Car Lease Decoder Skill

Leases are quoted in a dialect designed to prevent comparison: money factors instead of interest rates, cap costs instead of prices, payments instead of totals. This skill translates everything into the two numbers that matter — the effective APR and the total cost of the lease — then walks the traps that live in the back pages.

What This Skill Produces

• The translation — money factor × 2400 = the APR they didn't say; cap cost vs MSRP vs negotiated price
• Total lease cost — payments + drive-off + fees + likely end charges, one number
• The trap list — mileage math, disposition fee, wear-and-tear standards, early-exit exposure, each priced
• Negotiation points — what's routinely movable, with the asks

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if not provided:

• The offer sheet — payment, term, miles/year, drive-off; ideally: money factor, residual %, cap cost, fees
• The car — model and MSRP (residuals and negotiability vary)
• Your driving reality — honest annual miles; the mileage trap is priced per your number
• The alternative — buying the same car, if they want the comparison (chain to car-tco)