I have cash for it and don’t want to pay implied interest. Don’t want to keep the car more than 3 years or pay for whole car. Are there ways to calculate the price? Does it also depend on credit rating?
Many banks offer one-pay leases that typically reduce the MF (interest) you would pay. But you still pay some interest.
You are better off buying a used vehicle for cash if saving interest is your goal.
Find a lease with zero MF (well technically.00001)
If you don’t pay interest on the lease, the GM may call you to resign and threaten to have you arrested. ![]()
Seriously, there are ways to reduce it, but you can’t eliminate it. They are going to charge you for the use of the funds/asset.
I am not concerned about absolutely not paying any interest. It is just I have plenty of cash, but my credit isn’t all that good. So it doesn’t make sense to pay thousands in interest. I will probably just put a lot down (due at signing), but I am considering a prepaid lease or buying the car for cash.
I’m not sure what you mean by “a lot,” but, in the unlikely event you total the car, you will lose your down payment.
I recall, and my memory may be fuzzy here, leasing a Prius about 10-15 years ago in LA…the total rent (or interest) for the three year lease was something crazy like $14.00. It may have been $140, but either way…free money essentially.
My interest on my December 2026 Tesla 3 lease is only about 1.75% which is nice…but doesn’t make me whole from the massive depreciation on my 2022 Tesla purchase!
Approval terms for leases can be stricter than for auto loans, so depending on the type and number of credit issues, lease approval could be a major obstacle (even for a single-payment lease – you’re still in possession of their asset, which is the entire car).
Note that some brands have looser credit requirements than others, with the MF often tracking the risk level.
If you choose not to / can’t lease, consider taking out a car loan for some portion of the purchase price anyway, even at a high interest rate.
Auto-enhanced FICO scores are commonly used to decision and price auto finance transactions, and they weigh your performance on installment loans (especially automotive accounts) more heavily than other score models for obvious reasons.
In the future having an auto finance trade line with a perfect payment history will help your approval odds and/or get you better loan/lease finance rates.
Roughly what kinda credit score are we talking?