Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Buy cost minus lease cost
-$21,900
Total net lease cost
$116,700
Total net buy cost (after resale)
$94,800
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One click, a permanent link with your numbers baked in.
How to use this
- 1Enter comparison term (months).
- 2Enter monthly lease payment ($/mo).
- 3Enter lease-end / disposition fee ($).
- 4Enter down payment (buy) ($).
- 5Enter monthly loan payment ($/mo).
- 6Enter estimated resale value at term end ($).
- 7Read your buy cost minus lease cost on the right — it updates as you type.
- 8Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Leasing a truck trades ownership for predictability — lower or no down payment, often maintenance bundled in, but no equity built and mileage caps that can penalize high-mileage owner-operators. Buying builds equity and has no mileage restriction but carries the full risk of depreciation, resale timing, and major repairs. This calculator compares total cash outlay over your holding period for a lease versus a loan, including estimated resale value on the purchase side, so you can see which path costs less in real dollars over the term you actually plan to run the truck.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Comparison term: 48 months
- Monthly lease payment: 2400 $/mo
- Lease-end / disposition fee: 1500 $
- Down payment (buy): 15000 $
- Monthly loan payment: 2600 $/mo
- Estimated resale value at term end: 45000 $
Results
- Buy cost minus lease cost: -$21,900
- Total net lease cost: $116,700
- Total net buy cost (after resale): $94,800
What each field means
Inputs
- Comparison term (months)
- The comparison term used in the calculation, measured in months. Starts at 48 months so you have a working example on load.
- Monthly lease payment ($/mo)
- The monthly lease payment used in the calculation, measured in $/mo. Starts at 2400 $/mo so you have a working example on load.
- Lease-end / disposition fee ($)
- The lease-end / disposition fee used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 1500 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Down payment (buy) ($)
- The down payment (buy) used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 15000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Monthly loan payment ($/mo)
- The monthly loan payment used in the calculation, measured in $/mo. Starts at 2600 $/mo so you have a working example on load.
- Estimated resale value at term end ($)
- The estimated resale value at term end used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 45000 $ so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Buy cost minus lease cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total net lease cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total net buy cost (after resale)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What if the difference is negative?
A negative number means buying costs less over the term because the resale value offsets more than the extra loan payments cost versus leasing. A positive number means leasing wins in raw dollar terms over that period.
What's not captured here?
Maintenance is the big one — many leases bundle full maintenance while loans leave you exposed to major repair bills, especially after warranty expires around year 2-3. Also not captured: tax treatment differences (lease payments vs depreciation deductions) which can shift the real after-tax comparison.
Why do mileage caps matter for leasing?
Most leases cap annual mileage (often 100,000-120,000) with per-mile overage fees that can run 5-15 cents. High-mileage owner-operators running 130,000+ miles a year can rack up thousands in overage fees that erase the lease's apparent savings.
How accurate does my resale estimate need to be?
It's the single biggest swing factor in the buy scenario. Use NADA/J.D. Power commercial truck guides or recent comparable sales for your exact make, model, and mileage rather than a rough guess — a $10,000 miss changes the entire comparison.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
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Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Truck Lease vs Buy Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/truck-lease-vs-buy
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/truck-lease-vs-buy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Truck Lease vs Buy Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Truck Lease vs Buy Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/truck-lease-vs-buy) (2026).