This New Zealand calculator works out the car price your budget can comfortably sustain, after allowing for the running costs of owning a car. It works backwards from the monthly amount you can spare, sets aside running costs, and uses the rest for finance repayments plus your deposit. You enter the figures, and the tool shows the maximum car price that fits without stretching your budget.
Sets aside running costs first, then uses the rest of your monthly budget for finance over the term, and adds your deposit. Paying cash avoids the interest entirely. Estimate only, not a loan offer.
The calculator subtracts running costs from your monthly car budget to find what is left for finance repayments. It then works out the loan that repayment could service over the term at the finance rate, and adds your deposit or trade-in to get the maximum car price. This keeps the true cost of ownership, not just the loan, inside your budget.
With $700 a month for a car and $350 of running costs, $350 is left for finance. At 12% over 4 years that services a loan of about $13,300; adding a $5,000 deposit gives a car price of around $18,300 you can comfortably afford.
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