I contacted Ford Finance and they said if the lease is extended then a new contractual end date is assigned. Proof is given in the extension document. They said at that point while the lease may be six months or a year, for example, it is basically a month to month rent and can be turned in any month (dealer would cancel remaining months). Because the contractual end date is changed, I would assume the 120-day rule would start over.
Additionally, I asked if they support third-party buyouts and they said it isn’t a problem (if outside the 120-days). It would be the residual, plus any remaining payments, plus $500 (end of lease). Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of different opinions/experiences from people saying it can only be traded at a Ford dealer, while others say any third-party is fine. Can anyone shed more light on the third-party buyout?