Lease vs Buy Calculator – Compare True Costs Instantly
Compare lease and loan payments side by side, including taxes, fees, insurance, and mileage costs. Get a clear cost-per-mile breakdown in seconds.
Compare monthly payments, total ownership cost, and cost per mile.
Total Cost Comparison
During selected ownership periodLease Analysis
Buy Analysis
Ownership Cost Breakdown
This calculator provides estimates. Lease taxes, registration fees, acquisition charges, and other costs can vary by location and lender.
How the Calculator Works
This tool runs two separate formulas side by side. For leasing, it uses the standard auto-lease method: it takes your adjusted capitalized cost (negotiated price minus down payment and trade equity), subtracts the residual value to find monthly depreciation, then adds a rent charge calculated from the money factor on the combined cap cost and residual.
Sales tax is applied to that base payment, and acquisition, disposition, and mileage-overage fees are layered in across your full ownership period. For buying, it applies a standard loan amortization formula to the amount financed after tax, fees, down payment, and trade equity, spreading principal and interest evenly across the loan term. Both paths then add identical ownership costs — insurance, fuel, maintenance, and repairs — so the final comparison and cost-per-mile figures are apples-to-apples.
FAQ
It depends on your money factor, residual value, APR, and how long you keep the vehicle. Shorter ownership periods often favor leasing; longer ones usually favor buying, since loan payments stop while lease costs continue every cycle.
It’s your total cost — payments, fees, and ownership expenses — divided by total miles driven. It’s a fairer way to compare a lease and a loan of different lengths on equal footing.
Yes. If your expected annual mileage exceeds the lease’s allowance, the calculator applies your excess-mileage charge per mile over the limit and adds it to the total lease cost.
