Interactive tool
What does this car actually cost you?
Monthly payments are the smallest part of the story. Put in your own numbers and see the five-year total, broken down by where the money goes.
5-year total
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- Per year
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- Per month
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- Per mile
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Where it goes
Enter a purchase price to see the breakdown.
How the total is worked out
Depreciation
Purchase price minus the resale value you expect at the end of the term. It is usually the largest single line, and it is the one buyers most often leave out.
Energy
Total miles divided by your real-world economy, multiplied by the price you pay. For an EV, use the figure measured at the wall rather than the dash readout — charging losses are real and they are on your bill.
Interest
The loan is amortised month by month and only the payments made inside the ownership period are counted. Principal is not double-counted: it is already in the purchase price.
This calculator ships with no vehicle database. It holds no transaction prices, no depreciation curves, no insurance tables and no regional fuel averages, because publishing those would mean inventing them. The only values pre-filled are a five-year term and 12,000 miles a year, and both are editable assumptions rather than claims about any particular car. The result is an estimate built from your inputs, not a quote.
Common questions
- What does this calculator include?
- Depreciation (purchase price minus the resale value you expect), fuel or electricity over the miles you drive, insurance, maintenance and repairs, registration and local fees, and — if you finance — the interest you actually pay during the years you own the car.
- Why does it not fill in the price or depreciation for me?
- Because we would have to make those numbers up. Transaction prices, resale values, insurance premiums and local fuel prices vary by trim, region, mileage, condition and driver. Cars & Plates does not publish figures it cannot source, so the calculator asks you for them instead.
- How is loan interest handled?
- The loan is amortised month by month at the APR you enter. Only the payments that fall inside the ownership period are counted, so a 72-month loan modelled over five years contributes 60 payments of interest rather than 72. The remaining balance is not treated as a cost, because you still owe it.
- Where should I get the numbers?
- Purchase price from the dealer’s out-the-door quote. Resale value from current listings for the same model at the age and mileage you expect to sell at. Insurance from a real quote on that specific vehicle. Fuel economy or efficiency from your own observed average rather than the window sticker. Maintenance from the manufacturer’s published service schedule plus tires.
- Does a blank field mean unknown?
- No. A blank field is treated as zero. If you leave insurance empty, the total simply excludes insurance — it does not estimate it for you.
Stay in the driver's seat
Reliability data, running costs, plate-law changes and the week's real automotive news — edited down to what affects the car in your driveway.