So my lease is up in a little over a year and 4 months, so this may be a very premature question if any circumstances change, but this is my first lease and I am curious...

According to my contract, my buyout number is around $21-22k at lease end, with a termination fee or a buyout fee.

I have the standard 39-mo, 12,000 miles per year contract, which was the only option at the time. Trouble is I only put about 5500 miles per year on it, so at lease end, the total miles will likely be wayyyy under the allowance.
I know the contract specifically states that no consideration will be made if under-miles (hey, why not the .15 per mile you hit up for overage Nissan?)

Just looking at the current values, with all the options and condition, even right now the full retail value is just a hair above the buyout over a year from now, so it ain't looking good for a flip for extra cash when the time comes. Not to mention how tough it is to find a sane, willing buyer who has enough cash in a private sale.

So I wonder if the Dealer might be willing to play ball if I was willing to flip into a new deal (say, the 8th gen) when the time comes? The car is mint, garaged, no issues whatsoever, and that total mileage has got to be fairly rare for a lease turn-in. I could be wrong on that part.

What might be your strategy?

 

I bet the dealer will hook you up with a new one, they'll appreciate the condition you're bringing it back in and they know they can make extra money of reselling yours. My boy traded in his maxima lease, same terms, but had nearly 20,000 in mileage overages not to mention damage such as underbody front bumper and missing plastic pieces. They waived all charges since he leased a 2014 after trading in, so I'd assume they can pass saving onto you in other ways if you had nothing wrong with your car

 

Generally it makes no sense to lease a car when you don't comply with the average USA driver mileage (12,000 miles/year). I find it makes more sense to buy and keep it for many years as the car ages very slowly due to the low miles that I drive. The exception is if you use the car for business and car write off the leasing cost.

 

Lease vs buy really depends on each individual situation, but I see what you're saying about buying when you're running low miles. I bought my max for that reason, and the fact that I usually keep cars over 10 years (which to some people seems like a long time) but I really like to get my moneys worth.