Great site, but I'm more confused than ever about leasing and buying at the end of a lease!

Re: Option 1

If your credit is good then you can do a $0 down deal and just pay the drive-offs. Sometimes even the drive-offs can be rolled into the lease payments. And yes when you do this your payment is higher.

Re Option 2:

Buying your expiring lease is almost never a great deal. If you intend to keep it just buy the new vehicle from the start.

After your lease is over the truck will have a (lower) residual value that is less than you could buy a new one for. But it still makes more sense to just buy the new vehicle. In the end it probably makes the most sense to just buy if you intend on keeping it.

If you are thinking about (for example) doing a 3-year lease followed by a 5-year purchase loan. Then it probably makes more sense to look into a 7 or 8 year vehicle loan instead.

Caveats for exceptional lease incentives.