About Lease vs Buy Car

The calculators, guides, and methodology are written and maintained by Lease vs Buy Car Editorial Team. The author page describes exactly what gets checked before anything is published.

Most lease-vs-buy tools you find online are built by parties with a stake in the answer, and they tend to compare the one number that flatters leasing: the monthly payment. A lease payment and a loan payment are not the same kind of number — one builds equity you get back at resale, the other does not. A payment comparison quietly ignores that, along with repeat acquisition and disposition fees, mileage charges, post-loan payment-free years, and what the cheaper path could earn if the difference were invested.

Our flagship calculator models the decision the way it actually plays out: a chain of leases against buying and holding, over the horizon you choose, with the monthly cash-flow difference invested so both paths deploy identical money. The result is a total-cost answer and a break-even point — not a payment beauty contest.

Four commitments back every number on this site:

• The math is public. Every formula, default, and simplification is documented on the methodology page, with a fully worked example you can check by hand.
• The engine is tested. All calculations run through a single calculation engine covered by automated unit tests, and the worked examples we publish are cross-checked against those tests. The calculators and the articles cannot drift apart, because they use the same code.
• Estimates are labeled as estimates. Default values are typical, clearly-labeled, editable starting points — not live market quotes. Each default's rationale is documented on the methodology page, and we always tell you to enter the real figures from your own quote.
• The process is written down. Our editorial policy covers how content is produced, how corrections are handled, and how updates are dated.

Lease vs Buy Car is free to use and supported by advertising. Ads are clearly distinguished from content, and they sit around the tools — never inside a calculator and never disguised as results or advice.

Found a number that looks wrong? Corrections get priority — see the contact page or email hello@leasevsbuycar.com directly. How corrections are handled is described in the editorial policy.