Tips on Leasing a Car: How It Works and What Happens Next

Leasing a Chevy vehicle is an affordable way to enjoy the latest from the American auto brand, including their most powerful new trucks, most safety-enhanced SUVs, and best-performing cars. However, many shoppers may be hesitant to enter a lease. For instance, some may wonder what happens during the Chevy end of lease phase. Are you left without a vehicle? Why lease instead of buying, and how is the process different?

When you “lease” a car, you enter a contract with a dealership and pay for your vehicle on a monthly basis. This is nothing like renting a vehicle on a temporary basis from a car rental agency. Leasing a vehicle doesn’t mean that it’s on-loan and you’re just renting it. There’s more ownership and power in your hands when you lease a car, meaning that it’s essentially yours but handed over to you with the promise that you’ll return the vehicle to the dealership after the lease period ends – usually after a couple of years. You don’t pay down the full value of the car itself, either; instead, you pay a different price that’s usually much lower, which we’ll explain below.

Why choose to enter this process? Leasing a vehicle means you get to turn it in for a new model every few years, which means that you get to enjoy the latest technology and finest Chevy engineering every few years. This can make you the envy of car shoppers who, 10 or 15 years into a purchase auto financing arrangement, feel like they’re driving an outdated vehicle. Here’s more information to know about how to lease a car, your options, what happens when the lease ends, and where to shop for great vehicles to lease.

Entering a Lease

When you car shop, you’ll likely be faced with one of two options: purchase or lease. When you purchase a vehicle, it is signed over to you, you are the total owner of the vehicle, and you’re consequently responsible for payment of the vehicle in full. While you can pay “cash” – pay the entire cost of the vehicle up-front – this is usually too costly for most people, and they will choose to enter a finance deal. In a finance deal, you take out a loan from a bank, which pays the dealership, and you pay back the bank in the form of monthly payments. Over time, you’ll pay down the total cost of the vehicle, including the sticker price plus taxes and other fees, then at the end of the loan, you’ll receive the official title papers.

However, there’s another option available to you: leasing a car. When you lease a vehicle, you initiate a contract with the dealer, which allows you to use the car for an agreed-on term, then return it to the dealership once the lease period ends. You don’t pay for the vehicle itself. Instead, you pay for the estimated value depreciation that will occur on the vehicle while it is in your possession, alongside additional taxes and fees.

This part can confuse some people. This payment system is based on the fact that cars lose value over time as they age, gain mileage, and rack up owners. So while you may lease a car that’s worth $30,000, it may decrease in value to $25,000 in a year. If you lease a vehicle for one year, you’ll be responsible for paying that $5,000 difference.

While you don’t hold the title to a vehicle when you lease it, leasing contracts do require that you invest in maintaining the vehicle properly. It must be returned in a certain condition/quality, and there are mileage and usage restrictions. However, these restrictions are lenient enough that you can use your vehicle regularly without worry.

Leasing a vehicle is very popular for a number of reasons. First of all, you can save money by only paying depreciation costs. Second, you aren’t beholden to a major bank for several years and responsible for making large payments to them. Third, there’s the fact that a lease ends; when that happens, you’re faced with exciting possibilities.

Ending a Lease

When you enter a lease with a car dealership, you agree on a certain time at which the lease agreement ends, and you return the vehicle to the dealership. So now what? First of all, the dealership will review the vehicle’s condition and mileage to ensure that you upheld your end of the bargain and the vehicle is still of good quality. If it is, you’ll be faced with one of three options.

Option 1: Renewing Your Lease

Your first option when a lease ends is to renew your lease on the vehicle, which will require drawing up another contract and negotiating the terms of the lease. A dealership will want to recalculate the depreciation and other costs to ensure that everything matches up to what was projected when the lease was first signed and will then offer the vehicle to you again. Sometimes, though, there will be term limits when you extend your lease in this way. For example, a dealership may only allow you to hold onto a leased vehicle for an additional 3 months. While renewing is a simple option, especially if you’ve fallen in love with the vehicle you’ve been leasing, there are better alternatives.

Option 2: Leasing a New Car

One of the top benefits of leasing a vehicle is the opportunity to keep your term with any given vehicle fairly short. Every few years, once your lease ends, you get to trade your car in for a newer model. There are several ways to take advantage of this. While some dealers may recommend that you stick to the same vehicle model, others may allow you to explore different types of vehicles.

Say you lease a 2021 Chevy Silverado. In two years, you get to upgrade to the 2023 version of the Silverado, with all of the amazing new tech and tow ratings that come with it. You’ll never feel behind the times because you’ll always get to drive a new vehicle. However, if you eventually decide that a truck is no longer the right body style for you, you can trade it in for another vehicle entirely – like the sporty and adventurous 2022 Chevy Trailblazer – after your lease ends. Ultimately, the decision is yours.

Option 3: Buying Your Current Lease

There’s a third option for those who get emotionally attached or even financially invested in a vehicle that they lease. When the lease term ends, you can negotiate the “buyout price” of your car. This is your way of telling a dealer, “I love it so much, I’m going to keep it.” You then pay to obtain the title on the vehicle and take full ownership of it like you would any other used car. Prices can vary, and in some cases, it may be more financially responsible to buy a different, used vehicle from the same Chevy dealer.

However, if you like the vehicle and feel that the buyout price accurately affects its current value, buying your current lease is a great option. If you feel that you’ve invested a great deal in a vehicle, including maintenance and custom work that’s allowed under your lease deal, buying out may make you feel like you’re getting more usage out of your investment. However, buying out is never a necessity when you lease a car.

Lease at Rick Hendrick Chevrolet of Buford

Ultimately, you can’t go wrong when you lease a vehicle, as long as you shop in the right place. Visit Rick Hendrick Chevrolet of Buford to explore our inventory of quality Chevy vehicles, then explore your lease or ownership options. Our skilled and customer-oriented finance department will help you secure the arrangement that works for your goals, finances, and more.

We have a wide inventory of Chevy vehicles to buy or lease, including the tough and hardy Chevy Silverado and Silverado HD, the spacious family Suburban, and the high-performance 2023 Corvette. Visit us in Buford, GA, to test drive a vehicle today. We look forward to helping you find your next car and, if you decide to lease with us, helping you get the vehicle you want every time you come back and see us.