How we score
The headline monthly is the least useful number on a car lease. This page shows exactly how the all-in figure is built, so you can check the arithmetic yourself.
The four parts of the all-in
| Effective monthly | The lease payment after tax, with due-at-signing spread across the term, minus any cash the seller pays you, plus any cash you bring. The first payment is not spread twice. |
|---|---|
| Mileage | Your target miles against the miles in the contract. A shortfall is priced as a tier you could buy, or as overage at the rate the contract itself states. When the contract miles are not stated, the whole target is priced at the overage rate and the row says so. A 7,500 mile deal and a 12,000 mile deal are never compared until this is priced. |
| Insurance | An estimate for the model, shown as a band. It is not a quote. Only your own insurer can price your file. |
| Fuel or electricity | An estimate from the model's economy and a dated energy price. The price is the U.S. average from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) until you pick your state. Then it is your state's EIA average where EIA publishes one, or your EIA region's average, labelled "regional average". Every fuel line names its price and the week or month it was read; Data status lists them all. Shown separately so you can replace it with your own. |
The ranking rule
Rows are sorted by all-in monthly. When a listing claims cash from the seller and we cannot stand behind that claim, the row is ranked without the claimed cash and marked UNVERIFIED. When two reads of the same payment disagree, the row is ranked on the higher payment. It ranks on the worse number, never the friendly one.
Insurance and fuel can reorder rows inside their band. Both are estimates, and both are labelled.
What the badges mean
| seller-stated | The payment, term and miles are the seller's or the board's own words. We did not see the contract. |
|---|---|
| one source | One public source states these terms and no second source confirms them. |
| UNVERIFIED | Two reads of the same listing disagree, or a field fails a check. It is shown, marked, and ranked on the worse number. |
| DATA DEFECT | The listing carries a detail the manufacturer never sold, such as a trim that does not exist for that model year. Every field on it is unverified. |
A worked example, from today's table
| 2027 Toyota Corolla LE CVT: headline monthly | $189 plus tax, 36 months |
|---|---|
| 1. Tax on the payment | rate 0.0875: $189 becomes $205.54 a month |
| 2. Fees inside due at signing | $1,588, spread over 36 months. The first payment is not spread twice. |
| 3. Transfer fee, as stated | $0, spread over the term |
| 4. Seller cash to you | $0, spread over the term and subtracted |
| 5. Cash you bring (not stated, counted as $0) | $0, spread over the term and added |
| = Effective monthly, after tax | $250 |
| 6. Miles you actually drive | 10,000 miles in the contract against your 12,000. The tier to cover the difference costs $19 a month. |
| 7. Insurance, estimate | $200 a month |
| 8. Fuel or electricity, estimate | $122 a month, at the U.S. average price (EIA) until you pick a state |
| = All-in a month | $250 + $19 + $200 + $122 = $591 |
Every line above is a field the engine stores on the deal, so the detail page shows the same numbers. Insurance and fuel are estimates. Your own insurer and your own tariff replace them.
What the all-in does not include
Registration and title fees where the state charges them separately, wear-and-tear charges at turn-in, excess mileage beyond your target, insurance excess and deductibles, and tax differences between states. Read the contract. Confirm every number with the seller or the lessor before you commit.
Scoring model built 30 October 2026, 06:13 UTC. Every constant behind these numbers carries a source and a read date on the data status page.
Offers considered
622 lease offers read, 547 ranked live, 75 not ranked. Counts come from counts made in code at each drop (engine funnel).
| Source | Read | Not ranked | Ranked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leasehackr pre-negotiated board | 369 | 29 | 340 |
| LeaseTrader | 171 | 44 | 127 |
| Craigslist | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Leasehackr private transfers | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Mercedes-Benz USA offers page | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Read by hand | 70 | 0 | 70 |
Not ranked, by reason:
- not buyable now: sold out, transfer started, pending review, closed, unconfirmed seller, or the offer ended: 55
- a number out of bounds or missing (payment, term, miles a year over the limit, a bad hand-read line): 1
- a one-pay lease, a different cash shape that the monthly ranking does not price yet: 3
- the listing says it is not a lease transfer: 16