Estimate your lease buyout cost, compare it with market value, and see a simple financed payment.
Table of contents
How to use our Car Lease Buyout Calculator
- Enter the Residual value from lease ($), Purchase option fee ($), Sales tax rate (percent), and Current market value ($) from your lease paperwork, buyout quote, or car value estimate.
- Open Advanced options if you need to match a quote more closely, then choose What gets taxed and add fees, credits, avoided return charges, or loan details.
- Select Calculate and read Total buyout cost first. Then compare Equity compared with market value and Position versus turning it in.
- Sanity-check the result by comparing Taxable amount used and Estimated sales tax with your actual buyout quote. If they do not match, change What gets taxed or the fee inputs.
Definitions
Residual value from lease ($): The lease-end purchase price written in the lease or buyout quote.
Purchase option fee ($): A fee charged to use the lease purchase option, if your contract or quote includes one.
What gets taxed: The amount used to estimate sales tax. Some estimates tax only the residual value, while others include the purchase fee too.
Current market value ($): What the car could reasonably be worth now based on its mileage, condition, and selling method.
Total buyout cost: The estimated cash price to buy the leased car before loan interest.
Equity compared with market value: Current market value minus total buyout cost. Positive means the car is worth more than the buyout estimate.
Position versus turning it in: Equity plus return charges you avoid by buying the car, such as disposition, mileage, and wear charges.
Loan annual interest rate (percent): The contract annual interest rate used for the monthly payment. A fee-inclusive APR can differ; do not substitute it.
Common mistakes and quick fixes
Mistake: Entering the monthly lease payment in Residual value from lease ($) .
Fix: Use the lease-end purchase price from your contract or buyout quote.
Mistake: Typing 0.0625 in Sales tax rate (percent) for a 6.25% tax rate.
Fix: Enter 6.25 because the field asks for a percent, not a decimal.
Mistake: Leaving What gets taxed on the default when your quote taxes the purchase fee too.
Fix: Choose the tax setting that matches your quote: residual only, residual plus fee, or no tax in this estimate.
Mistake: Using an optimistic retail listing price as Current market value ($) .
Fix: Use a realistic value for your exact car, mileage, condition, and likely selling method.
Mistake: Forgetting Disposition fee you avoid ($) and Mileage and wear charges you avoid ($) when comparing buyout versus return.
Fix: Add return fees from your lease return notice or inspection estimate so Position versus turning it in is more useful.
Mistake: Putting the full buyout price in Down payment if financed ($) by accident.
Fix: Enter only the cash you plan to pay up front; the calculator uses it to find Amount financed .
Limitations & Key Assumptions / Boundary Conditions
- The calculator does not choose your state or local tax rule. Use What gets taxed to match your quote or local rule.
- Current market value ($) is only as good as the value you enter. Dealer offers, trade-in values, and private-party prices can differ.
- Total buyout cost does not include future repairs, insurance, fuel, parking, or later resale changes.
- Estimated loan payment assumes a fixed annual interest rate, equal monthly payments, and no extra lender fees unless you add them in another fee field.
- Position versus turning it in is a comparison estimate. It does not guarantee that you can sell the car for the entered market value.
- If Credits or deposit refund ($) is larger than the gross buyout cost, the calculator should block the entry because a negative buyout cost is not realistic here.
Methodology
Buyout cost
The calculator starts with the residual value, then adds the purchase option fee, estimated sales tax, title and registration fees, and dealer or doc fees. It subtracts credits or deposit refunds. Lease buyout examples commonly include residual value, a purchase option fee, sales tax, and title or registration costs [1].
taxable_amount = residual_value if What gets taxed is Residual value only
taxable_amount = residual_value + purchase_option_fee if What gets taxed is Residual value plus purchase fee
taxable_amount = 0 if What gets taxed is No sales tax in this estimate
sales_tax_amount = taxable_amount * sales_tax_rate / 100
total_buyout_cost = residual_value + purchase_option_fee + sales_tax_amount + title_registration_fees + dealer_doc_fees - credits_or_deposits
Market value and turn-in comparison
Equity is kept as a signed number. A negative value is allowed and means the estimated buyout costs more than the entered market value.
equity_vs_market = current_market_value - total_buyout_cost
net_position_vs_turn_in = equity_vs_market + avoided_disposition_fee + avoided_mileage_wear_charges
Financing estimate
The loan estimate uses the buyout cost after the down payment. The amount financed is floored at 0 because a loan principal cannot be negative.
amount_financed = max(total_buyout_cost - loan_down_payment, 0)
monthly_rate = loan_apr / 100 / 12
if monthly_rate = 0, monthly_payment = amount_financed / loan_term_months
if monthly_rate is not 0, monthly_payment = amount_financed * monthly_rate / (1 - (1 + monthly_rate)^(-loan_term_months))
total_loan_interest = monthly_payment * loan_term_months - amount_financed
Mini-example
If the residual value is $22,000, the purchase option fee is $350, the tax rate is 6.25%, the taxable amount is residual value only, title and registration fees are $150, and market value is $24,500, then sales tax is $1,375 and total buyout cost is $23,875. Equity is $24,500 - $23,875 = $625. With no avoided return charges, position versus turning it in is also $625. If the full $23,875 is financed for 60 months at 7.5% annual interest rate, the estimated payment is about $478.41 per month and total loan interest is about $4,829.36.