On Nissan's October 2026 programs, a 2026 Pathfinder SV leased for ~$503 a month, financed at zero interest over 60 months for $693 a month, or came with $5,000 Customer Cash if you skipped the zero.
Which one costs least turns on how long you keep the car. Here is the math on that one car, what can flip it, and how to check your own quote.
The short version
- • Keep the car six years: two leases cost $38,001, the zero-interest loan $41,565 and the car is yours. Buying wins unless that car is worth less than the $3,564 gap plus its repairs.
- • Trade at three years: buying and selling wins only if the car sells for more than 54% of its sticker. Nissan's own 10,000-mile lease prices it at 60%.
- • Zero interest or $5,000: take the cash only if your own loan beats 5.2% for 60 months.
- • Most states tax a lease on its payments, and the tax comes out close. Five tax it on the car's price, so every new lease pays it on the whole car again.
Four Questions That Decide It
Four answers settle lease or finance before any payment does.
| Question | Lease Wins | Finance Wins |
|---|---|---|
| Miles a year | You stay under the allowance | You drive past it, or do not know |
| Years you keep a car | Three, then a new one | Five or more |
| The maker's offer | A special lease, no loan deal | Zero interest, or cash and a cheap loan |
| Your state's lease tax | On the payments, as in most states | On the car's price, as in five states |
Key Takeaway
Keep cars five years or more, or drive past the allowance: finance. Trade every three years and stay under the miles: compare the maker's lease and loan offers on the same car before you choose.
One Pathfinder, Six Years, Three Ways to Pay
Take the 2026 Pathfinder SV FWD at its $41,565 sticker, Nissan's MSRP plus destination, with nothing down and before tax. Nissan's October offers gave three ways to pay: a lease, 0.0% APR for 60 months, or $5,000 Customer Cash, which Nissan says is "not compatible with NMAC special APR or special lease programs" (Nissan).
| 2026 Pathfinder SV | Two Leases | Zero Interest | Cash + Loan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | ~$503 | $693 | $680 |
| Payments | $36,216 | $41,565 | $40,811 |
| Fees | $1,785 | None | None |
| Six-year cost | $38,001 | $41,565 | $40,811 |
| You own | Nothing | The car | The car |
| Break-even value* | N/A | $3,564 | $2,810 |
Pre-tax, full sticker, nothing down, New Jersey programs, October 2026. Lease: 36 months, 12,000 miles a year, two in a row at the same payment, an acquisition fee of $695 each and one turn-in fee of $395 (Nissan waives the first when you lease or finance the next new Nissan through NMAC within 30 days). Loan: $36,565 for 60 months at 4.41%, Experian's Q2 2026 average new-car rate for VantageScore 781 to 850 across all lenders. *Buying wins if the car is worth more than this after six years. Data: Nissan Motor Acceptance Company and Nissan, October 2026.
The loan costs $3,564 more than two leases over six years, and you end with the car. Buying wins unless a six-year-old Pathfinder is worth less than that, under 9% of its sticker. Costs outside the table cut both ways. Repairs after Nissan's basic warranty ends at 3 years or 36,000 miles (Nissan), and what the money a lease leaves in your pocket could earn, favor the lease. Wear charges at the last turn-in favor buying: Nissan waives up to $500 of them only when your next car is a Nissan (Nissan).
Over three years, one lease costs $19,198 with its fees. Buy at zero interest and sell at 36 months, and you pay $41,565 less whatever the car sells for, so buying wins only if it sells for more than $22,367, 54% of the sticker.
Nissan's own October lease sets the price to buy a Pathfinder SV after 36 months at 60% of its sticker: $25,347 of $42,245 on its advertised car, at 10,000 miles a year (Nissan). That gap is what a lease buys you. If the car sells for less than $22,367 in three years, you hand it back and the leasing company takes the loss.
Key Takeaway
On this car, buying at zero interest beats two leases over six years if the six-year-old Pathfinder is worth more than $3,564 plus what you spend on it after the warranty. Over three years, a lease wins only if the car ends up worth less than 54% of its sticker, below what Nissan's own 10,000-mile lease assumes.
Zero Interest or the Cash
Nissan made you pick: the $5,000 wins only when the loan on the other $36,565 costs less than $5,000 in interest, which on 60 months means a rate below 5.2%.
| Loan Rate | Monthly | 60-Month Total | Vs Zero |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.41%Score 781 to 850 | $680 | $40,811 | $754 less |
| 6.15%Score 661 to 780 | $709 | $42,567 | $1,002 more |
The 2026 Pathfinder SV FWD: $36,565 financed ($41,565 less the $5,000) for 60 months, pre-tax, against Nissan's zero interest on $41,565. Rates: Experian, State of the Automotive Finance Market, Q2 2026, average new-car loan rates by VantageScore range across all lenders, the carmakers' own promotional loans included, so a bank's quote can run higher.
