Car Buy vs Lease Calculator

📋 These inputs carry over from Buy vs Lease. Review them and adjust anything that should be different for the long term, then set the long-term assumptions below.

🛣️ How Many Miles Do You Drive per Year?

mi/yr

If You Lease: Miles Allowed per Year

A higher allowance usually means a lower residual and a higher payment — make sure your residual or dealer quote matches the allowance you pick.

If You Lease: Over-Mileage Fee $/mile

If You Buy: Resale Loss per Extra Mile $/mile

→ Feeds into the result: over-mileage fees are added to the lease cost; extra miles lower the car's resale value on the buy side. Stats below use the 36-month lease term set in the Leasing card.

Total miles over 36 months

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vs lease allowance

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📝 Lease: over-mileage fee

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🏦 Buy: resale value impact

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vs 12,000 mi/yr

US average is about 13,500 miles/year. Mileage can have a major impact on the comparison — it drives lease fees and your car's resale value.

🚙 The Car

MSRP (sticker price) $

Negotiated Price $

Sales Tax %

🔄 Trading in a car?

No trade-in Add trade-in vehicle

Trade-In Value $ · what the dealer gives you

Amount You Still Owe on It $ · loan payoff

My state taxes only the price minus the trade-in value

Most states do. A few — including California — tax the full price. When leasing, this also decides whether trade-in equity used as a cap cost reduction is taxed.

🏦 Buying (Auto Loan)

Down Payment $

Loan APR %/year

Loan Term

Title, Registration & Doc Fees $

Assumed rolled into the loan together with sales tax.

Resale Value at End of Lease Term % of MSRP

Same as lease residual % (recommended)

🔒 Locked to the lease residual so both options use the same depreciation. Untick to set your own.

📝 Leasing

Lease Term

The comparison runs over this period for both options.

Residual Value % of MSRP

Money Factor

Cap Cost Reduction (down) $

Acquisition Fee $ · rolled into lease

Doc & Registration Fees $ · paid at signing

Lessees pay these too — usually similar to the buyer's title, registration & doc fees.

Disposition Fee $ · when you return the car

Interest Your Upfront Cash Could Earn %/year

💡 How it works

Buy: Everything you pay until the lease would have ended, minus the equity you'd have if you sold the car at that point.

Lease: Everything you pay over the lease, including fees and any over-mileage charges. You walk away with no equity.

Net cost: Same time period, same car — so the lower number is the cheaper option under these assumptions.

Your values: every field is pre-filled with a typical default. You can edit any value manually — the calculator uses the values you enter. Percentages that are a share of a price or value (sales tax, residual, resale, depreciation) can be up to 100%; miles per year and the lease allowance use 3,000–30,000.

Net Cost — Buy

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Net Cost — Lease

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Difference

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Monthly Payment — Buy

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Monthly Payment — Lease

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Your Equity at Lease End

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📖 What these numbers mean

🏦

Buy path: You finance the car (price + tax + fees − down payment − any trade-in equity) and make loan payments. At the end of the comparison period the car still has value — that equity is subtracted from your cost.

📝

Lease path: You pay for the car's expected depreciation plus a finance charge (the money factor), with tax on each payment. At the end you return the car and pay any mileage and disposition fees.

⚖️

Monthly vs net cost: A lower monthly payment is not the same as a cheaper option. The net cost is the fair comparison.

Tap ƒ to see the formula.

Cost Breakdown

Item	Buy	Lease

Open an empty Excel or Google Sheets sheet, click cell A1 once (don’t double-click), then press Ctrl + V (Cmd + V on Mac). You get your inputs, the results and the table as shown here. Every cell keeps its formula, so you can change any input in the sheet and all results update automatically.

* Buy net cost = down payment + trade-in equity used + loan payments made during the period + loan payoff at the end − resale value + opportunity cost.

