The 100 Most Affordable Cars to Lease

By Dan Green

What Does It Mean To “Lease A Car”?

Leasing a car is a form of car ownership.

A car lease is an agreement between you and a car dealership. You’re given a car for a specific length of time, after which you’re required to bring the car back to the dealership.

While you have a car on lease, it’s yours. You can drive it how you want. Then, when your lease ends, you drive it back to the dealership, as-is.

Leasing a car is similar to having a car on loan, and that’s how car dealerships look at the car lease arrangement. They’re giving you a car to drive with the expectation you’ll bring it back.

By the time you bring the car back, though, the car has lost some value. It’s not worth the same as when your lease started. The dealership can’t sell the car for the same amount of money.

This loss in value to the car is known as depreciation.

Depreciation on a car is what determines its lease payment. So, if a car is expected to lose $10,000 in value over the next three years of you driving it, your three years of lease payments will be roughly equal to the same.

This is why car payments are cheaper when you lease a car as compared to when you buy one. When you lease a car, you’re only paying its depreciation. When you buy a car, you’re paying its whole price.

Why Would You Lease A Car?

When you’re shopping for a car, you can buy it or lease it.

The decision to buy a car or lease a car is a personal one, but there are some obvious scenarios that can help you decide whether you should lease a car or buy one.

1. You want the latest technology and safety features in your car

For example, if technology and safety features are important to you, you’ll want to consider a lease. This is because, when you have a car on lease, you get to drive it for a few years and then you can get a new one.

Technology and safety upgrades happen quickly in today’s automobiles.

A few years ago, cars rarely included USB ports and collision detection systems; and, camera-assisted parking didn’t exist.

Today, even in entry-level cars, drivers get access to heads-up displays, automatic braking, and blind spot monitoring. In a few years, that feature list will be even longer.

2. You don’t like spending money on random car repairs

Another reason to lease a car is that routine maintenance costs are typically less for drivers who lease as compared to drivers who buy.

This is because leased cars are often bundled with bumper-to-bumper warranty coverage, and free routine maintenance. No matter what goes wrong with your car — from something small like an oil leak to something major like engine failure — the repair costs are covered by your dealership and your lease.

Typically, when you lease a car, the only money you put into a car is for fuel.

3. You like driving the most luxury car you can afford

A third reason to lease a car is because you like to drive “fancy” cars, but don’t like making fancy car payments. Leasing a car gets you the same car for a lot smaller payment as compared to buying.

Remember: when you lease a car, it’s the car’s depreciation you’re paying for — not its sticker price; and, a car will typically lose 50% of its value while it’s on lease.

This means that while you lease a car, your payments will add up to roughly half of the car’s original sticker price. This half-price for a luxury car will usually be less than the full price of a standard car, which is why leasing a car can be cheaper than buying one.

There are other times when leasing a car makes more sense than buying, too, including:

• When you drive your car primarily for business
• When your commute to work is less than 15 miles each way
• When you can be happy driving most cars, so long as they’re in your budget

When you’re going to lease a car, though, and you want to stay in budget, shop for cars that are cheapest to lease. There are some excellent deals in today’s auto marketplace.

The 100 Cheapest Cars To Lease

There are plenty of reasons to lease a car instead of buying one.

Maybe you like to drive new cars every few years; or, maybe you drive your car for business; or, like to drive an upscale auto. None of these are bad reasons.

Leasing can be smart, financially. And, because leasing a car is entirely about its monthly payment, you can compare the overall monthly cost of leasing a car to help you make the best possible choice.

The Growella “Cheapest Cars To Lease” Methodology

When you lease a car, your car lease payments are based on the car’s depreciation during the term of your lease. However, as the driver of a leased car, car payments aren’t your only out-of-pocket expense. You’re also required to carry auto insurance; and, (most) cars don’t run without gasoline, so gas is required, too.

Using publicly available data and an insurance pricing engine, we assumed the following: a 25-year old female driver in a city setting with no traffic offenses; a thirty-six month auto lease; depreciation equal to the value of a trade-in car in 2017 minus its MSRP of three years ago at 15,000 miles driven per year; gas mileage as provided by auto manufacturers; and, an average gas price as provided by FuelEconomy.gov.

We also assumed that the driver did not shop for new auto insurance during her lease; and, that she did not move, nor incur a traffic offense, nor change her driving habits. We ignored whether the issue of is car insurance cheaper if you lease or buy, because differences vary by state and driver.

