Correct my if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you're asking about paying off a lease, as in buying it out and keeping the car, not get out of the lease, right? Here are the schools of thought behind this.
Unless you plan on modding up the car to the point where it doesn't make sense or it's not possible to undo the mods (some mods are ok) OR, and more significantly, you plan on putting ALOT of miles and/or wear on the car, it makes FAR better financial sense to lease a car as opposed to buying it. A car is a depreciating asset. Aside from these exceptions, the last thing you want is to own a depreciating asset -- making full payments on something that isn't any longer worth what you're paying for. Otherwise, you would have to keep a car for about 10 years on average for it to make sense financing/buying it.
Now here's another trick, what you can always do is finance a previous model year car (used or cpo doesn't matter, but for sports cars, I would only do cpo if I'm going this route) with a balloon payment. This is sometimes referred to as super-saver loans or lease-to-own used, etc. Everyone knows that cars depreciate most when they're new and this slows down over time. This makes leasing a better option than financing for a new car, but financing with a balloon payment an even better choice for a used car. The used car isn't going to depreciate as much, so you'll still have a fairly new car, but with very low payments. Now this only works on some cars and there's a little risk that the car depreciates more than expected leaving you to make up the difference when the term is up. You also have to have an exit strategy, either sell the car before the term is up, trade it (sell to a dealer), or plan to refinance or buy it out in cash. This is different from a traditional lease where you can just return the car and walk away. I did this for my 2007 M Coupe, a cpo I picked up in 2009, had it for a couple years of a 4 year super saver through Pentagon Federal Credit Union, and sold it private party for about the same as I bought it. This isn't for everyone, but it worked for me then.
EDIT: If you're comfortable with the idea, you can do a super saver for a new car as well if you're just not sure whether you want to keep it or not. You'll just usually end up paying more than a new lease but less than a traditional finance.
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Much enjoyed:
2018 ///M4 ZCP || 2014 ///M5 ZCP || 2011.5 ///M3 Sedan || 2007 ///M Coupe || 2008 550i Sport || 2006 ///M3 ZCP || 2008 X3 3.0si || 2006 325i || 2003 Z4 3.0 Roadster || 2003 330ci || 2002 325i
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