Look beyond
the sticker price.

Ask for an itemized written out-the-door price. Compare the vehicle price, taxes, registration, dealer fees and optional add-ons separately from the loan. Then add insurance, fuel or charging, maintenance and a registration reserve to the monthly budget.

All entered purchase taxes, fees and add-ons are included in the purchase total before your cash down and net trade-in equity. This simplified calculator taxes the full vehicle price only. It does not apply trade-in tax credits, tax add-ons or fees, rebates, exemptions or jurisdiction-specific caps. Adjust the assumptions to your actual itemized quote; do not count a charge twice.

The loan formula uses a nominal annual interest rate with monthly payments. APR can include finance charges as well as interest. The optional score-band shortcut copies a published average APR as an approximate interest-rate proxy; its payment and interest estimates may differ from a lender’s contract. Use the actual note interest rate for a closer estimate.

When using an APR proxy, avoid adding loan origination or other finance charges again in fees; the proxy may already reflect them. The fees input is intended for non-financing dealer/title/registration charges in this simplified scenario. Compare the full APR, finance charge and payment schedule in the lender’s disclosures separately.

Net trade-in equity equals the entered trade-in value minus its loan payoff. Positive equity reduces the amount financed; negative equity increases it. A lender may not allow the assumed rollover or amount financed. Obtain a current payoff quote, and do not assume that a dealer paying off an old loan makes that debt disappear.

If cash down plus positive equity exceeds the purchase total, the calculator asks you to change the inputs. Trade-in refunds and cash back are outside this model.

The loan is fixed-rate and fully amortizing, with 1–120 monthly payments. The displayed payment is rounded to cents. Approximate total installments multiply that rounded payment by the term, with a floor of principal; at 0% interest the total is principal exactly. A final installment can differ, and daily interest, odd first periods, payment timing and lender rounding are not modeled.

The monthly ownership estimate is a cash-flow view. It excludes depreciation, opportunity cost, later repairs beyond the reserve, price changes and resale value. It does not model leases, balloon payments, refinancing, approval or affordability. The maximum input amounts are software limits, not spending suggestions.

The rough-fill button preserves only the entered vehicle price, a selected new/used condition, and an entered hypothetical score. It replaces the other fields after confirmation. It assumes 20% cash down, 7% sales tax on full vehicle price, $500 in purchase fees, no add-ons or trade-in, 60 months and an 8% hypothetical loan rate. Monthly placeholders are $150 insurance, $150 fuel/charging, $100 maintenance and $20 registration reserve. Local costs and your circumstances can be very different; every figure is editable.