Which is better: to lease or to buy?

A car buyer has two financing alternatives: to lease or to purchase. It is important to evaluate all the options and analyze the consequences of lease versus purchase decision. The understanding of a comparative worksheet that analyzes the automobile lease versus purchase decision will help in making an informed choice.

How should a lease-versus-purchase analysis be conducted? How can this worksheet be applied to help you or someone else make their financing decision? Consider the following scenario:

Should Shen lease or purchase?

Shen is considering the purchase of a Mini Cooper and has negotiated a final price of $23,450. Hes trying to decide whether to lease or purchase the vehicle.

	If he leases, hell have to pay a $500 security deposit, a capital cost reduction (down payment) equal to 10% of the vehicles cost, and monthly payments of $318 over the four-year term of the closed-end lease. The Mini Cooper will have a residual value of $9,380.
	On the other hand, if he buys the Mini Cooper, hell have to make a 10% down payment, pay sales tax equal to 5% of the vehicles price, and make monthly payments of $477 on a four-year loan that charges 4% interest.
	Be aware that funds used as down payments and security deposits incur an opportunity cost of 4%, as they could have earned interest for Shen over the period of the lease or loan.

Use the automobile lease-versus-purchase analysis worksheet that follows to determine the total cost of both the lease and the purchase strategy for Shen. To complete the worksheet, enter the appropriate values in their corresponding blanks. (Note: Round each value to the nearest whole dollar.)

LEASE	Item Description	Amount
		($)
	Initial Payment
1a.	Capital Cost Reduction	$
1b.	Security Deposit
1c.	Total Initial Payment
2.	Number of Months in Lease
3.	Monthly Lease Payment
4.	Total Payments over Lease Term
5.	Opportunity Cost of Initial Payment
6.	Estimated End-of-Term Charges	0.00
7.	Total Cost of Leasing	$

PURCHASE	Item Description	Amount
		($)
8.	Purchase Price
9.	Down Payment
10.	Sales Tax on Purchase
11.	Monthly Loan Payment
12.	Total Payments over Term of Loan
13.	Opportunity Cost of Down Payment
14.	Estimated Vehicle Value at End of Loan
15.	Total Cost of Purchase	$

Based on this analysis, Shen should:

Use the loan to purchase the Mini Cooper, because its total cost is less than the total cost of a lease transaction.

Use the lease to purchase the Mini Cooper, because its total cost is greater than the total cost of a purchase transaction.

Use the lease to purchase the Mini Cooper, because its total cost is less than the total cost of a loan transaction.