How much does long-term rental with a buyout cost? The full calculation for a purchase on preferential rent terms

What exactly you pay for

Deposit (zaliczka). From 10 percent of the price, paid on collection. It counts towards the purchase and locks the price for the whole rental period, so it is the first part of the car's price, not a fee for the mere right to sign a contract.

Rent (czynsz). The only item that is a real cost. It consists of a 300 zł net administrative fee and interest, that is 10 percent a year on the remaining capital.

Capital. You repay the rest of the price quarterly, in amounts you set yourself. Every payment cuts the capital, and with it the interest in the next quarter.

Separating the capital from the rent is the main difference from a bank loan, where a single monthly amount mixes capital with interest according to a repayment schedule fixed at the start.

Example: a car priced at 89 900 zł

We take a real listing from our offer, a compact hatchback at 89 900 zł. That is the gross price, the same one as in the advert. A 10 percent deposit comes to 8 990 zł, so 80 910 zł of capital is left to settle. Let us assume you pay 10 000 zł at the end of each quarter.

Quarter 1 (months 1–3): capital left to settle 80 910 zł, rent 974 zł net a month, 1 198 zł gross.

Quarter 2 (months 4–6): capital left to settle 70 910 zł, rent 891 zł net a month, 1 096 zł gross.

Quarter 3 (months 7–9): capital left to settle 60 910 zł, rent 808 zł net a month, 993 zł gross.

Quarter 4 (months 10–12): capital left to settle 50 910 zł, rent 724 zł net a month, 891 zł gross.

Where these numbers come from. The interest at the start is 80 910 zł times 10 percent divided by 12, which is 674 zł. Add the 300 zł fee and you get 974 zł net. We invoice the rent in net amounts, to which 23 percent VAT is added, so as a private individual you pay the gross amount, while a company deducts VAT on the usual terms. After a year the rent is a quarter lower than in the first month.

What it comes to after a year

Twelve months of rent costs 10 191 zł net in this variant, which is 12 535 zł gross. On top of that you put in 8 990 zł of deposit and 40 000 zł of capital, but you find those 48 990 zł again in the price of the car: exactly 40 910 zł is left for the buyout.

Count it from the other side, because that is fairer. The car costs 89 900 zł whichever route you take to it. A year of driving on a Buy&Rent contract adds 12 535 zł gross to that price, an average of 1 045 zł a month. Shorter means cheaper, with no catch: the minimum two months cost 2 397 zł gross and you can stop there.

What this calculation does not contain

A mileage cap. Long-term rental contracts in Poland usually start at 10 000 km a year, and for every kilometre above the limit you pay 30 to 70 grosz on return. Ten thousand kilometres over the limit is 3 000 to 7 000 zł. There is no such item here, because we do not count mileage.

A penalty for handing the car back. You return the car and settle the rental at the standard rate, for the time you actually drove it.

Loan-related charges. We do not assess creditworthiness and we do not query the credit registers BIK or KRD, so there is no commission, no loan insurance and no application processing fee.

Civil-law transaction tax (PCC). Buying a car from a private seller you pay an extra 2 percent of the price and have 14 days to file the PCC-3 return. On 89 900 zł that is 1 798 zł. Here you buy from a company, on a VAT invoice, and you do not pay that tax.

What raises and what lowers the rent

The size of the deposit. Raise it from 10 to 20 percent and on the same car you start at 899 zł net instead of 974 zł.

The pace of capital repayment. Higher quarterly payments cut the interest faster, because we always charge it on what is left.

The price of the car. The administrative fee is fixed, so on a cheaper car it weighs proportionally more in the rent.

Work out your own variant in the calculator or see how the contract works step by step.