Lease or Buy - My Wealth Playbook

The car

Sticker price (MSRP)

Used to set the lease residual value

Negotiated price

What you actually pay / lease on

Sales tax

Years you will keep it

The horizon both options are compared over

If you buy

Down payment

Loan APR

Loan term (months)

Resale value at the end

What you sell the car for later

Registration & fees

If you lease

Lease down payment

Lease APR

Replaces the confusing “money factor”

Lease term (months)

Residual value

% of MSRP the car is worth at lease end

Acquisition fee

Disposition fee

Running costs (both, per year)

Insurance if buying

Insurance if leasing

Maintenance if buying

Maintenance if leasing

Fuel / charging

The verdict

Total cost to buy (net)

—

Total cost to lease

—

You save

—

picking the cheaper route

Break-even resale

—

resale above this → buy wins

How resale value changes it

Buying’s net cost depends on what you sell for. The flat line is leasing. Where they cross is your break-even resale value.

Side by side

directions_carBuying

Down payment—

Sales tax—

Loan payments—

Running costs—

Less: resale—

Net cost—

event_repeatLeasing

Down payment(s)—

Lease payments—

Fees—

Running costs—

Total cost—

Lease it or buy it?

The car

If you buy

If you lease

Running costs (both, per year)

The verdict

How resale value changes it

Side by side

directions_carBuying

event_repeatLeasing

What this means for you