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Buying & Financing

What the car costs to acquire

A monthly payment is the number a dealership leads with, and it is the number that hides the most. The same payment can come from a longer term, a higher rate, a bigger down payment, or a lease whose interest cost is buried in a decimal called the money factor.

These tools take the payment apart. Every term in the formula is printed and editable — price, rate, term, residual, cap cost — so you can see which one is actually moving the number, and what the deal costs in total rather than per month.

Lease vs. Buy CalculatorSoon

The lease payment built from its own parts — cap cost, residual, money factor — set against financing the same car and keeping it.

Auto Loan Payment CalculatorSoon

Monthly payment and total interest on a car loan, with the amortization formula and every term shown.

Car Affordability CalculatorSoon

Work backward from a payment you can live with to the price it actually buys, at your APR and term.