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Car lease calculator

Enter the price, the residual value, the term and the rate — get the monthly payment, the total cost and how it compares with buying on a loan.

Your numbers

What the lessor pays for the car, from the offer.

Paid at signing; it lowers what is financed.

The car’s value at the end of the term as a share of the price, as stated in the offer. 45 % is only where the field opens; it is the lease’s biggest number.

Nominal annual rate. If the offer gives a money factor, multiply it by 2 400 for an approximate rate.

Administration, service or insurance charged on every payment.

Kilometres per year included in the lease.

Per kilometre over the allowance, paid at the end of the lease.

Result

Monthly payment

$569

Put a second set of numbers beside this one and see the difference.

Total cost of the lease
$20,501
Average cost per month
$569
Depreciation over the term
$16,500
Finance charge
$4,001
Excess mileage charge
$0
Effective rate, fees included
6.17%
Monthly payment on a loan for the same car
$913
Net cost of buying on that loan
$19,356

The lease costs $569 a month for 36 months, $20,501 in all ($569 a month on average). The car loses $16,500 in value; the rest of the cost, $4,001, is the price of the money. Buying on a loan would cost $913 a month and $19,356 net of what the car is then worth.

The payment is an annuity on the financed amount less the present value of the residual, at a nominal annual rate charged monthly, payments at the end of each month. The residual is the lessor’s assumption and you do not own the car at the end. The effective rate is the lease treated as a loan with the residual as a final payment, fees included; it is not a regulated APR. The loan comparison assumes the same rate, no fees, and that the car is worth the residual at the end. Insurance, tax, VAT and wear-and-tear charges are not included; no national leasing rules are applied.

Payments per year

Show year-by-year table
YearPrincipalInterestLeft to pay
1$5,174$1,659$24,826
2$5,493$1,340$19,332
3$5,832$1,001$13,500
Download the year-by-year table

The CSV uses commas between fields and a decimal point. In the Excel file the numbers are plain numbers, which Excel shows in your own format.

What this answers

A lease is a loan where the last part of the price is never paid in instalments: the residual value, what the lessor expects the car to be worth at the end. The calculator finances the price less the down payment, leaves the residual unpaid, and gives the monthly payment, the total cost over the term and the effective rate once fees are counted. Beside it sits the same car bought on an ordinary loan.

Formula

Payment = annuity of (financed − residual / (1 + i)n) over n months

Depreciation = price − residual

Finance charge = down payment + payments − depreciation

Worked example

A 30,000 car, 45% residual (13,500), 36 months at 6%, nothing down: the residual’s present value is 11,281, so 18,719 is repaid over 36 months, 569.46 a month and 20,501 in all. The car loses 16,500 in value; the other 4,001 is the price of the money. On an ordinary loan the same car costs 912.66 a month and, net of a car worth 13,500, 19,356.

The numbers you fill in yourself

The residual, the rate and the fees come from the offer; the page opens on round placeholders. The residual is the lessor’s assumption and the largest figure in the calculation. The effective rate treats the lease as a loan with the residual as the last payment and counts the fees; it is not a regulated APR.

What is not included

Insurance, tax, VAT and wear-and-tear charges. No national leasing rules are applied.

Last reviewed October 20, 2026 ·How pages are reviewed

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