When buying a car most people fail to consider ALL of the expenses that will be generated by their purchase. And because nearly all car buying scenarios come with different variables (depreciation rates, interest rates, purchase prices, insurance costs, mpg ratings, etc.), it becomes extremely difficult to compare one buying scenario with another...until now that is. This calculator will not only help you to forecast the REAL COST of buying and owning a car, but it will also help you to more accurately compare the real cost of one car-buying scenario with the real cost of a second car-buying scenario.
Instructions: To calculate the cost of buying and owning one particular vehicle, click on the "Single Scenario Calculation" radio button, fill in the left-hand column with the vehicle data and then click the "Compute Purchase & Ownership Costs" button. To compare buying and owning one vehicle with another, click on the "Double Scenario Calculation" radio button, fill in the both columns with each vehicle's data and then click the "Compute Purchase & Ownership Costs" button. If both vehicles have similar data, you can fill in the first column with the "Single Scenario Calculation" radio button selected, and then click on the "Copy
Scenario #1 Entries to Scenario #2" button to fill in the right-hand column (be sure to switch to the "Double Scenario Calculation"). Then just change any cells that are different before computing.
NOTE: Be sure to enter "0" (zero) in any entry boxes that don't apply to you. Also be sure that only numbers and decimal points are entered into the fields (dollar signs and other non-numeric characters will cause a JavaScript error).