Check Your Car Lease Before You Sign

The advertised payment is the smallest part of a car lease. The contract is where the kilometre allowance, excess-kilometre rate, acquisition and administration fees, wear-and-tear standards, disposition fee, buyout amount and early-termination formula actually live. Upload the agreement and LeaseScore reads those terms back to you in plain English with a 0–100 score for cost, fees, restrictions and exit risk.

Calculator or contract review?

Use the car lease calculator while you are still comparing offers: type in the payment, term, amount due at signing and kilometre terms and you get the effective monthly cost and total commitment. Use a contract review once you have the paperwork: it reports what the document itself says, including the terms a calculator never asks about — wear standards, insurance and maintenance duties, transfer rights and what happens if you end the lease early.

What is checked

• Real cost — payment, term, amount due at signing and the total you are committing to.
• Upfront fees — acquisition, administration, registration and any capitalized charges.
• Kilometre terms — annual allowance and the per-kilometre charge for going over.
• Wear and tear — the return condition standard and how chargebacks are assessed.
• End of term — disposition or return fee, buyout/residual amount and your options.
• Early exit — termination formula, acceleration of remaining payments, transfer and assignment rights.
• Obligations — insurance minimums, maintenance and servicing requirements.

Costs people miss

• Money due at signing spread across the term, which raises the effective monthly cost above the advertised one.
• Kilometre overage that only becomes visible at return, priced per kilometre over the whole term.
• A disposition or return fee charged even when the vehicle comes back in good condition.
• Wear standards that treat ordinary scuffs, tyre wear or windshield chips as chargeable.
• Early termination costs that can approach the remaining balance of the lease.

How the score works

Your LeaseScore is a deterministic weighted sum across six dimensions: cost transparency, flexibility and exit, fees and penalties, obligations and restrictions, protection and fairness, and clarity. Auto agreements also get a deal snapshot with the calculated monthly and total cost. The score describes the agreement as written — it is not a valuation of the vehicle and not a legal conclusion.

FAQ

What is the difference between a lease calculator and a contract review?

A calculator works from the numbers you type in and shows what the deal costs. A contract review reads the actual agreement you were handed and reports what it says about fees, limits, obligations and exit terms — including the parts no calculator asks about.

Which fees do people most often miss?

Acquisition and administration fees rolled into the amount due at signing, disposition or return fees charged at the end, excess-kilometre rates, excess wear standards, and the cost of ending the lease early.

Can LeaseScore tell me whether a lease is enforceable?

No. LeaseScore reviews the uploaded text against a structured rubric and flags potential issues. It does not provide legal conclusions or advice.

Do I need the final contract, or is a quote enough?

Either can be reviewed, but the signed-version contract gives the most complete picture because fees, kilometre allowances and end-of-term options are usually only fully stated there.

Not legal or financial advice. LeaseScore reviews the uploaded text against a structured rubric and flags potential issues; confirm anything important with the leasing company or a qualified advisor.