The car loan interest deduction moves the break-even to 6.0% if your income is under $100,000 ($200,000 on a joint return) and your tax rate is 22%. It saves about $621 of federal tax on the 4.41% loan and $873 on the 6.15% loan through 2028, so at 6.15% zero interest still wins by $130. A zero-interest loan has no interest to deduct, and lease payments get no deduction (IRS). The Pathfinder qualifies: Nissan builds it in Smyrna, Tennessee (Nissan). The rules are in our car loan interest deduction guide.
In mid-October 2026, only 24 of the 195 new model years with a New Jersey loan program offered zero interest, from 12 brands, and 22 of those 24 paid customer cash to buyers who passed on it. Zero goes to well-qualified buyers; our credit score guide shows what each score costs.
Key Takeaway
Get a rate from your bank or credit union before you choose. On October's Pathfinder offer, a rate under 5.2% meant taking the $5,000 (under 6.0% if you can claim the deduction at a 22% tax rate); above it, the zero.
Sales Tax: Where You Live Can Flip It
Most states tax a lease on its payments, so a lease pays tax only on the part of the car you use. Massachusetts is one: each payment is taxed at 6.25% as a sale of its own, cash paid at signing is taxed, and a manufacturer's rebate that lowers the payments is not (Massachusetts Department of Revenue).
Five states tax a lease on the car's price instead, so every new lease pays the tax on the whole car again: Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia, South Carolina (5%, capped at $500) and Maryland. Texas charges the same 6.25% as Massachusetts, on the price the leasing company pays, so the two show the difference on one car.
| State | Each Lease* | Buying Once |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts, 6.25% | $1,132 | $2,598 |
| Texas, 6.25% | $2,598 | $2,598 |
The 2026 Pathfinder SV FWD at its $41,565 sticker, 36-month lease. *Massachusetts: on the 36 payments, before any cash or fee paid at signing. Texas: on the sticker, before any rebate the lease applies. Buying in Texas with the $5,000 cash: $2,285, since a rebate passed to the buyer comes off the taxable price (Texas Comptroller).
In Texas, two leases pay the tax twice, about $2,500 more than buying once, which shrinks the zero-interest loan's six-year gap to two leases from $3,564 to about $1,000. In Massachusetts, two leases pay $2,264, a little less than buying once.
Key Takeaway
Ask for the lease's sales tax in dollars, not as a rate. In the five states that tax a lease on the car's price, a lease costs more than its payment shows.
EVs: The Credit Is Gone, the Resale Risk Is Not
The federal clean vehicle credits are gone for any vehicle acquired after September 30, 2025 (IRS). That ended the $7,500 credit for buying a new EV and the commercial credit leasing companies could claim on the EVs they leased out (IRS). Some makers kept paying lease cash on EVs; October's cheapest EV lease was the 2026 Kia Niro EV Wind at ~$372 a month (our EV lease guide).
The risk on an EV loan is resale value. A lease fixes the car's end price the day you sign. If EV prices fall, you hand it back; if they hold, you can buy it at the price in your lease.
Key Takeaway
Lease an EV you are not sure you will keep. At the end, buy it only if it is worth more than the price in your lease.
When the Lease Ends, Decide Again
Your lease states the price to buy the car at the end. Buy it if the car is worth more than that; return it if it is worth less (our lease-end guide).
Returning a Nissan costs a turn-in fee of up to $395, and Nissan waives it when you lease or finance your next new Nissan through NMAC within 30 days (Nissan). Miles over a 12,000-mile allowance cost $0.15 each on Nissan's October Pathfinder lease, and Nissan sells extra miles during the lease at $0.10, taxed and not refunded if you do not use them (Nissan). A buyout carries no mileage charge, so if you are far over, buying can cost less than returning; Nissan's lease adds a purchase option fee of up to $300.
Key Takeaway
Three months before the lease ends, compare the car's value with the price in your lease. The bigger number decides.
Either Way, Negotiate the Price
At full sticker, $1,000 off saves about $29 a month on the Pathfinder lease and $16.67 a month on the zero-interest loan, Nissan's own example per $1,000 financed. Every number above is full sticker, so a lower price helps both ways to pay.
Get the selling price, the money factor or APR, and every fee in writing. A dealer can mark up the lender's rate on a lease or a loan, and the payment hides it.
Key Takeaway
Settle the price first, then choose lease or loan on that price. Upload the quote before you sign.
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