One of the best ways to get a bit of money back at the end of a car lease is to sell your leased car to a third party for more than its residual value, then pay off the leasing company and pocketing the difference. If your current lease is through GM Financial, Honda Financial Services, or the financing arms of a growing list of other automakers, you don’t currently have that option. There’s a strong chance that more brands will follow suit.

In normal times, you can sell your leased vehicle to anyone you want to, including used car dealerships such as Vroom, Carvana, or CarMax. But there’s a caveat: you have to ask your leasing company for permission to do so.

If you ask today, the answer will be no.

Instead, you will be required to return the vehicle to one of the brand’s franchised new car dealerships, or buy it yourself at the buyout price specified in your lease contract.

“We are disappointed by policies that restrict a customer’s ability to engage in the car buying and selling process that they desire,” says David Unice, CarMax vice-president of merchandising operations.

CarMax, which claims to be the largest buyer of used autos from consumers in the United States, offers consumers several channels, including online, in-store, and blended methods to buy and sell their pre-owned and leased cars.

The global microchip shortage and other market disruptions stemming from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have reached every corner of the automotive market. Many new cars are in short supply, used car values have skyrocketed, and even rental cars are hard to come by. Dealers simply want lease return vehicles back on their lots, where they alone can take advantage of their inflated values.

So, why would you want to sell your leased car to another dealership, anyway? Isn’t it easier to just return it to the original dealer?

Yes, it is easy to just return the car to the original dealer or another of the same automaker’s franchised new car dealerships at the end of the lease. In fact, that’s one of the top benefits of leasing. However, when you do so, you might be losing a considerable amount of money. That’s especially true if your leased car has low miles or has not lost as much value as its residual value predicted.

However, if your leased vehicle is worth more than the lease buyout amount, you can typically sell it to a third party or another dealer and then pay off your leasing company. You get to keep any difference. Of course, if your car is worth less than its residual value, you should just return it to the original dealer.

Here’s an example: We’ll say you leased a $40,000 SUV, and its residual and buyout values at the end of a three-year lease are $27,000. But, you didn’t drive it too much, and it’s in high demand, so its current market value is $31,000. If you return it to the original dealer, you won’t get anything back. That dealer can sell it for $31,000 and take the $4,000 profit.

If, on the other hand, you sell it to a used car superstore for $29,000, you can pay off its $27,000 lease buy-out cost and have $2,000 in your pocket. Unfortunately, that’s the option that fewer leasing companies are allowing.

There are a few reasons why GM and Honda dealers put pressure on their financing companies to restrict lease-end sales.

First, they just need more cars on their lots. It’s hard to keep the doors open and lights on if you don’t have any cars to sell. Because of microchip shortages and other supply chain disruptions, there simply aren’t as many new cars on dealer lots. Those that are available are selling at high prices with few discounts, financing deals, or cash back offers.

That has forced many new car buyers into the used car market, where inventories are likewise slim due to increased demand and having fewer cars traded in for new ones. As consumers are returning to work and travel, they need transportation. Many are skipping the perceived risk of crowded public transportation and instead seeking the security of their own cars.

“In this unusual market environment, our goal is to make sure our dealers have access to quality pre-owned Honda and Acura vehicles to satisfy the needs of new and returning customers,” stated Petar Vucurevic, vice president of American Honda Finance Corporation, in a press release. “Customers continue to have the option to purchase their leased vehicle as indicated on their lease agreement.”

Shortages of cars in the rental car market are also creating problems for car dealers. Ordinarily, rental car companies would be shedding excess used rental cars as they replace their fleets with new ones. However, there aren’t new ones to be purchased by rental car companies, and the demand for rental cars has exploded as Americans return to traveling.

The pipeline of used rental cars to dealers has dried up. In fact, some rental car companies are buying used vehicles, further exhausting the supply that would usually arrive on dealer lots.

Used car prices are at record levels. If you sell your leased car and pay off the automaker’s finance arm at the value stated in your lease contract, you get to take advantage of the increased value. By forcing you to return the car to one of their franchised new car dealerships, the dealership gets to take the profits from that increased value when they resell the car.

Though it’s horrible for consumers, it is a right that is spelled out in lease contracts. It’s another reason to consider the pros and cons of leasing before entering into a contract.

As the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, upstart used car dealerships, such as CarMax, Vroom, Carvana, and others pivoted quickly to online sales and no-contact sales and car delivery methods. It dramatically accelerated their growth and importance in the marketplace.

Consumers have grown to like the way the newcomers do business, with no-haggle pricing along with streamlined sales and car-buying processes.

For entrenched franchised car dealerships, the growth of the used car superstore is the most serious threat they’ve ever faced to their business models and continued profitability. Restricting the flow of used cars onto the new competitor’s lots is an opportunity for them to blunt the growth of the new rivals.

“Vroom continues to appraise thousands of vehicles every day even with the changes from some OEMs, offering consumers real-time competitive prices,” said a Vroom spokesperson in response to questions about the automaker’s financing arms’ new policies.

To learn more about which automaker’s finance companies are restricting the sale of leased cars, CarMax has a frequently updated list in the FAQ section of CarMax.com. They’re also posting the information in their stores.

“Currently, CarMax cannot purchase a vehicle leased through the following companies: Nissan Motor Acceptance, Infiniti Financial Services, Honda Finance, Southeast Toyota Financial, GM Financial, Ford Credit, and Mazda Credit,” says Unice.

They encourage lessees to contact their leasing companies before attempting to sell their vehicles.

There is a way to get around third-party lease sale restrictions, but it can be time-consuming and financially risky. You can purchase the car yourself, then turn around and sell it to whomever you want. Before embarking on this strategy, you’ll want to consider all the costs involved. These include registration and title costs, as well as loan fees and interest if you have to take out a short-term car loan to make it work.

Some automakers are offering deals that can take the sting out of lease-end sales restrictions. Several GM brands are offering lease deals only to current lease customers whose contracts are ending. The loyalty deals offer lower amounts due at signing than are available to shoppers who don’t currently have a GM lease.

The automotive market is currently facing unprecedented supply and demand challenges, with broad shortages across the marketplace. Like most markets, it will eventually return to balance. How long that will take or what that balance will look like is anyone’s guess.

Automakers and their finance companies will likely relax the restrictions at some point. They’re bad for business in the long run, and selling your car to a third party will be less profitable for lessees as vehicle prices stabilize. Consumers who feel like an automaker ripped money from their hands will simply be hesitant to lease from that brand again.

The bottom line is this: If you can wait until the car market stabilizes, then you should wait. If you can’t, your options for getting money out of your lease just took a turn for the worse.