The Rest Of The 100 Cheapest Cars To Lease

Rank	Car Make/Model	Total Monthly Cost	Average Monthly Depreciation	Average Monthly Auto Insurance	Average Monthly Gas Costs
11	Honda Civic	$354	$233	$38	$83
12	Toyota Yaris	$356	$233	$35	$89
13	Dodge Dart	$363	$225	$38	$100
14	Nissan Sentra	$363	$229	$39	$95
15	Subaru Forester	$364	$213	$34	$117
16	Nissan Frontier	$364	$186	$38	$139
17	Subaru Legacy	$366	$231	$36	$100
18	Hyundai Veloster	$372	$242	$35	$95
19	Jeep Patriot	$374	$226	$37	$111
20	Kia Sedona	$377	$201	$35	$140
21	Hyundai Elantra	$379	$246	$38	$95
22	Ford Fiesta	$383	$247	$36	$100
23	VW Jetta	$384	$263	$34	$87
24	Kia Forte	$386	$246	$40	$100
25	Hyundai Tucson	$391	$246	$34	$111
26	Kia Sportage	$395	$243	$35	$117
27	Chevrolet Cruze	$399	$274	$38	$88
28	Nissan Juke	$409	$249	$39	$121
29	Mazda CX-5	$410	$276	$37	$97
30	Toyota Prius	$415	$324	$36	$56
31	Honda CR-V	$417	$284	$33	$100
32	Mini Cooper Cooper	$417	$277	$33	$106
33	GMC Sierra	$421	$243	$38	$140
34	Ford Focus	$426	$293	$33	$100
35	Nissan Rogue	$428	$292	$36	$100
36	Jeep Compass	$428	$280	$37	$111
37	Honda Accord	$429	$286	$35	$108
38	Toyota Rav4	$430	$283	$36	$111
39	Hyundai Santa Fe	$432	$257	$37	$137
40	Mini Cooper Countryman	$433	$279	$34	$120
41	Mitsubishi Lancer	$433	$289	$41	$103
42	Hyundai Sonata	$434	$297	$40	$97
43	Honda CR-Z	$435	$316	$36	$83
44	Mitsubishi Outlander Sport	$439	$289	$38	$113
45	Kia Cadenza	$442	$279	$38	$125
46	RAM 1500	$445	$263	$40	$142
47	Ford Mustang	$450	$281	$35	$133
48	Dodge Grand Caravan	$451	$269	$36	$146
49	VW Beetle	$454	$317	$34	$103
50	Mazda Mazda6	$460	$321	$37	$102
51	Chevrolet Silverado	$465	$280	$39	$146
52	Dodge Journey	$465	$289	$39	$138
53	Mazda MX-5 Miata	$471	$316	$30	$125
54	Fiat 500	$472	$317	$29	$125
55	Kia Optima	$475	$334	$39	$102
56	Honda Pilot	$476	$311	$37	$128
57	Mini Cooper Clubman	$476	$316	$35	$125
58	Chevrolet Camaro	$479	$302	$35	$142
59	Buick Encore	$483	$342	$36	$104
60	VW Passat	$485	$346	$35	$104
61	Nissan Altima	$487	$359	$38	$90
62	Toyota Camry	$489	$347	$39	$103
63	Chevrolet Malibu	$490	$358	$37	$96
64	Jeep Grand Cherokee	$491	$312	$41	$138
65	Kia Sorento	$493	$334	$39	$120
66	Subaru BRZ	$497	$313	$37	$147
67	Buick Verano	$500	$343	$36	$121
68	Ford Fusion	$503	$355	$37	$112
69	Dodge Challenger	$504	$339	$40	$125
70	Chrysler 200	$507	$364	$34	$108
71	Mitsubishi Outlander	$510	$366	$38	$106
72	Ford Escape	$511	$358	$36	$117
73	Nissan Quest	$519	$359	$35	$125
74	Dodge Durango	$526	$351	$38	$138
75	Chevrolet Equinox	$531	$379	$36	$117
76	Kia Optima hybrid	$534	$426	$39	$69
77	GMC Terrain	$535	$385	$36	$114
78	Ford C-Max Hybrid	$539	$429	$37	$73
79	Hyundai Sonata Hybrid	$548	$442	$37	$70
80	VW Tiguan	$551	$349	$35	$167
81	Honda Odyssey	$556	$396	$32	$128
82	Dodge Charger	$567	$398	$44	$125
83	Ford Explorer	$586	$406	$38	$142
84	Nissan Titan	$587	$378	$42	$167
85	Mazda CX-9	$594	$440	$37	$117
86	Nissan Murano	$605	$449	$36	$120
87	Chevrolet Impala	$610	$453	$40	$117
88	Nissan Pathfinder	$611	$448	$38	$125
89	Ford Edge	$619	$434	$38	$147
90	GMC Acadia	$619	$457	$37	$125
91	Ford Taurus	$627	$459	$36	$132
92	Chrysler 300	$652	$489	$38	$125
93	Chrysler Town and Country	$654	$472	$35	$146
94	Audi A4	$654	$494	$36	$125
95	Chevrolet Traverse	$658	$459	$36	$163
96	Hyundai Azera	$679	$516	$37	$125
97	Buick Regal	$700	$516	$38	$146
98	Buick LaCrosse	$704	$549	$38	$117
99	Nissan Maxima	$715	$532	$40	$144
100	Nissan Leaf	$738	$655	$38	$46

Yes, You Can Share Our Research!

Growella conducted its “The Cheapest 100 Cars To Lease” research to help car shoppers make better decisions for their budgets. If you’ve found our research to be helpful, you are welcome to share this article online with proper attribution.

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