I am a complete lease rookie. My main question is when I am ready to turn the car in, does it need to go back to the selling dealer? I see a ton of out of state deals and brokers that I’d like to deal with and don’t mind shipping the car to me but I don’t want the responsibility of having to take the car back out of state. TIA.
1 Like
Can return anywhere
3 Likes
A lease can be returned at any dealer of the same brand. As in a BMW would need to be returned to a BMW dealer.
3 Likes
If you have leasing questions, you’re in the right place. Don’t be afraid to ask, but always take advantage of the search function 
here on the forums to see if evergreen questions have been answered.
60-90 days before lease-end you typically complete a free inspection which details what charges you might have after returning the vehicle, which gives you time to fix or remediate anything yourself to avoid being billed.
At disposition, you bring the vehicle along with all keys, owner manual, any accessories listed on the window sticker to a local dealer, sign an odometer statement and leave everything with the dealer (“ground it”) — and your lease is over.
Typically the person whose job it is to process lease returns at a dealership works during the week, so it’s best to call reception and ask for whoever handles lease returns, see if you need to make an appointment or when you can bring it in. Don’t just show up on a weekend and assume someone can ground your car. Never hurts to mention that you’ve completed your pre-return inspection. If I didn’t lease from a local dealer, I typically return my leases to a dealer that has serviced it.
If you have not read through Leasing 101 on the main LH site I highly recommend that. When you’re ready to start putting target deals together and making offers to dealers, consider becoming a Super Supporter for access to Rate Finder. Please do NOT sign a deal on a lease you do not understand - post a question in Ask the Hackrs with as much detail as possible.
7 Likes
Great info, thank you. I’ll be reading the Leasing 101 section shortly, wasn’t aware of it.
Thx again.
2 Likes
Ford and Nissan used to require selling dealer if you were with 50 miles, dont know if that is true anymore.
Ally leases dont come with inspection so its more of a dice roll
1 Like
As long as you lease from a captive.
Not with a lease with a third-party bank (US Bank, Ally, etc)
2 Likes
Your original question has been answered, but if you’re interested in other aspects of lease returns there’s a link to several lessor’s lease-end guides here.
The Lease-End Damage Question Thread - Off-Ramp - Leasehackr Forum
3 Likes
Yes true sorry I thought that was implied
1 Like