Estimate a car lease from either direction. In the Total Price tab, enter the auto price to get the monthly lease payment; in the Monthly Payment tab, enter a target payment to find the vehicle price that fits. Both include depreciation, money-factor interest, tax, and a comparison as if you bought instead.
Lease vs buy at a glance
| You pay | Lease | Purchase |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | Depreciation + rent + tax on those | Full amortizing loan payment |
| Upfront | Down payment + tax on the down payment | Down payment + sales tax on the price |
| At term end | Return the car, or buy at residual | You own the car |
Examples
Page example: $50,000 car, 3 years, 6% APR
After an $8,000 down payment and a $5,000 trade-in, capitalized cost is $37,000. With a $25,000 residual, monthly depreciation is $333.33. At 6% APR the money factor is 0.0025, so monthly interest is $155.00. In a 6% tax state, monthly tax is $29.30, and the lease payment is $517.63.
Default: $50,000 · $10,000 down · 0.00208 money factor
A $50,000 car, $10,000 down, $24,000 residual, 7% tax, and a 0.00208 money factor (4.992% APR) over 36 months is a monthly lease payment of $617.99. Buying the same car would be about $1,198.69 a month.
Formula
Capitalized cost is the negotiated price after cash down and trade-in. The monthly payment is depreciation, rent charge (interest), and tax:
cap = auto price − down payment − trade-in
mf = APR% ÷ 2400
depr = (cap − residual) / months
interest = (cap + residual) × mf
tax = (depr + interest) × tax rate
payment = depr + interest + tax
The Monthly Payment tab inverts this: it strips tax from the target payment, then solves for capitalized cost and adds down payment and trade-in back to get the vehicle price.
Purchase comparison finances the same capitalized cost at APR ÷ 12 with a standard amortizing loan, taxes the price minus trade-in, and treats the down payment plus that sales tax as the amount due upfront.
A money factor of 0.0025 is 6% APR (0.0025 × 2400). Dealers sometimes quote the factor without the decimal — “25” means 0.0025.
Quote details this estimate excludes
Lease tax treatment and drive-off charges vary by jurisdiction and contract. The model excludes acquisition and disposition fees, registration, rebates, negative trade equity, refundable deposits, mileage and wear charges, purchase-option fees, and insurance. It also treats the money-factor conversion as a quote convention rather than a regulated APR calculation. Compare its line items with the lessor's disclosure; the CFPB lease-versus-buy guide explains the main negotiated terms.