Lease Early Termination Calculator
What you still owe, what the car is worth, and the cost of each exit
Your result will appear here
Fill in the fields on the left and this updates as you type.
Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- General mathematical model
- Scope and limitations
- Educational estimate only. Confirm the assumptions, current rules, fees, and rounding that apply to your situation before making a decision.
- Source links checked
- Jul 30, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
How to use
- 01
Call the lessor and ask for a written early payoff quote, how your contract figures the early-termination charge, and what it would credit for the car if you terminated.
- 02
Enter the number of lease payments left and your monthly payment.
- 03
Enter what the car would sell for today, from Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds or a dealer's written offer, and what the lessor would credit for it. Leave the credit at 0 to use the market value.
- 04
Enter the early-termination and disposition fees from the contract, the fees a lease transfer would cost, any cash incentive you would offer a taker, and the sales tax you would pay on a buyout.
- 05
Read the cheapest exit and the table of all three, then compare the cheapest with simply finishing the lease, remembering that finishing buys months of driving the exits do not.
Formula
Terminate = (payoff quote − what the lessor credits for the car, never below zero) + early-termination fee + disposition fee. Transfer = transfer fees + any incentive paid to the taker. Buy out and sell = payoff quote × (1 + sales tax rate) − the sale price, which comes out negative when the sale collects equity. The three are ranked by that net cost. Finish the lease = payments left × monthly payment + disposition fee, shown beside the exits rather than ranked with them, because it buys months of driving. Equity = market value − payoff quote.
Example
Fourteen $529 payments left on a lease with a $27,400 payoff quote, on a car that would sell for $26,200 but that the lessor would credit at $24,100. The contract charges a $500 early-termination fee and a $395 disposition fee, a transfer would cost $550 in fees plus a $1,500 incentive, and sales tax is 6.5%. Terminating costs $4,195: the $3,300 by which the payoff exceeds the lessor's credit, plus both fees. Buying out and selling costs $2,981: the $1,200 by which the payoff exceeds the car's value, plus $1,781 of sales tax. Transferring costs $2,050, the cheapest exit by $931. Finishing the lease would cost $7,801 in payments and the disposition fee, $5,751 more than the transfer, but it also buys 14 more months of driving.
Definitions
- Adjusted lease balance
- What the lessor says you still owe on the car at a given point in the lease, the basis of an early payoff quote and of most early-termination charges.
- Realized value
- What the lessor credits for the car when a lease ends early, often a wholesale or auction figure below what a private buyer or dealer would pay.
- Early-termination fee
- A flat charge some leases add when you end the lease before its term, on top of any gap between the balance and the car's value.
- Lease transfer
- Handing the remaining lease to another person, with the lessor's approval. The taker assumes the payments; fees and any incentive are the cost to you.
- Negative equity
- The amount by which the payoff exceeds what the car is worth. It has to be paid in cash if you buy the car out and sell it.
Good to know
Why ending a lease early costs so much
A lease is priced to be finished. The payment spreads the car's expected depreciation evenly across the term, but real depreciation is not even: a new car loses value fastest in its first year or two. Early in a lease, the balance you still owe therefore tends to sit above what the car is worth, and ending the lease makes that gap due at once. That is the core of an early-termination charge. The lessor takes the adjusted lease balance, the amount still owed under the contract, subtracts what it credits for the car, and bills the difference, usually with an early-termination fee and a disposition fee on top. The Federal Reserve's consumer leasing guide warns that the result can run to several thousand dollars and can exceed the payments you would have made by finishing the lease. On the default figures, a $27,400 payoff against a $24,100 credit leaves a $3,300 gap, and a $500 termination fee and a $395 disposition fee take the bill to $4,195. The credit is the figure people overlook. A lessor ending a lease early usually sells the car wholesale or at auction and credits you with that value, not with a retail price. Here the car would fetch $26,200 on the open market, so $2,100 of its value disappears in the handover. That gap is why this page prices three exits rather than one. Termination is the exit where the lessor controls the sale. A transfer avoids selling the car at all, and a buyout and sale puts the selling in your hands, so each of the other two can recover part of what termination gives away.
Transferring a lease: cheaper, with strings attached
A lease transfer, sometimes called a lease swap or assumption, hands the rest of the lease to another person. The taker makes the remaining payments, drives the car and deals with turn-in at the end, while you walk away without a termination charge. On the default figures it is the cheapest exit, at $2,050 against $4,195 to terminate. The cost has two parts. Fees come first: lessors that allow transfers commonly charge a few hundred dollars to process one, and marketplaces that match lessees with takers charge a listing fee on top. Incentives come second. A lease with a payment above what the market charges for a similar car, or with few miles left in the allowance, may not attract anyone unless you add cash, and $1,500 is the default here. The strings matter as much as the price. Not every lessor permits transfers, and some limit them, for example to takers in the same state. The lessor, not you, approves the taker's credit, so a willing taker can still fall through. Most important, some lessors keep the original lessee secondarily liable, which means that if the new driver stops paying or damages the car, the lessor can come back to you. Read the transfer section of the contract, and ask the lessor in writing whether you will be fully released. A transfer also carries the lease's terms to the taker unchanged, including the miles already driven and any wear the car has collected. A taker who inspects the car and checks the odometer will price that in, which is often what the incentive ends up paying for.
