Lease vs Buy a Car
Should you lease a car or buy one outright (or on finance)? Compare the two side by side over how long you'll keep it — accounting for finance interest, servicing and the resale value you keep when you own. It only models the costs that actually differ, so the winner reflects the real trade-off. Everything stays in your browser.
Your situation
Watch a lease's mileage cap
🔑 Buy the car
Rego, plates, delivery
WOF, service, tyres
Value lost each year
📄 Lease the car
Establishment / initial payment
Over-mileage, wear-and-tear
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The Two Paths
Net cost over the period
≈ $805/month
- Cash needed upfront
- $1,500
- Total cash paid
- $48,300
- Resale value kept
- $0
Net cost over the period
≈ $687/month
- Cash needed upfront
- $9,800
- Total cash paid
- $61,164
- Finance interest
- $9,364
- Resale value kept
- $19,967
Net Cost Over Time
Net cost is the cash you've paid so far, less what the car would fetch if you sold it that year. Lower is better. Buying starts higher (deposit and on-road costs) but the line you keep is offset by a resale value; leasing rises steadily with nothing owned at the end.
Key Findings
Cheaper choice
Buy
Based on net cost over your holding period
Net cost gap
$7,103
Difference between the two paths over the period
Extra cash to buy
$8,300
Upfront cash for buying vs starting a lease
Resale value kept (buy)
$19,967
What the car is worth at the end if you buy it
Our Recommendation
Buying works out cheaper by about $7,103 over 5 years. Even after finance interest and servicing, the resale value you keep ($19,967) more than offsets a lease's ongoing payments with nothing to show at the end.
Informational only, not financial advice. Figures are pre-tax estimates and exclude fuel, insurance and registration renewals, which cost roughly the same either way. Resale value and depreciation vary widely by make and condition — use your own figures. Business tax treatment of leases isn't modelled.