Lease End Review: Does it Really Work?

Over the last five years I have discovered that leasing a car suits me. I get to drive a brand new car with a lower monthly payment than I would from financing one. Leasing though, is like renting, and my money isn’t turning into equity like ownership. Eventually I have to face questions about my car, since it is not mine to keep. Do I want to turn it in and never worry about it again? Do I want to lease again? Or do I want to keep the car outright? If I want to buy it, then how much would that cost? I decided to explore what it might look like to end my lease and buy my car, and that led me to Lease End. 

I have always assumed that I had to wait for my full lease contract to make any of these decisions, but I discovered that I could actually buy my car at any point. I didn’t have to wait three years, the term of my lease contract. This is where Lease End comes in. They could help me with a lease buyout, and within days I could be a new car owner.

Let me show you the complete process of how Lease End works, and my experience with both the website and their customer service. After reading my Lease End review, you can determine for yourself – does it really work?

The Short Answer

Yes, Lease End works. If you would like to own your leased vehicle at any time during your contract without going to the dealership, then Lease End may be the answer you are looking for. They streamline the whole process and make it as quick and painless as possible. 

Why Use Lease End?

Lease End might not be the best fit for everyone, but it appealed to me for a few reasons:

• 100% Online: In 12 minutes I can be approved for a new car loan, and my leased car will soon officially be mine. Just telling me I don’t have to step foot in the car dealership makes me jump for joy.

• No Extra Fees: Lease End does not charge for end-of-mileage fees since I am keeping the car. Way over on your mileage? It does not matter how many long road trips messed up your budgeted miles. There are no disposition fees either.

• No Car Inspections: I don’t have to worry about the inspector walking around my car to point out every dent and scratch and then being charged for each one. There are no excess wear and tear fees with Lease End, since again I am keeping the car.

• Title Work Done For You: Lease End will take care of all title work, registration, and new plates. I don’t have to go to the DMV, which is huge in my book.

What is a Lease Buyout?

A lease buyout allows you to buy your leased car for the predetermined residual value. The residual value is the estimated value of your car at the end of the lease term, which is determined at the beginning of the lease, plus taxes and fees.

When you go through a company like Lease End, they help you through the process. Through step-by-step instructions, Lease End let me know what information was needed and helped me find my current payoff quote on my vehicle to secure a loan.

They did all the research and shopped around to find me the best interest rates from multiple sources. They have financing partners who work with all types of credit profiles. Don’t be discouraged if your credit score is on the lower end. You’ll still get offers. Since Lease End does so many lease buyouts, it seems like they can get some pretty competitive rates, which is great for us.

Once you’re approved for a new loan, they will walk you through signing the paperwork and take care of all final details until the car is officially yours.

Lease Buyout Calculator

If you want to get an idea of what your new payment may be, first use the free lease buyout calculator to get an instant estimate. It’s pretty simple. I entered my name, address, and license plate number. A new monthly payment range was quickly calculated.

This helped me determine if the number fit into my budget and whether it was worth it for me to continue on with the Lease End application.

My Lease End Experience: What is the Process?

All in all it took me about an hour to procure a loan, starting from answering some simple questions to the final phone call with Lease End explaining my loan terms. Here’s how it went…

1. About Me and My Car

The first step was entering information about my car. They asked me:

• My license plate number
• The state of my license plate
• Mileage on my car
• Color of the car
• Who was I paying my lease payment through

The next section took me a little longer than the 12 promised minutes, but it was because of my difficulty with Kia, not Lease End. Let me explain.

The screen was asking for my payoff amount and good-through date. The nice part is Lease End gave me the exact instructions on how to obtain this info. It listed the phone number I needed to call at Kia, what information I needed to give Kia (last 4 of social and DOB), and even the verbal instructions for the teleprompt. But because of the laws of my state, Kia would not give me the information directly and told me that I needed to obtain the payoff quote directly from my local dealership. Once I was able to do that, I could then continue on with the form on Lease End.