* Lease net cost = cash due at signing (including the first payment) + trade-in equity used + remaining monthly payments + disposition fee + over-mileage charges + opportunity cost.

* Opportunity cost = interest your upfront cash could have earned in savings over the period. Only cash paid up front counts — not monthly payments.

* Insurance and routine maintenance are left out because you pay them either way during a typical lease term (the car is under warranty in both cases). Leases often require higher coverage limits, so insurance can cost a little more when leasing. See the Long-Term View for maintenance after warranty.

* Not included: excess wear-and-tear charges when you return a leased car, and fees for ending a lease early.

* Lease sales tax is modeled as tax on each payment and on the cap cost reduction. Actual treatment varies by state; some states tax the full price up front.

Net Cost if You Stopped at Each Month

Buy = cash paid so far (plus any trade-in equity) − (car value − loan balance). Lease = cash paid so far (plus any trade-in equity). Excludes opportunity cost. Ending a lease early usually triggers termination fees not shown here.

Buy

Lease

🛣️ How Your Mileage Changes the Answer

Net Cost by Miles Driven per Year

Every other input stays the same. Leases charge a fee per extra mile; owners lose resale value instead.

Buy

Lease

Your mileage

📅 Long-Term Assumptions

Compares buying once and keeping the car vs leasing a new car every time a lease ends. Uses the car, loan and lease details above, plus these extra assumptions.

Years of Driving to Compare

New Car Price Increase %/year

Maintenance Under Warranty $/year

Oil changes, tires, brakes. Assumed annual cost while under warranty — applies to both options.

Maintenance & Repairs After Year 3 $/year

Owner only. Assumes a 3-year warranty — many end at 36,000 miles, so high-mileage drivers may pay for repairs sooner. Leases are treated as fully under warranty; on a 48-month lease, year 4 may also need some repairs.

📉 Car Depreciation buy & keep only

Total Cost — Buy & Keep

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Total Cost — Keep Leasing

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Difference

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Avg per Month — Buy

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Avg per Month — Lease

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Leases Signed

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Cumulative Net Cost Over Time

Buy = everything paid so far incl. maintenance − (car value − loan balance). Lease = everything paid so far incl. maintenance, counting only the used-up share of any cap cost reduction on a lease still running. Excludes opportunity cost.

Buy & keep

Keep leasing

What If the Car Loses Value Faster or Slower?

Depreciation	Car Value	Buy & Keep Net Cost	Result

* Slower / Faster = the depreciation in use, 5 percentage points lower / higher in each phase. Only depreciation changes between rows; every other input stays the same. Values are adjusted for your mileage vs 12,000 mi/yr.

Tap ƒ to see the formula.

Year-by-Year Breakdown

Year	Buy: Paid to Date	Car Value	Loan Balance	Buy: Net Cost	Lease: Net Cost	Leases	Cheaper

* Car value follows the depreciation path implied by your resale assumption, continued beyond the lease term (floor: 5% of price).

* Each new lease uses the same terms, with price, payment and upfront costs raised by the price-increase rate. Mileage fees are charged when each lease ends. For a lease still running at the end of a year, the cap cost reduction and projected mileage cost are counted in proportion to the months used (no disposition fee yet); in dealer-quote mode the due-at-signing amount minus the first payment is spread the same way. Disposition and over-mileage fees are kept at today's rates.

* Insurance is excluded (paid either way; leases may require higher coverage). Lease wear-and-tear charges are not included. Opportunity cost is not included in the long-term view.

A car is just one piece of the picture.

When you're ready, these tools can help with the next steps:

🏠 Rent vs BuySee how renting and buying compare over time. 💵 Take-Home PaySee what really lands in your account. 🔥 FIRE CalculatorPlan your path to financial independence. 🧾 Freelance TaxEstimate taxes on self-employed income. 🎓 Student LoanCompare repayment plans and extra payments.

🚗 Car Buy vs Lease Calculator

📖 What these numbers mean

A car is just one piece of the picture.