The monthly gap between leasing and financing a new vehicle is still wide. Experian's second-quarter 2026 data put the average new-vehicle lease payment at $617 and the average new-vehicle loan payment at $765, a $148 difference. Fewer people are choosing the lease anyway: 23.75% of new vehicles were leased in the quarter, down from 24.04% a year earlier and 26.23% in the second quarter of 2024.
Borrowing costs have eased only a little. The Federal Reserve's G.19 consumer credit release shows the average rate on a 60-month new-car loan at commercial banks at 7.14% in the second quarter of 2026, down from an 8.16% average for 2024. Edmunds says the average APR on new-vehicle loans held at 7.0% in the third quarter, while the average amount financed reached $44,664 and the average payment $787. Loans keep stretching, too: 25.5% of new-vehicle loans in the quarter ran 84 months or longer, and 21.2% of buyers who financed signed up for payments of $1,000 or more a month.
The 2026 numbers side by side
New-vehicle lease and loan snapshot
| Metric | Figure | Source and period |
|---|---|---|
| Average new lease payment | $617 a month | Experian, Q2 2026 |
| Average new loan payment | $765 a month | Experian, Q2 2026 |
| Share of new vehicles leased | 23.75% | Experian, Q2 2026 |
| Average lease term | 35.9 months | Experian data via LendingTree, Q2 2026 |
| Average new loan term | 70.5 months | Edmunds, Q3 2026 |
| Average new-vehicle APR | 7.0% | Edmunds, Q3 2026 |
| Average amount financed | $44,664 | Edmunds, Q3 2026 |
| Average down payment | $5,554 | Edmunds, Q3 2026 |
| Average interest paid over a new loan | $9,938 | Edmunds, Q3 2026 |
| Average new-vehicle transaction price | $50,089 | Kelley Blue Book, August 2026 |
Experian, Edmunds and Kelley Blue Book use different data sets and periods, so their figures do not line up exactly.
What changed: a deduction for buyers, nothing for EV leases
The biggest 2026 change favors buying. For tax years 2025 through 2028, the IRS lets eligible taxpayers deduct up to $10,000 a year of interest on a loan used to buy a new vehicle for personal use. The loan must have originated after Dec. 31, 2024, the vehicle must have a gross vehicle weight rating under 14,000 pounds, and it must have undergone final assembly in the United States, which buyers can confirm on the vehicle label, through the VIN or with NHTSA's VIN decoder. The deduction phases out above $100,000 of modified adjusted gross income, or $200,000 for joint filers, and it is available whether or not you itemize. Lease payments do not qualify.
To see what that can be worth, take a hypothetical buyer who pays $2,500 in loan interest in the first year and faces a 22% marginal federal rate: the deduction would trim about $550 from that year's tax bill. The benefit shrinks as the loan balance, and the interest on it, falls.
Leasing lost its main tax edge on electric vehicles. The IRS says the new, used and qualified commercial clean vehicle credits are not available for vehicles acquired after Sept. 30, 2025. Experian reported that the share of EV consumers who leased rose to more than 56% in the third quarter of 2025, from 46.43% a year earlier, as those credits were expiring. Discounts on EVs have stayed large since: Kelley Blue Book put average EV incentives at 12% of the transaction price in August 2026, with the average EV selling for $54,813, down 2.7% from a year earlier.
When each option makes sense
Leasing tends to fit drivers who:
- Want a new vehicle roughly every three years; the average lease term is just under 36 months.
- Drive a predictable number of miles that fits comfortably inside the contract's mileage allowance.
- Prefer the lowest possible monthly payment and are comfortable never owning the car outright.
- Want to hand the depreciation risk on fast-changing technology, such as EVs, back to the lessor at the end of the term.
Buying tends to fit drivers who:
- Keep vehicles six years or longer, long enough to enjoy payment-free years after the loan ends.
- Drive high or unpredictable mileage, or plan to modify the vehicle.
- Are buying a U.S.-assembled vehicle with income below the phase-out thresholds, making the interest deduction available.
- Can make a meaningful down payment and avoid 84-month terms, which keep balances high for longer.
A rough comparison using the averages above shows the trade-off. Thirty-six average lease payments add up to about $22,200, while 36 average loan payments total about $27,500. The lessee then returns the car or pays its residual value to keep it; the buyer has roughly half the loan term still to go but owns a vehicle with resale value. Those totals leave out amounts due at signing, down payments, taxes and fees, which vary widely, so ask any dealer for a written quote that shows the vehicle price, the money factor or interest rate, the residual value and every fee before you compare.