Store a lease end date or an estimated payoff date on every sales record, then let a date trigger start the outreach 180, 90, and 45 days before. GoHighLevel's Custom Date Reminder works from Opportunity date fields and from custom object date fields, so one record can carry the date. The bottom line: the average new vehicle lease runs about 36 months and the average new vehicle loan about 69.5 months, so a dealer who writes the end date down at delivery knows years in advance when a customer is ready to talk.
The timing data
Experian's Q2 2026 data, as reported by LendingTree, puts the average new vehicle lease term at 35.9 months, the average new vehicle loan at 69.5 months, and the average used vehicle loan at 67.9 months. The average amount financed was $43,610 for a new vehicle and $27,852 for a used one. NADA's 2026 profile shows loans of 73 to 84 months made up 29.2 percent of new vehicle financing in Q2 2026, and loans of 1 to 48 months made up 10.0 percent. Experian's consumer guide lists an average lease payment of $617 against $765 for an average new vehicle loan payment. These are averages, so use the actual contract dates on your own deals.
Two different customers
| Customer | Date to store | Outreach window | What the message offers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lease customer | Lease end date from the contract | 180, 90, and 45 days before | Return options, a buy out conversation, and a new lease or purchase; no payment quote in the text |
| Loan customer | Estimated payoff date: contract date plus the term in months | About 12 months before, and again at 6 months | A conversation about where the vehicle is worth versus the balance; no value or payoff figures by text |
Neither text should quote a payment, a trade value, or a payoff. Those figures belong in a conversation with a person who has the customer's actual numbers and who can follow your advertising and finance rules.
Where the date lives
A Vehicle custom object keeps one record per vehicle, so a customer with two vehicles gets two dates. Associate each vehicle with its contact, and add date fields called Lease end and Payoff estimate. HighLevel's changelog says Custom Date Reminder works with Opportunity date fields in contact based workflows and with custom object date fields in custom object based workflows, which means the workflow can start from the vehicle record itself.
Build it in HighLevel
- Create the Vehicle custom object with the fields VIN, Vehicle, Contract type, Lease end, and Payoff estimate, and associate it with contacts.
- At delivery, have the sales or F&I team fill in the contract type and the dates from the deal jacket, or import them from the DMS.
- Create a custom object based workflow with a Custom Date Reminder trigger on Lease end, 180 days before, then add the same trigger at 90 and 45 days.
- Create the same structure for Payoff estimate at 365 and 180 days before.
- In each workflow add an If/Else for the tag Marketing consent. If the tag is missing, create a task for the salesperson to call instead of texting.
- Send the text with a booking link for a 15 minute conversation and create a task for the owner of the original deal.
- Stop the sequence when the customer books, replies, or buys, and remove the contact from the other timing workflows.
Worked example
A dealership that delivers 120 leases a month will have about 120 lease ends a month three years later (120 deliveries on a 36 month term). If 15 percent of those customers have a conversation after the three touches, that is 18 conversations a month (120 times 0.15). Replace the 15 percent with your own result after a quarter.
Rules that decide the channel
A message that promotes a new vehicle is marketing and needs prior express written consent for texts. A reminder that a lease ends on a date, with no offer, is closer to informational, but the line is not settled and counsel should draw it for you. Advertised terms must match what the dealership honors: the FTC's auto retail rule was vacated in 2025, but the agency has kept enforcing existing law against deceptive dealer advertising.
Two messages, written out
Lease customer, 90 days out: Hi Jordan, this is Sam at [Dealership]. Your lease on the Altima ends around June 12. I would like to walk you through your options, including turning it in, buying it, or moving to something new. Do you have 15 minutes this week? [link]. Reply STOP to stop messages. Loan customer, about a year out: Hi Jordan, Sam at [Dealership]. Many people like to know where their vehicle stands before the loan ends. If you would like a no pressure look, here is a time that works: [link]. Neither text names a number.
Who owns the follow up
Assign the conversation to the salesperson who did the original deal when that person still works at the store, and to a round robin pool when they do not. A customer who hears from the person they bought from answers more often, and a pool keeps the lead from sitting with someone who left. Write the rule in the workflow so it does not depend on memory.
How this was handled before
A salesperson kept a book of delivery dates, or the F&I office ran a lease end report each month. Both depend on someone running the report. A date stored at delivery starts the conversation without anyone remembering to check.
What to measure
Track lease and loan records with a date, conversations booked by window, deals closed, and opt outs. Compare the 180, 90, and 45 day touches to see which timing produces conversations.
Questions people ask
When should a dealership contact a customer about lease end?
A reasonable schedule is 180, 90, and 45 days before the lease end date, stopping when the customer responds. Test the windows with your own results.
How long is the average auto loan?
Experian's Q2 2026 data puts the average new vehicle loan at 69.5 months and the average used vehicle loan at 67.9 months, and the average new vehicle lease at 35.9 months.
Should the text quote a payment?
No. Keep payments, trade values, and payoffs for a conversation with a person who has the customer's actual figures.
You can start a GoHighLevel account here and build the date driven sequence above, then compare the pipeline views in our capabilities demo.