Auto leasing is a lease transaction in which an auto leasing company purchases a specified automobile and leases it to you for a fixed period at a set rate. In this scheme, the automobile belongs to the auto leasing company and you pay to use the automobile without incurring maintenance and other costs.

	Owning	Rent-a-car	Auto leasing
Purpose	Planned, Long-Term, and ongoing  use	Temporary, Short Term, and    intensive use	Planned, Long Term, and ongoing  use
Leasing term	None	Short-term (hours, days,  weeks, months, or years)	Long-term (year; usually longer than  three years)
Owner	User	Rent-a-car company	Auto leasing company
User	-	Unspecified number of users  (Individuals and corporations)	Specified number of users  (primarily corporations)
Parking lot	Secured by user	Secured by rent-a-car  company	Secured by user
Payments	-	High because payments are  calculated by annual  operating rate	Low monthly cost because  payments are calculated by  continuous usage throughout  the year
Mid-term  cancellation	None	Can be canceled when the  automobile is returned	Penalty for early cancellation
Maintenance	Conducted by user	Conducted by rent-a-car  company	According to the term of contract,  the auto leasing company may  bear the maintenance cost
Particular  specifications  (e.g., coating and  others)	Possible	Generally unavaliable	Possible
Automobile cost	Paid at purchase	Paid through rental fees	Paid through lease payment
Tax & Insurance	Occasional expenditure	Including in rental fees	Including in monthly lease payments
Accounting  treatment	Cost is treated as asset in the  category of  automotive equipment  and written off (increased fixed  assets)	Rental fees are treated as an  expense (no increase in fixed  assets)	Lease payments are treated as an  expense (no increase in fixed  assets)
Automobile  replacement &  dispasal	User conducts disposal negotiation  /fixed asset depletion with loss  shown on sale	Everything is handled by  rent-a-car company when  automobile is no longer in  service	Everything is carried out by auto  leasing company when the  automobile is returned