Auto Lease Calculator

It builds the adjusted capitalized cost from the negotiated price plus any fees rolled in, minus your down payment and rebates. It then splits the monthly payment into a depreciation fee (the vehicle's value lost over the term), a rent charge (the lease's finance cost, based on the money factor) and tax on that total.

The money factor is the decimal rate a leasing company uses to compute the rent charge — it's not stated as an APR on most contracts. You can estimate it from a quoted APR using moneyFactor ≈ APR / 2400, or ask your dealer/finance manager for the exact figure.

A money factor is applied to the SUM of the adjusted cap cost and residual value (because the leasing company still owns the residual), while a loan APR amortizes against a declining balance. The industry rule of thumb APR ≈ moneyFactor × 2400 approximates the two, but the Federal Reserve notes it isn't an exact conversion.

It's the negotiated price of the vehicle plus any fees you roll into the lease (like an acquisition fee), minus your down payment (cap cost reduction) and any manufacturer rebates or trade-in credit. This net figure is what your depreciation and rent charge are actually calculated on.

Depreciation fee = (adjusted cap cost − residual value) ÷ lease term in months. It's the straight-line monthly cost of the value the car is expected to lose while you have it.

Residual value is the leasing company's estimate of what the car will be worth at the end of the lease, often expressed as a percentage of MSRP. A higher residual value usually means a lower monthly payment, since you're only paying for less depreciation.

Yes — a down payment reduces the adjusted cap cost, which lowers both the depreciation fee and the rent charge (since the rent charge is based on cap cost + residual). Keep in mind a lease down payment is generally not refundable if the car is totaled early, so many advisors suggest keeping it modest.

This calculator applies tax to the monthly payment (depreciation + rent charge), which is the most common convention in the US. Some states instead tax the full capitalized cost up front or the sum of all payments — check your state's rule if you need an exact figure.

That happens with subvented or high-residual lease specials. Mathematically the depreciation term would go negative, but real-world leases floor the depreciation fee at zero — this calculator does the same rather than showing an unrealistic negative charge.

Leases typically have lower monthly payments than an equivalent loan because you're only financing the depreciation over the term, not the full vehicle price. But you don't build equity, and you may face mileage and wear-and-tear charges at lease end — compare this calculator's monthly payment against the loan payment from the car loan calculator to see the trade-off.

Not automatically. Acquisition fees can be rolled into the capitalized cost using the 'fees rolled into cap cost' field; disposition fees, the first month's payment due at signing, registration, and end-of-lease mileage or wear charges are not modeled and would be additional out-of-pocket costs.

A longer term spreads the same depreciation over more months, lowering the monthly depreciation fee — but the rent charge stays the same regardless of term since it's based on cap cost and residual, not time. Very long lease terms can also mean higher mileage needs and more wear before you return the car.

Most leases cap you at 10,000–15,000 miles a year and charge roughly 10–25 cents for every mile over that at turn-in, per the Federal Reserve's consumer-leasing guidance — so a driver who expects to exceed the default allowance should negotiate a higher-mileage lease up front rather than pay the per-mile penalty later. Excessive wear (dents, tears, cracked glass) is billed separately at lease-end and is also outside this calculator's monthly payment, which only models depreciation, rent charge and tax.