Why automakers are closing this loophole in your car lease

If you're shopping around for a lease-buyout offer, you may be out of luck.

Several automakers are cracking down on a loophole that has long allowed drivers of leased vehicles to cash in on higher-than-expected resale values. In an effort aimed at boosting their dealers' used car inventories, Acura and Honda (7267.TO) are the latest brands to join a growing list of automakers to require leased vehicles to be turned in at their dealerships.

Previously, lessees could shop around and take advantage of a higher buyout offer from a competing brand's dealer or even a car-buying service such as Carvana $(CVNA)$ or Vroom $(VRM)$. In these situations, the dealers pay the lease payoff -- based on the car's residual value when it was originally leased -- directly to the automaker's finance arm, and the shopper drives off in a new vehicle. That leaves the dealer who paid off the lease with what's generally a late-model, lower-model vehicle to sell.

In a statement, Honda said American Honda Finance Corporation -- which administers leases for Honda and Acura models -- will alert lessees that they must turn in their vehicle to one of the automaker's dealers. General Motors $(GM)$ and Ford $(F)$ have both enforced a similar policy. American Honda Finance Corporation says it will reconsider the decision later this year, however.

There's still one loophole, though: lessees can pay the car off, though this either requires writing a hefty check or securing separate financing. Handling a buyout privately can be more challenging than letting a dealership do it.

Consumers have been taking advantage of the loophole, especially as used-car values have skyrocketed due to a shortage of parts needed to assemble new vehicles. In some cases, dealers and car-buying services have been willing to buy out a lease for far more than the car's lease payoff value.