Use our Auto Lease Calculator to estimate your monthly payment, taxes, due at signing, and total lease cost before you visit the dealership. Understand how MSRP, residual value, money factor, and fees affect what you pay so you can negotiate confidently.
What the Auto Lease Calculator does
Leasing has its own math, and small changes can move your payment a lot. This tool breaks the payment into its two main parts: depreciation and finance charge (often called the rent charge). It also accounts for cap reductions like down payment, trade-in value, and rebates, as well as common fees such as the acquisition and documentation fees. Finally, it applies sales tax based on the taxing method in your area, either on each monthly payment or on the total of payments upfront.
How to use the Auto Lease Calculator
- Enter the vehicle's MSRP and your negotiated selling price. The selling price is the starting point for your capitalized cost.
- Provide the lease term in months and the residual percentage. Residual is the expected value at the end of the lease, set by the lender.
- Enter either the money factor or the APR. If you only know APR, the calculator converts it to a money factor.
- Add your state or local sales tax rate and choose how the tax is applied in your area.
- Input any cap reductions like down payment, trade-in value, and rebates. Include fees you plan to roll into the lease.
- Click Calculate to see your base payment, taxes, total monthly payment, and due-at-signing estimate.
How the math works
Your monthly lease payment has two components:
- Depreciation fee: the portion of the vehicle's value you use. It's the adjusted capitalized cost minus the residual value, divided by the number of months.
- Finance charge (rent charge): the cost to borrow the money for the vehicle during the lease. It's calculated by multiplying the sum of the adjusted cap cost and residual value by the money factor.
The Auto Lease Calculator sums these to produce the base monthly payment. It then applies taxes either monthly or upfront, depending on the method you select. The result is a clear estimate of your total monthly payment and what you might owe at signing.
Key inputs to gather before you calculate
- MSRP and negotiated selling price
- Lease term and residual percentage
- Money factor or APR
- Sales tax rate and tax application method
- Fees: acquisition, documentation, registration/title, and any others you plan to roll in
- Cap reductions: cash down payment, trade-in value, and applicable rebates
Tips to lower your lease payment
- Negotiate the selling price aggressively. Every dollar you reduce lowers the cap cost and your payment.
- Watch the money factor. A small improvement can meaningfully reduce the finance charge.
- Avoid rolling unnecessary add-ons into the lease. Extra fees increase the cap cost and the rent charge.
- Use rebates as cap reductions when allowed. They cut the amount you finance.
- Choose the right term for your needs. Longer terms lower monthly cost but may increase total paid.
Common fees explained
Acquisition fee is charged by the lender to start the lease. Documentation and registration/title fees come from the dealer and your state. You can often either pay these upfront or roll them into the lease. Rolling them in raises the adjusted cap cost and, in turn, both depreciation and finance portions of the payment.
Important notes and limitations
- Residual values are set by the lender and usually based on MSRP, not the negotiated price.
- Tax treatment varies widely by state and sometimes by county or city. Check your local rules.
- Security deposits, disposition fees, excess wear, and excess mileage charges are not included in the estimate.
- Actual offers depend on your credit tier and program incentives available at the time of signing.
Armed with this knowledge and the Auto Lease Calculator, you can compare deals quickly, spot high fees, and focus negotiations on the numbers that matter most.