Lease mileage overage: what going over your miles costs and what to do
A lease mileage overage is every mile you drive beyond the allowance in your contract, billed at the per-mile rate printed in the lease when you return the car. You pay it only if you hand the car back.
The mileage bill at turn-in
Miles over, times the rate in your contract. You pay it only if you hand the car back.
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Made-up round numbers: a 36-month lease with 10,000 miles a year. Your own rate is in the federal disclosure box of your contract.
Key takeaways
If you buy the car or sell it, there is no per-mile charge, although any buyer will price the car on its real mileage. If you are running over, your options are to buy the car, sell or trade it, look for a pull-ahead offer, or ask whether your lender sells extra miles before the end, and the earlier you do the math, the more of those options you keep.
How the lease mileage overage charge works
The allowance. Your contract states the miles you may drive over the whole lease, often shown as an annual figure multiplied by the years of the term.
The overage. At turn-in, the lender compares the odometer with the reading at delivery plus your allowance. Every mile past that is billed.
The rate. Federal rules require the lease to state the per-mile charge, or how it is calculated, next to the notice about excess wear. Look in the federal disclosure box on the first pages of your contract.
The bill. The charge arrives on the final lease-end invoice, together with the disposition fee and any damage charges. In California, sales tax is added to it.
Example, with made-up round numbers: a 36-month lease with 10,000 miles a year allows 30,000 miles. You return the car with 36,000 on it. At a contract rate of 25 cents a mile, the 6,000 extra miles cost $1,500, plus sales tax.
Check where you stand now
Divide the miles you have driven so far by the months you have had the car, then multiply by the length of the lease. Compare the result with your allowance.
Example: after 18 months of a 36-month lease you have driven 20,000 miles. That pace ends at about 40,000 miles, which is 10,000 over a 30,000-mile allowance. Knowing that a year and a half early leaves you every option below.
Check where you stand now
Project your pace to the end of the lease.
That is 10,000 over. Knowing it a year and a half early leaves you every option.
Divide the miles driven so far by the months you have had the car, then multiply by the length of the lease.
What to do about a lease mileage overage
Buy the car. If you keep it, nobody bills you for miles. Compare the purchase price with what the car is worth at its real mileage; see lease buyout.
Sell or trade the car. The buyer pays off the lease, and the high miles lower the offer instead of producing a bill. In California, the price a lender charges when you buy or trade the car before the end date cannot include excess mileage charges. See lease equity.
Look for a pull-ahead offer. Some carmakers waive remaining payments if you move into a new car of the same brand early, which also stops the miles from piling up. Ask how the offer treats miles already over the allowance.
Ask about buying miles now. Some lenders sell additional miles during the lease, sometimes at a lower rate than the end-of-lease charge. Ask yours before assuming the contract rate is the only price.
Shift driving to another car. If your household has two cars, moving the long trips to the other one for the rest of the lease can close the gap.
Transfer the lease. The person who takes over inherits the odometer and whatever allowance remains, which makes a heavily driven lease harder to place. See lease transfer.
An extension does not erase an overage. Some lenders add allowance for the extra months and others do not (GM Financial, for one, says its extension adds no miles to the contract), so extra months can make the bill bigger. See lease extension.
What if you are under your miles?
Most leases do not pay you back for miles you did not use. The benefit shows up instead as a car worth more than a typical one at lease end, which can mean positive equity you collect by selling or trading the car rather than returning it. Some lenders credit miles you bought at signing and did not use, so check your contract and ask. On your next lease, choose the allowance to match how you actually drive; see choosing your lease mileage.
Lease mileage overage rules in California
Ads must show the limit. Since July 1, 2024, a California lease ad that shows a payment or amount due at signing must also state the mileage limit and the charge per mile over it.
The charge is taxable. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration lists excess mileage fees among the lease-end charges subject to tax.
Early exits leave it out. If you end a personal lease early, California caps what the lender can collect, and excess wear and mileage charges are not part of that cap, because the car's sale price already reflects its miles.
Military orders. A service member who ends a lease under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act can still be billed reasonable excess mileage charges.
What to ask your lender
What is my total allowance, and what per-mile rate does my contract set?
Can I buy extra miles now, at what rate, and are unused purchased miles refunded or credited?
If I take a pull-ahead or loyalty offer, what happens to miles already over the allowance?
If I buy the car or a dealer buys it, is there any mileage charge at all?
How 021 helps
When your next car comes through 021, we can take care of the current lease as well. Most often a dealer in our network takes it in trade and any equity can go toward the next car, and we can also handle the return, a buyout or a lease transfer.
On your next lease, 021 Auto Leasing's written quote shows the miles next to the payment, drive-off, term, taxes, fees and 021's fee, so the allowance is a choice you make before you sign rather than a surprise at the end. Several dealers quote the same car, and you see every cost before you agree to anything.
If you are running over
Ways to cut or avoid the per-mile bill. The earlier you check, the more options you keep.
Buy the car
If you keep it, nobody bills you for miles.
Watch forCompare the purchase price with what the car is worth at its real mileage
Sell or trade it
The buyer pays off the lease. The high miles lower the offer instead of producing a bill.
Watch forAny buyer will price the car on its real mileage
Pull-ahead offer
Some carmakers waive remaining payments if you move into a new car of the same brand early.
Watch forAsk how the offer treats miles already over the allowance
Buy miles now
Some lenders sell extra miles during the lease, sometimes at a lower rate than the end-of-lease charge.
Watch forOthers only offer that choice at signing. Ask before you pass the allowance.
An extension does not erase an overage. Some lenders add allowance for the extra months and others do not.
Common questions
How much is a lease mileage overage charge?
Do you pay excess mileage if you buy the car?
Can you negotiate excess mileage charges?
Can I buy more miles on my lease?
What happens if I don't use all my miles?
021 Auto Leasing is a licensed California autobroker (license #82402). All new cars arranged for sale are subject to price and availability from the selling franchised new car dealer.