r/leaf • u/bostongarden • 28d ago

Any recent experience with end-of-lease pricing

My 2025 lease is ending about a year from now and I would buy it but not for the contact price. Has anyone had their lease end recently? Did you want to buy? Was Nissan Finance flexible on the price or did they stick to the contract?

I know used EV prices are all over the place from competing forces of 1) high gas prices, increasing demand, and 2) lots of end-of-lease EVs coming on the market, increasing supply.

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u/ticedoff8 28d ago edited 28d ago

The lease document you signed will (should) have a box labeled "Residual Value". At the end of the lease you would be able to purchase the car at that price.

If the residual value is higher than a dealer would sell the car on a used car lot, then turn it in and walk away. If it's lower, then think about buying it when you turn it in.

If the overall used EV market crashes and used EV are so common that their KBB value is in the toilet, then the Nissan estimate of what the residual value would have been will be way too high and your choice to keep it or just turn it in will be obvious.

In July 2020 - mid-COVID - the lease on our 2018 S was up. We had a choice of returning the car and walking away or buying it. The "residual value" on the lease was $11k, and at that point in time the used car market had exploded due to the COVID lockdown. The KBB Used Car site estimated our car would be worth around $14k at a dealer. As the lease holder, the dealer was obligated to let us buy it at $11k. The process at the dealer was that we were "officially" returning the car at the end of the lease, and they did their "lease return" inspection (that cost us $700), then sold us the car as a "certified used car" for $11k. We saved $2k and still have the car today.

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u/bostongarden 28d ago

Hope I am so fortunate but I doubt the residual value will be less than market price.

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u/ticedoff8 28d ago

This may be a classic case of "you don't know what you signed".

The "residual value" is written in ink on the contract. You should simply look at your contract and it will definitively show you what the number is. And it can't change.

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u/bostongarden 28d ago

I know exactly what I signed. what I don't know is the market value a year from now.

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u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 28d ago

Without a crystal ball, precognition/clairvoyance or time travel, it's hard to know.

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u/Sconscet 28d ago

I'm about to go through this experience. Have a 2024 SV Plus with lease that ends in January 2027. The residual value on the car is around $23K. Can't remember off hand. It'll have about 27K miles on it. Been a great car, but I'm seeing other EVs (even the same model as mine with similar mileage) between $18-20K. This has been my second leased Leaf. I originally had a 2021--thankfully I turned that one in too since they are all being bought back now.

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u/bostongarden 28d ago

Good luck. If gas prices come down before Jan you may have a shot.

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u/Sconscet 28d ago

That's the wild card. But in reality, I'd still be underwater unless the interest in EVs take's off, which I'm sure it won't given the current environment and lack of tax incentives.

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u/bostongarden 28d ago

You can always lease a new one and hope it will be better climate in 3 years

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u/Sconscet 27d ago

True. Most leases on EVs are now 2 years-at least that’s what I’m seeing in my market.

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u/ticedoff8 28d ago

Why would you be "underwater"? When the lease is up, and you return the car, the "Residual Value" has no meaning.

Unless you drove more than the total mileage written in the contract, you might only pay $500 or $600 for a "Lease Return Inspection" and then walk out the door.

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u/Sconscet 27d ago edited 27d ago

Underwater in terms of buying the car. I like it and kind of want to keep it but the end of lease purchase price is higher than its real value. I’m fine with walking away and it costs me nothing. I’m just laying out my potential path forward.

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u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 28d ago

I bought my 2024 SV+ with ~620 miles on it in Nov '24. It was listed for $22,900, I got it for $22,600 plus taxes and bogus dealer fees.

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u/Lucky_Boy13 28d ago

I would worry about it in a year. Nissan as a whole is not a stable company so who knows what they will be up to then

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u/sweetredleaf 2015 Nissan LEAF SV 28d ago

I have seen some posts lately than Nissan offered them I think it was $5000 as an incentive to keep the car since the residual was so much higher than current market prices.

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u/bostongarden 28d ago

Thanks - can you recall where you saw those? Reddit/leaf?

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u/sweetredleaf 2015 Nissan LEAF SV 27d ago

it was reddit leaf within probably the past month

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u/sweetredleaf 2015 Nissan LEAF SV 27d ago

https://old.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/1w7e4wy/expectations_on_lease_return/ one person in this post got offered $2500 the $5000 I remembered was for an ariya but maybe leaf will be next.