Suppose you have a vehicle with a $10,000 residual value, but the vehicle is actually worth only $9,500 at lease-end. You would owe a $500 deficiency. Conversely, assume the same vehicle with the same $10,000 residual value is actually worth $10,500 at lease end. Assuming that you return the vehicle to the lessor, most open-end leases would refund the $500 gain to you at lease termination.