Car final cost calculator

Your new car's final price is known as its out-the-door price. This price can be significantly higher than the cost shown on its window sticker, because it generally includes expenses such as sales taxes, dealer charges, and registration and title fees.

Key components needed to calculate a car's whole life cost include its purchase or rental cost, residual value, maintenance costs, fuel costs, fuel consumption and taxation. It is possible for two cars with the same list price to have completely different whole of life costs.

Follow the 35% rule Whether you're paying cash, leasing, or financing a car, your upper spending limit really shouldn't be a penny more than 35% of your gross annual income. That means if you make $36,000 a year, the car price shouldn't exceed $12,600.

How much of a down payment should you make on a car? A down payment between 10 to 20 percent of the vehicle price is the general recommendation. But if you can afford a larger down payment, you can save even more money on interest payments over the life of the loan.