Car Affordability Calculator

Work backward from a monthly payment to the car price you can afford, or check a price against the 20/4/10 guideline.

What Do You Want to Find?
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Amounts in dollars.
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Car price you can afford
Loan amount
Total interest
Guideline check
Work

Saved Calculations

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How Much Car Can You Afford?

Loan you can afford = payment × (1 − (1 + r)⁻ⁿ) ÷ r
Car price = (loan + down payment) ÷ (1 + tax and fees)

The 20/4/10 rule of thumb: put 20% down, finance for no more than 4 years, and keep total car costs under 10% of gross income.

Worked Example

Tips

Insurance, fuel, maintenance and registration add to the monthly cost of owning a car. A longer loan lowers the payment but costs more interest and can leave you owing more than the car is worth.