Compare the same vehicle-use period using actual lease terms, purchase financing, operating costs, resale assumptions and outstanding loan balance.
Record planned mileage, full scheduled lease term, vehicle use and required flexibility. Choose a buy-and-sell horizon equal to that lease term. Keep early termination, lease buyout and keeping the purchased vehicle longer as separate decisions requiring their own figures.
Collect the lease cap cost, reduction, residual, money factor, taxes, fees and periodic payment. Record the purchase amount financed, contract interest rate and loan term. Verify upfront amounts and avoid counting a first lease payment twice.
In Lease return or buy and sell, enter full-period lease payments, nonrefundable upfront cash and applied net trade equity, operating costs and expected return charges. For buying, include upfront funds, financing, period operating costs, sale fees and gross sale proceeds. Inspect the loan balance that remains at sale.
Use dated value evidence and test a lower resale case. Review mileage, wear, disposition, insurance, early-termination and purchase-option terms. Keep coverage-matched insurance costs and realistic service allowances in both alternatives.
Compare total costs, cash requirements and practical constraints together. Keep the signed-off assumptions and explain the reason for the choice. Before an actual sale or payoff, obtain the lender’s current payoff amount, including applicable interest or charges.
Keep the comparison period, mileage and the alternatives actually being evaluated. · Keep the decision basis and remaining contract checks.
Use the disclosure mode to check the entered lease-payment components. · Compare scheduled lease return with buy-and-sell costs including the remaining modeled loan. · Save the selected and conservative comparison cases.
Reconcile the purchase financing components and fixed monthly payment.
Compare sourced values or test an explicitly entered depreciation rate.
Annualize actual quotes before entering comparable insurance costs.
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Federal Reserve leasing guidance distinguishes asset value from the amount needed to satisfy an outstanding loan. The nominal comparison includes remaining principal before subtracting gross sale proceeds.
Compare full credit terms, and distinguish contract interest from fee-inclusive APR.
Scheduled lease return, early termination and purchasing the leased vehicle are different outcomes with different contractual costs.
Ignoring the debt at sale can make buying appear artificially cheap.
A lease buyout or early return needs its actual contract figures rather than this scheduled-return model.