Car Affordability Calculator
A dealer starts with a price and finds you a payment. This does the opposite. It starts with what you can pay each month, takes off insurance, fuel and upkeep. which most calculators ignore - and tells you the price you can genuinely afford.
You can afford a car around
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- Left for the loan each month
- $0
- Running costs each month
- $0
- Amount you would borrow
- $0
- Out-the-door, with tax and fees
- $0
- Share of your pay
What each one costs
The taller bar costs more over the whole period. Cheaper is not automatically right, but choosing the dearer one should be deliberate.
Move it and watch
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at {v} for monthly pay before tax
And what you can change
Why your own figure may differ
What a longer loan really buys you
Stretching the loan does let you buy a bigger car. It also costs more interest, and you spend far longer owing more than the car is worth.
| Loan length | Car you can afford | You would borrow | Interest cost |
|---|
How much car you can afford: real examples
Three situations where the sticker price and the real price part company. Click any card to load it.
- The payment trap
$700 a month sounds like a lot of car
Until insurance, fuel and upkeep take $330 of it.
Only $370 is left for the loan. Once interest, sales tax and fees are counted, that is a car around $16,935. nowhere near what the payment seemed to suggest.
Load this scenario in the calculator → - Stretching the term
Seven years instead of four
Same $700 a month, same running costs.
A longer loan does buy a bigger car. the table shows how much bigger, and how much extra interest it costs you.
Load this scenario in the calculator → - Checking the guideline
Does this pass 20/4/10?
$6,000 a month before tax, $6,000 down, 4 years, and $600 a month all-in.
The car costs exactly 10% of your pay over 4 years. two of the three tests passed. The tool shows which one you miss and by how much.
Load this scenario in the calculator →
Common questions about how much car you can afford
How much car can I actually afford?
Start from what you can pay each month in total, not from a price. Then take off insurance, fuel and upkeep, because those come out of the same pocket. Whatever is left is what the loan can be. Work backwards from that and you get a price you can genuinely live with, rather than one a dealer can get approved.
Why does this ask about insurance and fuel?
Because a car costs far more than its loan payment, and almost no calculator says so. A $400 payment on a car that needs $150 of insurance, $120 of fuel and $60 of upkeep is really costing you $730 a month. People budget for the payment, get approved, then find the car eats their whole month.
What is the 20/4/10 guideline?
A widely used rule of thumb. Put at least 20% down, take no more than 4 years, and keep all car costs under 10% of your pay before tax. This tool checks all three and tells you which ones you pass. It is a guideline to measure against, not a law - but the further outside it you go, the tighter things get.
The dealer approved me for much more. Should I trust that?
Approval is not affordability. A lender is working out what it can get back from you, not what leaves you comfortable. It does not know your insurance quote, your commute, or what else you owe. This tool starts from your budget instead, which is the right end to start from.
Should I take a longer loan to afford a nicer car?
It does let you buy more, and the table on this page shows exactly how much more. But you pay a lot more interest, and you spend far longer owing more than the car is worth. Our auto loan calculator shows how long that gap lasts.
Does a trade-in count as a down payment?
Yes, as long as you own it outright. Its value goes straight against the price, exactly like cash. If you still owe money on it, that debt usually gets added to your new loan instead, which works against you.