Lease-purchase deal analyzer
By Fernandez · Updated October 2026
Check a lease-purchase offer before you sign it, using the numbers in the contract.
Real weekly take-home
$2,950
Total paid incl. balloon vs value at the end
$132,000 vs $51,920
Walk-away cost at week 52
$49,400
- Ask about this: A $15,000 balloon is due at the end. Ask whether you can finance it.
- Ask about this: You would pay $132,000 for a truck priced at $90,000.
- Ask about this: Some escrow may not come back if you leave. Get the refund terms in writing (49 CFR 376.12).
Value at the end uses an EXAMPLE depreciation curve. Walk-away cost counts payments, kept escrow and maintenance fund paid while you own nothing. Not financial or legal advice.
Under your own authority, you keep the gross and pick your dispatcher. We dispatch carriers with their own MC.
Our dispatchers find and negotiate the loads; you approve each one and sign the rate con. 5% of gross for one truck with an MC 6 months or older, no setup fee.
Start dispatchHow the analyzer works
- Weekly take-home = weekly gross x your share - payment - escrow - maintenance fund - other deductions.
- Total paid = weekly payment x term + balloon, compared with the truck's EXAMPLE value at the end of the term.
- Walk-away cost = (payment + escrow not returned + maintenance fund) x weeks before you leave.
The analyzer also raises flags to ask about: a balloon, a total far above the truck's price, thin take-home and escrow you might not get back.
Worked example
| Item | EXAMPLE |
|---|---|
| Weekly gross on the truck | $6,000 |
| Your share | 70% |
| Payment, escrow, maintenance, other | $750, $100, $150, $250 |
| Weekly take-home | $2,950 |
| Term and balloon | 156 weeks, $15,000 |
| Total paid vs value at the end | $132,000 vs about $51,900 |
| Walk-away cost at week 52 | $49,400 |
EXAMPLE figures. The value uses an EXAMPLE depreciation curve on a $90,000 truck.
Reading the result
Take-home is the first test: is it enough to live on in a slow week, when the gross falls but the deductions do not? The second is total paid against value: paying $132,000 for a truck worth around $52,000 at the end is expensive, even if the weekly number looks fine. The third is the walk-away cost, because many drivers do not finish the term.
For a side-by-side with a conventional loan, use the lease-purchase vs own calculator. The lease vs buy truck guide and the commercial truck lease agreement template cover the clauses to read, and the truck depreciation calculator shows the tax side of owning.
General information about financing, leasing and legal, not financial, tax or legal advice. RigCaptain is not a lender, broker, dealer or insurer. Read every contract and ask a tax professional or attorney about your own deal.
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