Buying at the end of a lease?

Hi all, with as many car guys that we have around here I was hoping someone could maybe have an answer for me before I make myself look silly at the dealer.

I currently am leasing my FiST, I did this in the beginning because of the Focus RS and Boosted 'Stang talk going on at the time. I needed a new vehicle quickly as my old cars was days away from catastrophic failure, and with those vehicles being talked about but not released, I set my sights on the FiST.

Now that I have owned my FiST for a while, I am absolutely in love with it, and itching to get in on some of the goodies out there, like the intake kits and exhausts. So I am thinking about how I can own my FiST instead of lease it now.

One option I had heard about is continuing the lease but at the end just getting a new loan for the depreciated value, basically buying my now used car with out it ever going back on the lot. Has anyone ever done this before, if so Whats the process? If I put a new exhaust on it, will I still get punished the same as if I did it on a normal lease or will it be a non-issue since I am now buying it (skirting around the normal lease 'checklist')?

The second option I had heard was to ask Ford Credit for the 'buyout' price and getting a loan for that amount from another bank or credit union. Anyone with experience doing it this way? How hard is it to get ford to allow this, and are there any other negatives I am missing?


If anyone has any input I would much appreciate it!