The LH Score does not take tax into consideration.
You are right about the distortion the downpayment has on the LH Score. LH Score does not weigh the downpayment at the moment. Adding weight to each component would require us to impose our value proposition to the formula. A more objective way to weigh the figures is to take the present value of the total monthly payments over the duration of the lease against the downpayment, but that would require us to adjust the ever-changing discount rate, which in itself is discretionary.
We welcome suggestions on how we can best factor in the downpayment in the LH Score without over-complicating the matter â after all, Leasehackrâs mission is to simplify auto leases for our readers. As you may have noticed, LHâs deals always work on the assumption of $0 down because the inherent risk and time value of money downpayment presents. Maybe as @MConte05 says, LH Score is really meant to be a fun yardstick for comparison purposes.
Thoughts?
One option I would like to see on the subject of $0 down, is an option for âfirst month payment onlyâ when calculating stuff. Since dealers are often quoting that.
You mean the drive off? Calculating what in particular?
Yep, drive offâs. Basically what the payment would be if the only driveoff is the first month payment (i.e. monthly payment with tax). Seems every dealer takes âzero downâ as âfirst month payment onlyâ
Would just have an as option like the zero-drive off.
To me the LH score should simply be a ratio of how much it costs to lease for the time period vs cost to own. downpayments shouldnât impact that significantly (lower the amount of interest one pays perhaps, but I canât imagine at current interests rates it having a significant effect)
Good suggestion. Looking at the total lease cost divided by the months leasing for, and comparing that to MSRP.
@thetoad @MConte05 This is actually what the calculator is designed for now. Simply dividing the MSRP by the total lease cost, then turning it into years. The LH Score gives you a sense that how good it is to lease vs. buying the vehicle outright. If it would take 20 years to pay off the MSRP of the car, why not pay less than 1% of the total cost and enjoy the same car right away⌠obviously the LH Score is over-simplifying it, but I suppose thatâs part of LH Scoreâs purpose.
While LH Score was designed for a narrow purpose for the sake of simplicity, I would love to hear more about how people use LH Score and what it can be good for so we can continue to refine the metric.
I guess Iâm confused why down payments / drive offs have a serious impact on it then.
Adding weights may be standardized (in my opinion without adding âourâ value proposition) if we use the percentage model using MSRP as a baseline. For example, what % is the dealer discount off the MSRP, what percentages is incentives/rebates off that MSRP. Tax we know the percent it adds up âŚ
Clearly, it is a complex program and I am relying on your expertise of program which I got none 
I got some conceptual ideas I suppose like everyone else here
Basically, in my opinion the leasehackr score should be same whether a user is paying 0 down or $2000 down unless paying that $2000 down is reducing the total payments over the course of lease in which case the score will reflect. So it looks like you are going the right way
