Term in months
Term in months for your auto lease
or your auto loan. |
Down payment
Amount paid as a down payment, which for leases is often called a
capital reduction. |
Other fees
Any fee, other than a capital reduction or down payment, required
to be paid at the close of the lease or loan. This may include license,
title transfer fees, etc. |
Purchase price
Total purchase price. Price should be after any manufacturer's
rebate. |
Interest rate
Annual interest rate for your loan or your lease. |
Sales tax rate
Percentage sales tax to be charged on this purchase. Sales tax is
included in each lease payment. Sales tax for buying is charged on
the total sale amount. |
Rate of depreciation
The rate of depreciation gauges how fast your new automobile will
lose its market value. A high depreciation rate is about 20% per year,
medium is 15% per year and low is 10% per year. |
Residual percent
For leases, this is remaining value after the lease term expires.
The higher this amount, the lower your lease payment will be. |
Market value of vehicle
Value of your auto after the lease term is over. |
|
Investment rate of return
Rate of return on investments. This is the return that you would
make if you were to invest your down payment or security deposit
instead of using it in your auto purchase or lease.
|
| The actual rate of return is largely dependant
on the type of investments you select. From January 1970 to December
2003, the average compounded rate of return for the S&P 500, including
reinvestment of dividends, was approximately 11.7% per year. During
this period, the highest 12-month return was 64%, and the lowest was
-39%. Savings accounts at a bank pay as little as 1% or less. It is
important to remember that future rates of return can't be predicted
with certainty and that investments that pay higher rates of return
are subject to higher risk and volatility. The actual rate of return
on investments can vary widely over time, especially for long-term
investments. This includes the potential loss of principal on your
investment. |
Lost interest on buy option
This includes any interest you would have earned at your investment
rate of return on the buy option's down payment and other fees. If
the monthly payment for leasing is less than the monthly payment for
buying, this also includes any lost interest due to the higher monthly
payments. If leasing is more expensive than buying, your interest
costs for buying are reduced by the amount of interest you would earn
on the difference. |
Lost interest on lease option
This includes any interest you would have earned at your investment
rate of return on the lease option's down payment, security deposit
and other fees. Please see the definition for "Lost interest on buy
option" for an explanation on how we account for any interest you
might earn by having a lower monthly lease payment. |