SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

Leasing is rising in popularity once again, and Edmunds.com offered some tips for consumers last week that may be helpful to dealers, as well. The site is projecting that 500,000 more leased vehicles will return to the market in 2013 than in 2012.

The question remains will consumers nearing the end of a car lease term choose to buy the car from the dealers or get a new one?

And according to the site this is an overwhelming chunk of the market, as leases made up one out of every four new car transactions this year.

To answer this question, Edmunds.com suggests that consumers look to the cars residual value — a tool dealers can use, as well.

Dealers can use the comparison between the car’s buyout price, the residual value, and its current market value, in working through deals with their lease customers. Not only can this information help at point of sale, it also provides a level of transparency between dealer and customer.

"The residual is the pre-determined estimate of the car's value — and the guaranteed buyout price — at the end of the lease term," said Edmunds.com senior consumer advice editor Philip Reed. "The general rule of thumb is if the residual value is less than Edmunds.com's private-party True Market Value (TMV) price of the car, then the buyout is a good deal."

On the other hand, of course, if the car's residual value is higher than the TMV, consumers will most likely move on to the next vehicle.

Another takeaway from advice such as this? With leasing levels increasing each day, how will this affect your used-car department in the coming years?

Experian Automotive recently reported that of all new vehicles financed in Q2, leases accounted for an all-time high of 27.64 percent during the timeframe, up from 24.4 percent in Q2 of 2012.

According to the latest State of the Automotive Finance Market report from Experian, the average monthly payment for a lease contract written in the second quarter came in at $408 for 35 months.

It is figures like those that are why Swapalease.com said leasing has soared above pre-recession levels. But the site wanted to know how much more growth the industry can expect.

Site officials pointed out that automakers such as Toyota and General Motors have been in the news lately discussing their plans for more lease growth. While these and other OEMs have realized the industry’s return to lease penetration comparable to pre-recession levels, Swapalease.com asked how much the industry can expect this time.

To answer the question, Swapalease.com conducted a survey recently that included leasing as a consideration of future vehicle shopping.

For more information on the survey results, see the Auto Remarketing story here.

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