 days at Mountain America and 2 to 5 at the nationwide options, but the payoff quote, the odometer disclosure, and the title transfer set the real pace.