Compares your total net cost over the same time period — including the equity you'd build by buying.
Enter the lease terms on the left — monthly payment and what is due at signing — and the purchase terms on the right: price, down payment, loan rate, term, and how long you will keep the car. The page charges both options over the same number of years and subtracts the equity you would still own if you bought.
Leave the resale field blank to use a standard depreciation curve, or put in a real estimate from a used-value guide. The result changes more from that field than from anything else on the page.
A $35,000 car, kept three years. Lease at $450 a month with $2,000 at signing. Buy with $3,500 down at 6.5% over 60 months:
| Item | Lease | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Up front | $2,000 | $3,500 |
| Payments over 36 months | $16,200 | $22,188 |
| Loan balance at year 3 | — | $13,836 |
| Car value at year 3 | — | $20,706 |
| Equity you keep | $0 | $6,870 |
| Net cost | $18,200 | $18,818 |
Nearly a wash: $618 apart over three years, or about $17 a month. The lease is marginally cheaper in cash, and it carries no resale risk — if the market drops, the lessor absorbs it. Buying leaves you with a car worth $20,706 and a loan of $13,836, and turning that equity into money means selling.
The comparison is only fair when both sides cover the same period. A three-year lease against a five-year loan compares a cost with a cost plus an asset, which is why the page subtracts the equity from the purchase side. Change the years and the answer often flips: over five years the lease is a second lease, while the buyer has a paid-off car.
Mileage limits are the hidden cost of leasing. A 12,000-mile-a-year allowance sounds generous until a long commute uses it up, and the excess charge per mile at the end can wipe out the entire advantage. Wear charges work the same way. If your usage is unpredictable, a lease transfers that risk to you rather than away from you.
Buying ties up capital and exposes you to depreciation, which is largest in the first three years — exactly the period a lease covers. That is the trade in one sentence: a lease pays for the worst years of depreciation without asking you to own them. Whether that is worth $17 a month depends on how much you value the option to walk away.
Because you are only paying for the depreciation during the term, not the whole car. In a period when resale values are strong, that can work out close to the cost of owning.
Everything you pay before driving away: the cap cost reduction, the first payment, fees and tax. The calculator takes the total.
Usually no. If the car is written off, that money is gone, and it only lowers the payment rather than the total cost. Keep it in your account.
Usually at a cost. Early termination charges vary by contract and can be steep, so treat the term as fixed.
It is often possible at a set residual price. Compare that price to the market value then; if the car is worth more, buying out is a good deal, and if less, it is not.
The comparison is this page’s cash-flow sketch. The contract terms are the dealer’s.
Last updated: November 2, 2026. Reviewed by David Liu.