Car budget calculator
Car Affordability Calculator
Estimate a realistic car price from your income, debts, ownership costs, down payment, and loan terms.
Estimate your car budget
Balance payment, ownership costs, and existing debt before shopping.
Your gross monthly income before taxes and deductions.$
Monthly debt payments such as credit cards, student loans, personal loans, and other car loans.$
Cash you plan to pay upfront to reduce the amount financed.$
Estimated credit you would receive for trading in your current vehicle.$
Annual percentage rate. This is the yearly interest rate on the loan.%
How many months you will take to repay the loan.mo
Estimated sales tax rate applied to the vehicle purchase.%
Estimated monthly insurance premium for the vehicle.$
Estimated monthly fuel or charging cost.$
Estimated monthly maintenance, repairs, and routine service.$
The share of monthly income you want to spend on transportation.%
The highest share of monthly income you want going toward debt payments.%
Estimated max price
$29,924
Comfortable range
This range leaves room for ownership costs under the selected budget rules.
- Max monthly payment
- $535
- Ownership costs
- $440
- Transport budget
- $975
- Max amount financed
- $27,019
Monthly budget breakdown
Car payment$535
Insurance$180
Fuel$160
Maintenance$100
Compare insurance and loan rates before shopping. The affordable price is only useful if the monthly ownership costs are realistic.
How this calculator works
The calculator starts with a target transportation budget based on monthly income, then subtracts insurance, fuel, and maintenance. It also checks a debt-to-income limit so existing debt does not get ignored.
Why ownership costs matter
A car can look affordable if you only compare the loan payment. Insurance, fuel, maintenance, taxes, and existing debts all affect how much room you really have in the monthly budget.