Audi EV Lessees Get Up To $10,000 To Keep Their Cars

Audi BEV lessees can cut up to $10,000 from E-Tron buyout prices, with different savings for the E-Tron GT, Q4, and Q8.

2025 Audi E-Tron GT

Photo by: Audi

Brian Potter

By: Brian Potter

Sep 10, at 7:36am ET

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Current Audi EV lessees can get discounted lease-end buyout prices through September 30, 2026.
The E-Tron GT gets up to $10,000 off, with smaller cuts on the Q4 and Q8 E-Tron.
Discounts aim to keep used EVs with current drivers instead of sending them back to dealer lots.

Audi dealers received a bulletin on September 1, 2026, laying out a national buyout program for lessees of the brand's electric models. The BEV Lessee Buyout Option Incentive runs through September 30.

The pitch is simple. Keep the EV you're already driving, and Audi cuts thousands off the price of buying it outright. The bulletin positions it as a loyalty reward, "an appealing incentive for shoppers who love their all-electric Audis and want to hold on to them after their lease ends."

2027 Audi Q4 E-Tron

2027 Audi Q4 E-Tron

Photo by: Audi

How The E-Tron Discounts Work

According to CarsDirect, the program targets current lessees only, and it applies at lease-end buyout rather than early termination. Audi is not discounting new EV purchases here. It is cutting the price a lessee already under contract pays to keep the car they are driving.

Dealers have their own reason to promote it as Audi is paying a $500 Dealer Facilitation Incentive for every lessee who completes a buyout under the program, on top of whatever margin the dealer makes on the paperwork.

The timing lines up with EV depreciation trends hitting resale values across the segment. Returned electric leases have been landing back on dealer lots worth less than residual values assumed, and buyout incentives are one way to keep that inventory off the books.

Audi has moved on this before. The Q4 E-Tron buyout discount started at $3,000 when the program first appeared in July 2026, then jumped to $5,000 by September, a sign the automaker wanted a bigger gain than the early numbers delivered.

2024 Audi Q8 E-Tron Sportback

2024 Audi Q8 E-Tron Sportback

Buyout Savings Model By Model

The E-Tron GT gets the largest cut at $10,000 off the buyout price, reflecting both its higher window sticker and the sedan's steeper depreciation curve among Audi's electric lineup.

The Q4 E-Tron, Audi's compact crossover and its highest-volume EV, sits at $5,000. That model is likely the one with the most lessees facing an end-of-term decision this fall.

The Q8 E-Tron trails at $4,000, the smallest discount of the three despite sitting between the other two on price. Audi has not explained the gap, but residual-value assumptions baked into each model's original lease terms are the likely driver.

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Whether any of this beats the math on comparing lease buyout costs against new EV pricing depends on the lessee's original buyout figure and the current market value. A lessee whose contracted price already sits near the car's real worth gains the most from these discounts.

Motor1's Take: Ask the dealer for a written buyout worksheet. Order an independent appraisal. Confirm whether the battery warranty transfers. Consider a private sale instead of a dealer buyout.