Boneyard Tools

Car Lease Payment Calculator

Enter the negotiated cap cost, residual value, lease term and money factor to estimate your monthly payment. The result breaks out the depreciation fee, finance fee and tax.

How to calculate a lease payment

  1. Enter the net capitalized cost and the residual value.
  2. Enter the term in months and the money factor from the dealer.
  3. Add your sales tax rate to see the total monthly payment.

Examples

$30,000 cap, $18,000 residual, 36 months

cap $30,000, residual $18,000, money factor 0.0025
base payment about $453.33

With 8 percent tax

same lease, 8% tax
about $489.60 per month

Frequently asked questions

What is a money factor?

The money factor is the lease equivalent of an interest rate. Multiply it by 2400 to approximate the APR, so a money factor of 0.0025 is roughly a 6 percent rate.

How is a lease payment calculated?

Add a depreciation fee, the cap cost minus residual divided by the term, to a finance fee, the cap cost plus residual times the money factor. Tax is applied to that base payment.

What is the residual value?

The residual is the vehicle's predicted value at lease end, set by the leasing company. A higher residual means less depreciation to pay for and a lower monthly payment.

What is the net capitalized cost?

It is the agreed price of the vehicle for the lease, after any cap cost reductions like a down payment or trade-in, plus any fees rolled into the lease.

Why is the residual added in the finance fee?

You finance the average of the start and end value over the term. Adding cap cost and residual approximates twice that average, which is why the money factor is not halved.

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