Rivian Lease Buyout Guide: Comprehensive Slide Deck

[Rade]

I did a lease buy out after 5 months. We took delivery in Early November last year with the idea that we would buy out the least at the termination in three years. I had banked the buyout funds in my investment account. Then March rolled around and the markets began to whipsaw as the threat of tariffs began to manifest, and I watched those investment savings begin to plummet.

I pulled the trigger and asked for the lease buyout. Interesting - the buyout figure was actually a little LESS than what was in the lease agreement. Cashed out the portion of savings and bought out the lease. The only hit I got was on registering the vehicle and transferring the title to my name in Rhode Island - got a substantial sales tax bill as a result, but I had also banked for that.

Net: I now fully own my 2025 Rivian R1T.

I suspect we will do the same when the R2S comes available for order.

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[BearMan123]

Your spreadsheet is fantastic. A lot, lot of work. So, here is what I will toss out and see if you can advise. I have a 2025 R1S, Gen2. I did a 2-year lease in July of 2025 and now have 10 more payments left on it. I am upside down approximately $6K from the buyout and lease payoff quote provided by Rivian to me (maybe they low ball the valuations). I would like to move to Tri-Max Pack and pick up some of the items I didn’t get on my current one including the Ascend package (which is basically built into the cost of the Tri).

My lease payment, currently, is right around $1,100/month. As this is 3rd car, it will be lucky to see 12,500 miles a year on it.

I keep coming up with a conclusion based upon a simple approach of packing the negative trade value into the residual or paying it off and conclude that I would be stupid to buyout early and lease a 2026, However, the stacked discounts do make it tempting and I could probably roll with a color combination in the ‘inventory’ of units out there.

Welcome your brain.

 

[Race3]

Does this still make sense for a new 2026 Quad R1S, if the only incentive is the $7500 federal discount? Has anyone run the numbers for that?

 

[JonKohler]

Your spreadsheet is fantastic. A lot, lot of work. So, here is what I will toss out and see if you can advise. I have a 2025 R1S, Gen2. I did a 2-year lease in July of 2025 and now have 10 more payments left on it. I am upside down approximately $6K from the buyout and lease payoff quote provided by Rivian to me (maybe they low ball the valuations). I would like to move to Tri-Max Pack and pick up some of the items I didn’t get on my current one including the Ascend package (which is basically built into the cost of the Tri).

My lease payment, currently, is right around $1,100/month. As this is 3rd car, it will be lucky to see 12,500 miles a year on it.

I keep coming up with a conclusion based upon a simple approach of packing the negative trade value into the residual or paying it off and conclude that I would be stupid to buyout early and lease a 2026, However, the stacked discounts do make it tempting and I could probably roll with a color combination in the ‘inventory’ of units out there.

Welcome your brain.

Glad the sheet was helpful, sorry for the delayed response, didn't see the email notice from this message.

Would you "trade in" or otherwise get rid of the existing R1S? Also, I'm assuming since you have 10 payments, you mean you leased it in July 2024, not 2025, yea?

The stacked federal/OEM incentives do make it a little less painful, but financial-sense wise, trying to do that back2back with two new cars two years in a row probably throw traditional financials out the window Especially for a 3rd car, yea?

In short, if it would make you happier to go up to a tri max and thats what you want to do, no time like the present if your wallet can stomach it?

Happy to chat more, but I have a gut feeling you already know you're going to take a bit of a bath on this (whether its the 6k or otherwise?)

 

[JonKohler]

Does this still make sense for a new 2026 Quad R1S, if the only incentive is the $7500 federal discount? Has anyone run the numbers for that?

yes, I have for other folks. You get a pinch of a discount net cash wise. Basically, if youre alternative is cutting a check to Rivian for the $$ for a quad, you'd save a few bucks going down the 7500 route.

I basically did this for the tri max in december, because they didn't have these stacked incentives, it was just the federal. In that case, I personally saved thousands vs cutting a check.

 

[Race3]

yes, I have for other folks. You get a pinch of a discount net cash wise. Basically, if youre alternative is cutting a check to Rivian for the $$ for a quad, you'd save a few bucks going down the 7500 route.

I basically did this for the tri max in december, because they didn't have these stacked incentives, it was just the federal. In that case, I personally saved thousands vs cutting a check.

thanks so much, super helpful and appreciated! Buying outright from the beginning certainly feels cleaner and easier… but if I’m going to save $4k or more… this feels worthwhile. I will try to buyout the lease within 30 days.

 

[JonKohler]

Update 6 September 2025

• Added "Using Auto Loans as the funding source" to the deck, with a callout to USAA, who others have reported positive experience with (and they seem to have pretty good rates at time of writing)
• Rebased the 2026 Dual Motor Standard option, as the endless adventure bonus went down to 3000 (was 6500)
• Fixed endless adventure slide, to show that 25/26 DM Large Perf now is 6500 (was 3000)
• Added section header slides to break up example, to make them easier to scroll thru on the left side

 

[nyckkr]

thanks so much, super helpful and appreciated! Buying outright from the beginning certainly feels cleaner and easier… but if I’m going to save $4k or more… this feels worthwhile. I will try to buyout the lease within 30 days.

If I were buying out a quad within 30 days, then I would roll the dice as Rivian likely matches the federal lease incentive at the very least at end of fourth quarter (demand for EVs including Rivian is being brought forward and sales will fall post Sep 30). Buying from the get-go reduces the friction cost - $1000-2000+k of buying out a lease. if one is trading in with substantial equity it makes the case for waiting even more. But one needs flexible timing for a purchase....

If 2025 R1S Tri - the lease incentives plus complimentary color / wheel / all terrain package upgrades make it compelling now.

 

[JonKohler]

Update 17 September 2025

• Updated Current Combinable Offers slide with latest table, which moves “Delivery By” to Sept 30
• Updated Notes on calculator to call out lease tax treatment for NY, which taxes the top portion of the lease contract, but the buyout you pay on the residual (supposedly).

Also note, the deal sweetener du jour is now all weather mats: https://rivian.com/offers/all-weather-mats

I added a slide for it and edited the main post with a link too

 

[TriMo]

The residual value Rivian set for my 2025 Tri seems fair. I don’t think any EV priced over $100k can retain 50% of its value after 3 years and 45,000 miles. Since I only plan to keep the car for 3 years, doesn’t it make more sense to lease rather than buy?

 

[nyckkr]

Anyone in NJ buy their lease out? Trying to figure out if there is double tax or not? State law allows for a credit or refund on the taxes paid upfront on the lease, but wanted to know if anyone was able to get it.

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