Auto finance guides
Short, practical explainers to help you understand the math and the tradeoffs.
- How to Calculate a Car Payment
Plain-English explanation of the auto loan payment formula, amount financed, and the levers that affect your monthly cost.
- How Much Car Can I Afford?
Use payment-to-income tiers and a holistic budget approach to set a realistic auto budget.
- Money Factor vs APR
What money factor is, how it relates to APR, and why it matters for your lease payment.
- Lease vs Buy: How to Decide
When leasing tends to win, when buying tends to win, and the factors that change the answer.
- Negative Equity Explained
What it means to be underwater on a car loan, why rolling it forward is risky, and how to dig out.
- Auto Refinance: When It Makes Sense
Breakeven analysis, term-reset traps, and how to compare offers fairly.
- Total Cost of Ownership: Beyond the Monthly Payment
What really drives the cost of owning a car — depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, maintenance, repairs, and registration — with how each line item moves the total.
- Auto Sales Tax and Fees Explained
How sales tax is calculated on a car purchase, the common tax bases by state, and the documentation, title, registration, and dealer fees that round out your out-the-door price.
- New vs Used Car Cost: Which Wins When
How depreciation, financing rate, repair risk, and warranty coverage trade off between a new and a used car, and how to compare the two over your real ownership horizon.