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How to Calculate Monthly Lease Payments

173 messages,  Last post on Apr 11, 2013 at 2:36 PM

You are in the Prices Paid - Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum.

What is this discussion about? Car Leasing

Dissecting the Deal - How To Spot a Good Lease
 
10 Steps to Leasing a New Car
 
The "Residual Value" of Leasing
 
Calculate Your Own Lease Payment

Messages Page 11 of 18

#97 of 173 Re: Lease question [kirstie_h] by car_dude24

Mar 21, 2012 (9:39 am)

Replying to: Kirstie@Edmunds (Mar 21, 2012 8:47 am)
That makes sense. Thanks. Definitely something I will keep in mind. I did think about the potential interest that could be earned but thought that with the rates so low such savings would be negligible. I thought in the deal above the low monthly was sweet enough to offset the high down.
 
The totaled factor is something I did not consider. That is a huge amount to lose in the worst case scenario.
 
One last question on this - the dealers who offer 0 down - how do they charge for the bank fee, acquisition fee, taxes etc. Is it all added to the monthly payments?

#98 of 173 Re: Lease question [car_dude24] by Kirstie@Edmunds HOST

Mar 21, 2012 (9:46 am)

Replying to: car_dude24 (Mar 21, 2012 9:39 am)
I'll let someone else answer, as I'm not a leasing expert at all. I'm sure we have members around here who... know things.

#99 of 173 Re: Lease question [car_dude24] by jwilliams2

Mar 21, 2012 (9:56 am)

Replying to: car_dude24 (Mar 21, 2012 9:39 am)
One last question on this - the dealers who offer 0 down - how do they charge for the bank fee, acquisition fee, taxes etc. Is it all added to the monthly payments?
 
You are correct. It is added to the cap cost and included in the payments.

#100 of 173 How to find lease money factors and residuals by johngettler

May 19, 2012 (3:33 pm)

Hello all,
 
1. Unfortunately, there isn't a law requiring auto makers to publicly disclose their lease money factor rates (interest rate) or their residual rates 9calue of car after duration and miles are put on.) This makes it *very* difficult to compare lease incentives across different comparable makes, models and trims. I wish there were a law enacted that would force this information to be as clear as auto loan interest rates are today.
 
2. Somehow, Car_man who is a "host" on these excellent Edmunds Forums, seems to thankfully have access to nearly unlimited lease money factor and residual info from most makers, and for years has been reporting very accurate information in reply to each individual request. But he is only one man, and it can take some days for him to get back to each person. I have always been super curious, Car_man, where *do* you get this information, and how come we all can't just get to the data directly? I know of course, it's not up to you, but can you give us some insight on how you gather this info? And why edmunds.com can't or won't just publish this extremely valuable data in an open manner? Of course, thank you for all the information that you *do* pour out every day Car_man.
 
3. The best always accessible website that I have found that has a good amount of detailed lease info for many cars, is this link below (sorry Edmunds, it's from cars.com). It is *not* always accurate, and should be taken with a grain of salt, but I have found it to be helpful, but not nearly as accurate as Car_man. Note that this site lists money factors as a percentages, which is actually the money factor number times 2400 (for example MF 0.0006 x 2400 = 1.44%) to get a fairly comparable number to standard auto loan interest rates. Just enter you zip, and then click into each model and trim to see detail lease info.
 
http://www.cars.com/go/advice/incentives/index.jsp
 
4. Each dealer *should* be able to provide you MF and Residual for a specific car, with a specific lease length in months, and miles per year. But you have to "get involved" with a sales guy to begin to extract this kind of info. Ugh.
 
