The term, 1 pay lease or one pay lease, in car leasing, refers to the practice of making a single large payment at the beginning of a lease to avoid having to make individual monthly payments.

The one payment can be made in cash or with credit from a trade vehicle, or a combination of both.

Essentially, a one pay lease simply combines all the monthly payments into a single payment up front although it’s possible that it also saves some money, depending on how the lease finance company calculates the amount. See our article, Pre-Paid Leases, for more details.