Hi all, apologies in advance if this has been brought up before but I’ve used the search in this forum as well google in general but cannot find my answer.
My question is, in the case of an early lease termination, in your experience, do leasing companies enforce the pro-rating of the vehicle miles based on used/remaining months upon turnover, and charge you for what your vehicle odometer likely would read at the end of the agreed upon lease period?
In my documentation (MINI) the wording is such that I ‘may’ be required to pay the excess charges on a pro-rata basis, at the leasing company’s ‘sole discretion’.
Basically, my situation is this: I’m averaging about 1,200 miles per month on a 1,500 mile per month allowance - total 4 years. I’m nearing the last year of the lease, but not over the allowance of the 4 year lease yet. I’m just trying to weigh my options to either be over the allowance after 4 years, or park the car soon so I don’t pay excess mileage at the end of 4 years.
When you lease a car you have a specific mileage allotment; not per month, not per year, but total.
If you turn in the car early, and all the payments are satisfied, your mileage is not prorated. Whatever your total allotment is will stand.
If you turn in the car early, and your payments are not fulfilled, I believe the car goes to auction and you are liable for negative equity (which is almost certain in a lease).
Disclaimer- I’m not a lawyer and this shouldn’t be taken as legal advice. You’ll want to read your contract and discuss with your leasing company the accuracy of my statement.
BMW in the past (assuming MINI is the same) refunded purchased miles over 15,000 per year if you did not use them. I do not know if this is the same now or not. But if you have 1500 miles a month (18k a year) you purchased 12,000 “extra” miles over a 4 year lease. Those could be refunded back if you do not use them. However I would call BMWFS and verify. If you return the car early in the same situation the 'extra" miles refund would be applied to any outstanding charges before getting a refund.
The short answer is no. If you turn in your lease (with no remaining payments) and you have fewer miles than you contracted for, it doesn’t matter the time frame in which you accrued those miles.
Thank you for all the responses but, with exception of mikem who appears to have said lease companies do not charge you miles that you would have used if you kept the car for the full term, it looks like maybe I structured my question wrong.
My situation is such that if I continue my current pace, I’ll turn in the car at the end of my 4 year lease with an extra 5,000 miles let’s say.
However, if I turn in the car early, let’s say with 12 months/payments to go, and assuming I’m under the total allowance for the 4 years, does the leasing company say, “hey, these are more miles than we would expect at this given point and time”. I.e, at 12 payments to go, you should have been at 36,000 miles, not the 45,000 miles we would have expected you to have at 12 payments left. So we will now charge you the anticipated overages you would have had if you turned it in at the end of 4 years.
If you turn your car in 12 months early you will owe 12 payments plus the return fee (unless you lease something new). If you turn your car in 5,000 miles over at the end of the lease you will owe the turn in fee and penalty for excess miles. No magic pill here.
You will not get charged for anything anticipated. Your posts are confusing and I am not sure what you are trying to accomplish.
I have reread your question and all the answers, and I’m not clear what question you are asking. And if you are just exploring hypotheticals, they’ve been asked and answered so please use the search.
If you ended the lease due to a sale or trade, there is no consideration of the mileage except in the price. If you sign a 3y/12k lease and sell in month 35 to a third party with 150,000 miles on it, great.
Maybe on a pull-ahead, where the manufacturer is paying to take you of this lease early to put you in the next, and you were WAY over. Your lease contract spells out your overage rate in black and white.
Is this example backwards? You title is about OVER miles, I read this as under by 300/mo.
The only credit for unused I’m aware of are Acura and BMW (both mentioned), the rest is “too bad/so sad”.
Actually this is a different deal. But from reading the OP first comment I assumed he purchased over 15k a year when he set up the lease. Miles purchased above 15k were refundable in the past if not used (and cheaper to set up at contract vs lease end).
Sorry for the confusion, I guess my situation is not typical, but I’m the intent is all about what’s best for me financially. I’ll call the leasing company but just wanted to see if anyone encountered this before.
If you turn the car in early, you still need to pay the balance of your outstanding lease payments, so you will have the “full” mileage allowance since you need to completely pay the lease contract out to dispose of the car.
Yes I fully understand the remaining payments obligation. I’m just wondering about mileage because of the wording in my contract literally saying they may pro rate the mileage, which to me means they have an interest in receiving a car with more mileage than they expect, and never recovering the cost.
For example, what if someone burned through their 4yr allowance in 1year and returned it early (not typical I know). Wouldn’t the company have some objections to getting a car back with very high mileage on a semi new car? Maybe I’m overthinking but it’s curious that I could not find a similar case online.
If you lease for 3/36k, return in month 12 with 36k miles, you may owe more than 36 x payment + disposition. Early termination clauses can vary by state and by captive.
Which is why it’s pointless to speculate on hypotheticals. If you are in month X of your Mini lease, over by Y miles, and you have your contract, you can calculate what you owe. But it’s not worth anyone’s time to iterate through every hypothetical edge case.