5. There is a company called ALG that publishes a "residual guide" each quarter of what they recommend as the residual for each model and trim, after different lease lengths of time, and different mileage usage. They *will sell* you a single copy of their "Residual Percentage Guide 2012 Models National" book for about $50 by calling the number on this link, 1-805-898-8400. The manufacturers *do not* always match these residuals all the time, but it *is* a fair way to generally see what models and trims would give you a relatively cheaper monthly payment, due to holding their value better.
 
https://www.alg.com/products/guidebooks.html
 
Hope this helps everyone.
John Gettler

#101 of 173 Lease Mercedes C250 Coupe Assessment? by jenbtravels

Jun 26, 2012 (2:56 pm)

Hi - I'm a first time car buyer and I'm planning to lease the Mercedes C250 Coupe. I don't believe this is a great deal, but I'd love to hear from someone about this that is far more experienced than myself:
 
MSRP: $44,250 (includes multi-media, premium package, and 18" alloy wheels, keyless go)
Residual: $30545
Annual Miles: 10,000
Months: 36
Payment: $647
Due at Signing: $1250
Sales Tax: 1.50% = 663.75

#102 of 173 Re: Lease Mercedes C250 Coupe Assessment? [jenbtravels] by Kirstie@Edmunds HOST

Jun 26, 2012 (3:07 pm)

Replying to: jenbtravels (Jun 26, 2012 2:56 pm)
This is more of a general topic for asking about how to calculate leases - you might find more specific help in our Mercedes C-Class Lease Questions discussion. We'll leave your post here, but if you click on my link and post in that discussion, you might get more feedback. You can also see what other recent buyers have reported.

#103 of 173 Reconciling advertised lease payment with my own calculation by ksrp

Jul 06, 2012 (5:00 pm)

I saw the following lease ad on a manufacturer's website --
 
"$199/Month, 36-Month Lease, $1,999 due at Lease Signing. Includes 1st Month's Payment and Acquisition Fee. Excludes taxes, title and fees."
 
Additional details in the fine print --
 
MSRP $19,550 plus destination charge of $795. Payment based on capitalized cost of $18,440. Total payments of $7,160. Purchase option at lease end of $12,004 plus tax or price negotiated at signing.
  
-----------
 
Firstly, I want to understand how the capitalized cost was arrived at. Shouldn't the capitalized cost be 19550+795-1999 = 18346?. They are claiming it is 18440.
 
Also, I want to find the MF they are using. Here's my calculation from the $199 monthly payment. The depreciation payment is (18440 - 12004)/36 = 179. That leaves $20 for the interest, so (18440+12004)*MF = 20. That makes MF = 0.000657, so interest rate = 0.000657*2400 = 1.57%
 
Is this calculation correct?
 
Since total payments required is 7160 and each payment is 199, they are expecting 36 payments. Then why do they claim $1999 includes the first month's payment?
 
Lastly, what should I expect to pay for 'taxes, title and fees" in California?
 
Appreciate any feedback.

#104 of 173 2012 lacrosse touring by dwsindy

Jul 06, 2012 (6:37 pm)

MSRP. $41735
Sell. $40564.25
Cap cost reduction $5250.00
Money Factor. $.000583. (1.4%)
Residual. $22954.25
Payment. $446.78
Out of pocket
First month & ?? $814.28
 
The numbers don't seem to work for me. I come up with a payment of $404 which includes the 7% sales tax. What am I missing? Doesn't the cap cost reduction come off of the sale price so the net cap is $35314.25
 
Thanks

#105 of 173 Re: 2012 lacrosse touring [dwsindy] by jwilliams2

Jul 06, 2012 (7:25 pm)

Replying to: dwsindy (Jul 06, 2012 6:37 pm)
Yes, the cap cost reduction does come off the actual selling price to arrive at the net cap cost. I would ask what else is going into the payment number. Looks like there is somewhere around $1500 or so that needs explaining. Probably the acquisition fee plus??

#106 of 173 Re: 2012 lacrosse touring [dwsindy] by kyfdx@Edmunds HOST

Jul 07, 2012 (6:37 am)

Replying to: dwsindy (Jul 06, 2012 6:37 pm)
What your example doesn't show is the actual capitalized cost... That could include other amounts not shown. The acquisition fee comes to mind, at first glance...

Messages Page 11 of 18

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