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Lease vs Buy Calculator

Compare the total cost of leasing versus financing a car purchase.

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Enter Car price, Monthly lease payment, Lease term (months), Down payment, Loan interest rate (%), Loan term (months), Resale value at loan end and the Lease vs Buy Calculator works out Total cost to buy, Total cost to lease, Cheaper option straight away. For instance, with Car price = 30,000, Monthly lease payment = 350, Lease term (months) = 36, Down payment = 3,000, Loan interest rate (%) = 6, Loan term (months) = 60 and Resale value at loan end = 0 it returns Total cost to buy = $34,319.14, Total cost to lease = $15,600.00 and Cheaper option = lease.

How to use it

  1. Enter your values: Car price, Monthly lease payment, Lease term (months), Down payment, Loan interest rate (%), Loan term (months), Resale value at loan end.
  2. Read the result instantly: Total cost to buy, Total cost to lease, Cheaper option.

Frequently asked questions

How does the Lease vs Buy Calculator work?

It takes Car price, Monthly lease payment, Lease term (months), Down payment, Loan interest rate (%), Loan term (months) and Resale value at loan end and derives Total cost to buy, Total cost to lease and Cheaper option from them. The calculation is live as you type, so the result updates on every change.

Which values does the calculator ask for?

7 values: Car price, Monthly lease payment, Lease term (months), Down payment, Loan interest rate (%), Loan term (months) and Resale value at loan end. Nothing else is required — no account, no file upload.

What does a typical calculation look like?

With Car price = 30,000, Monthly lease payment = 350, Lease term (months) = 36, Down payment = 3,000, Loan interest rate (%) = 6, Loan term (months) = 60 and Resale value at loan end = 0, the calculator returns Total cost to buy = $34,319.14, Total cost to lease = $15,600.00 and Cheaper option = lease. Those figures come from running this exact tool, so you can reproduce them by entering the same values.

How much does the result change with different inputs?

It moves a lot. Using Car price = 60,000, Monthly lease payment = 700, Lease term (months) = 72, Down payment = 6,000, Loan interest rate (%) = 6.6, Loan term (months) = 120 and Resale value at loan end = 0 instead, Total cost to buy goes from $34,319.14 to $79,909.22 — which is why it is worth testing a few scenarios rather than trusting a single figure.

What does it give for smaller values?

Scaled down to Car price = 15,000, Monthly lease payment = 180, Lease term (months) = 18, Down payment = 1,500, Loan interest rate (%) = 5.4, Loan term (months) = 30 and Resale value at loan end = 0, Total cost to buy comes out at $15,962.05. The relationship is worth checking at both ends before you rely on a single result.

When would I actually use this?

Deciding between two cars, or between keeping one and replacing it: fuel or charging, insurance, depreciation and what a kilometre really costs.

What is the most common mistake?

Comparing on fuel alone. Depreciation is usually the largest line in the first years and dwarfs the difference in consumption between two comparable cars.

How accurate is it, and what are the limits?

Simplified comparison — ignores tax, depreciation nuance, fees and mileage penalties.

What is the difference between the Lease vs Buy Calculator and the Car lease calculator?

This one returns Total cost to buy and Total cost to lease; the Car lease calculator returns Monthly payment and Residual value. That is the whole difference — open the one whose figure you need.

Is there a tool for the next step?

Car affordability calculator is the closest one after this: Find a sensible monthly and yearly car budget from your income.

Further reading

All guides →
ComparisonCar Lease vs Buy: Which Costs Less Over Time?Leasing means lower monthly payments and endless flexibility; buying costs more up front but leaves you owning an asset. Here is how the total cost really compares.ComparisonLeasing, Hire Purchase or Cash: the Five-Year Total, Not the Monthly PaymentThree ways to put the same car on the drive, priced over five years at the same interest rate. The monthly payments rank the options in exactly the reverse order of what they cost — and the gap turns out to be a single, computable number.ComparisonLease vs Buy a CarLeasing means lower payments but no ownership; buying costs more per month but the car is yours. Here's how each works and which fits your situation.ComparisonBuying or Leasing Equipment: Which Number Actually Decides ItThe received wisdom is that the tax treatment of depreciation settles the buy-or-lease question. Modelled on a 60,000-euro machine over five years, it does not: it ranks third, and a long way behind. Here is the ranking, computed, and the conditions under which it flips.ComparisonElectric or Petrol: From How Many Miles a Year Does It Pay Off?The break-even is a division, and the number underneath it moves more with where you charge than with which country you live in. Electricity and fuel prices from 2025 and 2026, the arithmetic in full, and the point at which an electric car stops saving anything at all.GuideMileage Allowances: the Official Scales in France, Spain and Italy, and What They Do Not CoverOne country gives you a formula that changes with the car's horsepower and the distance driven, one gives everybody the same figure per kilometre, and one publishes a table per model. All three are meant to cover the whole cost of running a car, and all three leave out things people assume are included.