The Lease vs Buy Car Calculator is a free, accurate online tool designed to help you get fast, reliable answers to common questions in seconds. Just enter car purchase price, down payment (buy), loan interest rate, loan term (months), lease monthly payment, lease term (months), lease down payment, annual depreciation and instantly see buy monthly payment, total buy cost, car value after loan term, net buy cost (minus equity), total lease cost. Accuracy matters, and a good calculator saves you both time and second-guessing. This tool is built to give you a clean, trustworthy answer the first time. Under the hood, the tool applies the standard formula: Buy Net = Payments − Residual Value vs Lease Total. You can see exactly how the result is derived, which is especially useful for students, professionals, and anyone who wants to learn rather than just get an answer. CalcPlanet builds every calculator to be fast, mobile-friendly, and free, with no signup required. We test results against worked examples and reference implementations so you can rely on what you see. Enter your values above to get an instant, accurate lease vs buy car calculator result, then explore the FAQs and examples below for deeper context.
Compares total cost of leasing vs buying a car accounting for equity and depreciation.
Enter car price, financing terms, lease terms, and depreciation rate.
Buy Net = Payments − Residual Value vs Lease Total
{
"buy_monthly": (car_price - down_payment) * (loan_rate / 100 / 12) * Math.pow(1 + loan_rate / 100 / 12, loan_term) / (Math.pow(1 + loan_rate / 100 / 12, loan_term) - 1),
"buy_total": down_payment + ((car_price - down_payment) * (loan_rate / 100 / 12) * Math.pow(1 + loan_rate / 100 / 12, loan_term) / (Math.pow(1 + loan_rate / 100 / 12, loan_term) - 1)) * loan_term,
"buy_equity": car_price * Math.pow(1 - depreciation_pct / 100, loan_term / 12),
"buy_net": down_payment + ((car_price - down_payment) * (loan_rate / 100 / 12) * Math.pow(1 + loan_rate / 100 / 12, loan_term) / (Math.pow(1 + loan_rate / 100 / 12, loan_term) - 1)) * loan_term - (car_price * Math.pow(1 - depreciation_pct / 100, loan_term / 12)),
"lease_total": lease_down + lease_monthly * lease_term
}
Compares total outlay minus equity for buying vs total lease payments.
Monthly payments are lower, but buying is usually cheaper long-term since you own the car.
If you want a new car every 3 years, drive under 12,000 miles/year, and prefer lower maintenance.
Return the car, buy it at residual value, or lease a new one.
Excess mileage ($0.15-0.30/mile), wear charges, and disposition fee ($300-500).
Yes — negotiate the capitalized cost (sale price), money factor (interest), and residual value.
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