Lease vs buy car calculator

Updated 2026-09-26

Using Lease vs buy car calculator

Compare equal-duration lease and purchase scenarios after resale value and remaining purchase debt.

Purchase outlay includes down payment, payments and upfront charges actually paid during the comparison. Lease outlay includes signing costs and payments; add mileage, wear and return fees to its running costs. A lease is returned with no retained equity. Purchase net outlay = cash paid + costs − resale value + debt still owed. No discount rate, tax benefit or resale forecast is supplied.

Next: Car lease calculator

A worked example

Example inputs: total purchase cash outlay during comparison = 25000, total lease cash outlay during comparison = 16000, purchase-side ending resale value = 12000, purchase-side loan balance at end = 2000, purchase-side running costs = 3000, lease-side running and return costs = 3000. Lower net outlay over the comparison = 18000.

Before you use the result

Purchase outlay includes down payment, payments and upfront charges actually paid during the comparison. Lease outlay includes signing costs and payments; add mileage, wear and return fees to its running costs. A lease is returned with no retained equity. Purchase net outlay = cash paid + costs − resale value + debt still owed. No discount rate, tax benefit or resale forecast is supplied.