Vehicle
Lease vs. Buy
Compare the net cost of leasing against buying over the same years, mileage overage included.
The lease
Buying instead
Lease over 36 months
Buy over 36 months
Of the buy side’s cost, $4,808 is interest and the rest is the value the vehicle loses. Sales tax, insurance and lease-end fees aren’t included on either side.
What this means
Over 36 months, leasing costs about $19,614 and buying costs about $18,808 once you count what the vehicle is still worth. Buying comes out $806 ahead, and the gap usually widens the longer you keep a vehicle past the last loan payment.
Watch the miles. At 15,000 a year against a 12,000-mile allowance, you’d owe about $2,250 at lease end. Buying more miles up front is usually cheaper than paying the overage fee later, so ask before you sign.
These are estimates to help you think, not personalized legal, tax, or investment advice, and not a promise of any result.
This calculator compares leasing a car or truck with buying the same one, over the same stretch of time: the length of the lease. It adds up what each way costs you, counts what the vehicle is still worth if you buy, and flags any mileage overage the lease would charge you for.
Why it matters: a lease payment is usually lower than a loan payment on the same vehicle, which makes leasing look cheaper. But at the end of a lease you hand the keys back with nothing, and at the end of the same years on a loan you own something with real value. The fair comparison counts that value, and the miles you actually drive.
How to use it
Enter the lease quote
The monthly payment, everything due at signing, the term, the mileage allowance, and the per-mile overage fee. All of these are on the lease worksheet.
Be honest about your miles
Check your odometer against last year's reading or your oil-change records. Mileage overage is the most common surprise at lease end.
Enter the buy side
Price, down payment, APR and loan term, plus what the vehicle would be worth at the end of the lease term. A used-car pricing site, or the lease's own residual value, is a fair starting point.
Behind the numbers
Net cost, not payments
Leasing's net cost is everything you pay: signing, monthly payments, and overage. Buying's net cost is everything you pay plus what you still owe, minus what the vehicle is worth at the end. It comes down to the value it lost plus the interest you paid.
Mileage overage
A lease allows a set number of miles a year. Every mile over that is charged at the end, often 15 to 30 cents a mile. Driving a few thousand extra miles a year adds up fast over a three-year lease.
What this leaves out
Sales tax (charged on a purchase price, and on lease payments in most states), insurance, lease-end fees, and what your cash could have earned elsewhere. They're real, but they vary too much to estimate from these inputs. Ask for them on both quotes.
The math behind it
Lease net cost is due at signing plus every monthly payment plus mileage overage (miles over the allowance times the per-mile fee). Buy net cost over the same months is your down payment plus the loan payments you've made plus the loan still owed, minus what the vehicle is worth. That simplifies to price plus interest paid minus resale value. The cheaper side is the smaller number.
Worked example
A 36-month lease at $399 a month with $3,000 due at signing, 12,000 miles allowed, 15,000 driven, and a 25-cent overage fee: $14,364 in payments, $3,000 up front and $2,250 in overage, $19,614 in all. Buying the same $35,000 vehicle with $4,000 down at 7% over 60 months pays about $4,808 in interest over those 36 months. If it's worth $21,000 at that point, the net cost is $35,000 plus $4,808 minus $21,000, or $18,808. Buying comes out about $806 ahead, and the overage is most of the gap.
Count the miles first
Multiply the miles you'd go over each year by the years of the lease and the per-mile fee. If that number is large, it often decides the question before anything else does.
Common questions
Is it cheaper to lease or buy a car?
Over the same few years, it depends on how much value the vehicle keeps, the interest rate, and how many miles you drive. Over the long run, buying and keeping a vehicle past the last payment is usually cheaper, because there's no payment at all for those years. This calculator shows the answer for your numbers over the lease term.
What happens if I drive more than the lease allows?
You pay the overage fee on every mile over the allowance when you turn the vehicle in. If you know you'll drive more, buying extra miles at signing is usually cheaper per mile than paying the overage later.
Who should lease?
People who drive fewer miles than the allowance, want a new vehicle every few years, and would rather have a predictable payment than own something. If you drive a lot for work or keep vehicles a long time, buying usually wins.
Go deeper
The calculator gives you a number. The Transportation Brick teaches you what to do with it, in plain English. And if you’re not sure where to start, the free BrickScore Assessment checks your whole foundation in about 5 minutes.
first the number, then the move