Now that Lease End had all the details about my car, they needed more information on my life to procure a loan. They asked for:

• Name
• Phone number
• Address
• If I have a mortgage, and how long I’ve lived here
• Employer information and income
• Birthdate
• Social security number

At this point I could also add a co-signer to my loan. The application let me know that once I click Submit, I am authorizing Lease End to obtain information from my credit report and that I agree to all of their terms and conditions. I hit Submit!

I timed how long it took for Lease End to have an answer. 17 seconds. The screen announced, Great News! We found you an approval for your lease buyout. It stated they would be calling me soon to walk me through the next steps. I immediately received a text message from Lease End too.

TD Auto called me within 1 minute. My first thought was, oh no am I going to get a million loan companies calling me all day now. But nope! This is the company that Lease End uses to confirm my identity. The representative asked me if I had applied for a loan at Lease End, texted me a code that I had to repeat back to him, and that was it. Easy peasy.

My computer screen also directed me to Lease End’s FAQ, where I found the answer to how long this process really took. It stated that everyone is unique, but that the full process could take up to a couple of weeks. It told me they work with banks including Ally, Capital One, and TD Bank (wait, is that who just called me?). Now I waited.

2. Viewing Loan Coverages and Options

Surprisingly, as I hadn’t expected anything that soon, in 12 minutes another text arrived from Lease End. It was my financial specialist, Trent. He was reviewing my approval and would call me in a few minutes. He called as promised and started asking me a few questions, including if I lived in the original state my lease started, what source I found my payoff quote from, confirmed miles of my car, and asked if I knew how Lease End worked. He continued to tell me a few facts about what they do. I appreciated this last question because it let me know they were there to help me understand, too.

Trent informed me that TD Bank picked me up. I could pay $0 down, including title, taxes, and registration. He began to recite all the loan details from the bank, including what my interest rate came back as, and my new monthly payment amount. Trent was extremely helpful and patient when answering all of my many questions. When he realized this was a higher payment amount than I was looking to pay, he said well we do have a few options. We talked more about extending my loan term or putting some money down.

I told him I needed to think about it all, and he set up a time frame to check back in with me, while also giving me his direct line in case I had more questions. Overall, our chat was about 15 minutes in length, and I felt it was very thorough. I left the call feeling good!

3. Signing the Paperwork

If you choose to proceed, all loan paperwork will be sent to you online to securely sign. In my own case, I did not get this far. I decided not to follow through with the lease buyout option. I have been happy leasing and ended up deciding that I want to do it again for another cycle in a new car. I might consider a buyout again at a later date, though. 

4. Take it Easy

After you sign the paperwork, there is nothing more for you to do but wait. Lease End will take care of everything from here. Your title work, registering the vehicle, and license plates will all be handled for you. You will not have to waste any time going to the DMV and standing in long lines, which in my opinion is the best news of the day.

The entire Lease End process, not including the time I had to spend with Kia finding my payoff quote, took less than an hour. All from the comfort of my couch! Since I didn’t follow through with an actual loan, I do not know how long it will take to sign your actual paperwork and complete the final steps, but I am confident that Lease End will make the whole process seamless and timely for you.

​Pros & Cons:

Lease End Pros:

• Everything is easily done online. You can skip the stress of the dealership and all the waiting around. In other words, it’s fast and easy for anyone with a busy schedule (isn’t that all of us?).
• Does the bank shopping for you to find the best loan rate
• You can let them handle the paperwork, title work, registration fees, and license plates without going anywhere.
• Speak with a real person, a financial expert who lives in the U.S, anytime by calling their customer service line.

Cons: Who Would Lease End Not Work For

• If you like the in person experience that a car dealership provides and the face-to-face interaction this will bring you, Lease End might not be for you. 
• You want to go over all the other options when your lease ends too, which may include trading your car in for another, or just simply returning the leased car. 
• You don’t need a loan to purchase your car and want to skip that process.

Final Thoughts

Lease End is a one stop shop when you have decided to buy out your leased car. Their website is extremely user friendly and they work quickly to secure you a loan. There are no hidden fees, and the time saved from having to go both to the dealership and the DMV is a life saver.

Next time you are looking to own the car you have come to love, I recommend checking out Lease End. Even though ownership isn’t right for me at this time, I’d still consider going through them in the future.