Auto Lease Calculator
Estimate your monthly lease payment from cap cost, residual value, and money factor.
Your Auto Lease Calculator Result
Generated from the inputs below — a record you can revisit, or share with anyone helping you plan.
Your detailsInput Parameters
Vehicle
The price you negotiate — usually below MSRP
Lease Terms
What the car is estimated to be worth at lease end — ask your dealer for the exact residual
Lease equivalent of an interest rate. Multiply by 2400 to estimate the APR (0.00125 ≈ 3.0% APR)
Fees
The portion of your payment covering the car's value used up over the lease
Lease financing charge — money factor 0.00125 ≈ 3.00% APR-equivalent
58% of MSRP
Over 36 months
Analysis
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The Auto Lease Calculator estimates your monthly lease payment the way dealers actually calculate it — using capitalized cost, residual value, and money factor, not a loan amortization formula. Leasing math is fundamentally different from financing: you're paying for the vehicle's depreciation over the lease term plus a financing charge on the average value tied up, not paying down a loan balance.
Enter the negotiated price (capitalized cost), your down payment, the residual value your dealer quotes, the money factor, and the lease term. The calculator breaks your payment into its two real components — the depreciation fee and the rent charge (finance fee) — plus sales tax, so you can see exactly what's driving the number instead of trusting a dealer's quote blind.
Financing a car instead? Use the Car Loan Calculator for standard loan amortization.
How Lease Payments Are Calculated
Residual Value = MSRP × Residual %
Depreciation Fee = (Adjusted Cap Cost − Residual Value) ÷ Term (Months)
Rent Charge = (Adjusted Cap Cost + Residual Value) × Money Factor
Base Monthly Payment = Depreciation Fee + Rent Charge
Monthly Payment = Base Payment × (1 + Sales Tax Rate)
The depreciation fee is the portion of the car's value you're using up each month — the difference between what you're leasing it for and what it'll be worth at lease end, spread across the term. The rent charge is the lease's equivalent of interest — it's based on the money factor applied to the sum of the adjusted cap cost and residual value, not a declining balance like a loan.
Money factor is usually quoted as a small decimal (like 0.00125) rather than a percentage. Multiply it by 2400 to get an approximate equivalent APR — 0.00125 × 2400 = 3.0%.
Frequently Asked Questions
You're only paying for the depreciation during the lease term (the gap between the negotiated price and the residual value), not the full purchase price — plus the financing charge is calculated differently.
It depends on your credit and current rates, but generally a money factor under 0.00150 (roughly 3.6% APR-equivalent) is considered favorable in 2026. Always ask the dealer for the exact money factor, not just the monthly payment.
Yes, it reduces the adjusted cap cost, which lowers both the depreciation fee and the rent charge. Many advisors recommend a smaller lease down payment than you'd put on a purchase, since that money is at risk if the car is totaled early in the lease.
It models the standard lease formula, but dealers can add acquisition fees, disposition fees, and other charges that vary by manufacturer and region — use this as a strong estimate to check a dealer's quote against, not a final number.