How much does it cost to go over lease mileage?

Usually 15 to 30 cents per mile, set in your lease contract. Being 5,000 miles over at 20 cents a mile means a $1,000 charge when you return the car.

Can I buy extra miles on a lease?

Most lenders sell additional miles at signing, and some allow it mid-lease, generally at a lower rate than the end-of-lease overage charge. Prepaid miles are usually not refundable if unused.

What happens if I am way over my mileage at lease end?

Buying the car at the contracted residual removes the mileage charge entirely, since you are not returning it. Depending on how far over you are, that can be cheaper than paying the per mile penalty.

Car Lease Mileage Limits: How Many Miles Do You Need?

Choosing a mileage allowance below what you actually drive is the most common way people turn a good lease into an expensive one.

Every lease caps how far you can drive. Standard allowances are 10,000, 12,000, or 15,000 miles a year, and going over is charged per mile at the end.

Picking this number badly is the most common self-inflicted cost in leasing.

What overage costs

Typically 15 to 30 cents per mile, set in your contract on day one.

At 20 cents a mile, being 5,000 miles over across a 36 month lease is a $1,000 bill on the day you hand the keys back. At 25 cents, it is $1,250. People are regularly surprised by this because the number sat quietly in the contract for three years.

Why a lower allowance is cheaper

A lower mileage allowance means a higher residual value, because the car is worth more with fewer miles on it. A higher residual means less depreciation to pay for, so the payment drops.

That is a genuine saving if you really drive that little. It is a false one if you do not, because the per mile charge at the end is almost always more expensive than buying the miles up front would have been.

Work out your real number

Do not estimate. Check.

Look at your current car's odometer and your service records, or just the mileage from a year ago. That is your actual annual figure, including the trips you forget about.

Then adjust for anything changing: a new commute, a move, a job that involves driving. Add a margin of 10% or so. If the honest number is 13,500, do not sign for 12,000 and hope.

Buying miles up front

Most lenders will sell you extra miles at signing, usually cheaper than the overage rate. If the contract charges 25 cents at the end, prepaid miles might be 15 to 20 cents.

The catch: prepaid miles are generally not refunded if you do not use them. So buy up to your realistic number, not your worst case.

If you are already over partway through

You have options, and they are better used early than late.

Buy the car. A lease buyout at the contracted residual makes the mileage charge disappear entirely, because you are not returning the car. If you are heavily over, this is often the cheapest exit.

Add miles mid-lease. Some lenders let you purchase additional miles during the term at less than the end-of-lease rate.

Trade or transfer early. Getting out of the lease early stops the mileage accumulating, though it carries its own costs.

Drive something else. If you have a second vehicle, shifting the long trips onto it for the last stretch is free.

The pattern to avoid

The one that costs people the most: choosing a low allowance because it made the advertised payment look better, then paying it back with interest at the end.

An advertised lease payment at 7,500 miles a year is a real quote for someone who drives 7,500 miles a year. For anyone else it is a number that will be corrected later, at 15 to 30 cents at a time.

If you tell us your actual annual mileage, we will quote at that allowance rather than at whichever one makes the payment look smallest. Send us the details.