What decides the rate
Four things, in rough order. The asset: a dealer-sold truck or a common machine with a resale market prices low; a specialised or aging machine prices higher because the lender's recovery is worse. Your personal credit: it matters more here than for an advance and much less than for a bank loan. Time in business: two years opens the best pricing; six months is financeable with a down payment. And the down payment itself: more down, lower rate, because the lender's exposure is smaller.
Manufacturers' finance arms — for trucks, machine tools, medical devices — often price below independent lenders on their own equipment because they want the placement. Always get both quotes.
The numbers, worked
$50,000 over five years at 9 percent: about $1,040 a month, roughly $12,300 of total interest. The same at 15 percent: about $1,190 a month, roughly $21,400 of interest. At 22 percent, for a thin file: about $1,380 a month and around $32,800. A 15 percent down payment on that $50,000 machine drops the financed amount to $42,500 and every figure with it.
Compare that to the same machine on a six-month cash advance at 1.3: $15,000 of cost in six months, and the machine still has four and a half years of payments' worth of life in it. This is why the split rule exists.
Fees and the end of the term
A documentation fee of a few hundred dollars is common; origination fees are smaller than on unsecured products or absent. The costs to watch are at the end: a balloon or a fair-market-value buyout on a lease can add thousands if you intend to keep the equipment. A dollar buyout or a straight loan has no cliff. Ask what you owe on the last day before you sign the first.