Buying out to sell: when equity pays your way out
The third exit uses the arithmetic of a lease buyout, pointed at a sale. You pay the lessor's payoff quote, take the title, and sell the car for whatever the market pays. If the car is worth more than the payoff, the sale collects that equity and can make this the cheapest exit, sometimes one that pays you. If it is worth less, the shortfall is due in cash when you sell. On the default figures the payoff is $27,400 and the car would sell for $26,200, a $1,200 shortfall, and buying it yourself adds $1,781 of sales tax, for a net cost of $2,981. That tax is the part to attack. In many states, when a dealer buys the car directly from the lessor, the purchase is the dealer's, and the tax you would pay as an intermediate owner does not arise. Where that route is open, the net cost falls toward the shortfall alone. It is not always open. Some lessors restrict or refuse buyouts by third-party dealers, allowing only the lessee or a dealer affiliated with the brand, and those policies have changed more than once in recent years. Ask the lessor before planning around a particular dealer. Two practical steps improve the numbers. Get a written payoff quote rather than adding up the remaining payments, because a payoff normally removes rent charges not yet earned. And get more than one offer for the car, because dealer offers for the same vehicle can differ by more than all the fees on this page. A car in strong demand can turn the whole comparison around, since a few thousand dollars of equity covers the tax and more.
Before you call the lessor: the numbers to get in writing
Every figure on this page comes from the lease contract or the lessor, so the order in which you gather them matters. Start with the contract. Federal leasing rules under Regulation M require a consumer lease to disclose the conditions under which it may be ended early and how the early-termination charge is determined, so the method is already written down. Read that section before calling anyone. Then ask the lessor for three things in writing: the early payoff quote for a specific date, the early-termination and disposition fees that would apply, and how it would value the car if you terminated. The Federal Reserve's leasing guide describes the right, where the contract gives it, to a professional appraisal of the car's value at your own expense if you disagree with the lessor's figure. Next, price the exits against a baseline that is honest about what it buys. Finishing the lease costs $7,801 on the default figures, the 14 remaining payments plus the disposition fee, far more than any exit. But finishing also gives you 14 more months of transport, and if leaving the lease means buying or renting another car, that cost belongs on the exit side of the comparison. Some situations change the answer entirely. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lets servicemembers end a vehicle lease early without an early-termination charge when their military orders qualify, such as certain deployments and permanent changes of station. If the car is stolen or totaled, the insurance settlement, and any gap coverage built into the lease, settles the payoff instead. And manufacturers sometimes run pull-ahead offers that waive a few remaining payments if you lease a new car from the same brand, which simply moves part of the cost into the next lease.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to end a car lease early?
Usually the gap between the payoff and what the lessor credits for the car, plus an early-termination fee and a disposition fee. The Federal Reserve's leasing guide warns the charge can run to several thousand dollars. On the default figures, a $27,400 payoff against a $24,100 credit, a $500 termination fee and a $395 disposition fee comes to $4,195.
Is transferring a lease cheaper than terminating it?
Often, if your lessor allows it. On the default figures a transfer costs $2,050, being $550 of fees and a $1,500 incentive to attract a taker, against $4,195 to terminate. Not every lessor permits transfers, the lessor decides whether the taker's credit is acceptable, and some lessors keep the original lessee liable if the new driver stops paying.
Can I buy out my lease early and sell the car?
Yes, and when the car is worth more than the payoff it can be the cheapest exit. On the defaults it costs $2,981: the payoff is $1,200 more than the car's $26,200 value, and buying it yourself adds $1,781 of sales tax. A dealer buying directly from the lessor may avoid that tax, but some lessors restrict buyouts by third-party dealers, so ask first.
Why would the lessor credit less than the car is worth?
Because a lessor ending a lease early typically sells the car wholesale or at auction, and credits you with that value rather than a retail price. On the defaults the gap is $2,100. The Federal Reserve's leasing guide describes the right, where the contract gives it, to a professional appraisal of the car's value at your expense if you disagree with the lessor's figure.
Is it better to just finish the lease?
In cash, finishing is often the most expensive path: on the defaults, 14 more payments of $529 plus the disposition fee come to $7,801, against $2,050 for a transfer. But finishing also gives you 14 more months of driving, which none of the exits do. If you would need to rent or buy another car in the meantime, add that cost to the exits before comparing.
Where do I find how my early-termination charge is calculated?
In the lease itself. Federal leasing rules under Regulation M require a consumer lease to disclose the conditions for ending it early and how the early-termination charge is determined. Read that clause, then ask the lessor for a written payoff quote so the numbers you enter here match the contract.
Can servicemembers end a car lease without a penalty?
Often, yes. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lets servicemembers end a vehicle lease early without an early-termination charge when their military orders qualify, such as certain deployments and permanent changes of station. If that applies to you, the termination fee field here should be 0, and the lessor will ask for a copy of the orders.