Borrowing
Car loan, lease and ownership calculator
Compare buying, leasing or keeping a car over the same period. Include loan payments, depreciation, negative equity and electric or petrol running costs.
Content updated . Assumptions reviewed .
Your inputs
Showing the example. Edit your inputs, then calculate.
Buying total ownership cost
36,763.2 USD
Costs compare the same horizon, including finance balances and vehicle values at the end.
- Buy Cost
- 36,763.2
- Petrol Buy Cost
- 36,763.2
- Ev Buy Cost
- 36,169.52
- Lease Cost
- 46,175
- Keep Cost
- 22,734.67
- Monthly Loan Payment
- 386.66
- Financed Amount
- 20,000
- Loan Balance
- 0
- Vehicle Value
- 13,311.16
- End Equity
- 13,311.16
- Initial Negative Equity
- 0
- Petrol Energy Cost
- 7,875
- Ev Energy Cost
- 2,700
- Ev Minus Petrol Cost
- -593.69
- Lease Minus Buy Cost
- 9,411.8
- Keep Minus Buy Cost
- -14,028.54
Illustrative result from your inputs and the dated assumptions shown; not a forecast, recommendation or offer
KlarFort is not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Verify outputs before making material decisions. Read the disclaimer.
Personal and commercial use is free with credit to KlarFort. See usage and credit.
About this calculator
Compare the total modeled cost of buying a petrol car, buying an electric vehicle, leasing or keeping your current car. Each option uses the same comparison period and includes relevant running costs.
The purchase comparison accounts for your current car value and remaining debt. It includes the new vehicle value and any unpaid loan balance at the end, so a low monthly payment is only part of the picture.
How to use this calculator
- Enter the petrol purchase price, cash deposit, loan rate and term, then choose the comparison period.
- Add your current car value, outstanding loan, depreciation, insurance and maintenance costs.
- Enter annual distance, petrol and electricity use, local energy prices and any electric vehicle price premium or charger cost.
- Add a lease quote that covers the same period, including its distance allowance and fees, then compare all four options.
Understand your result
The headline is total buying cost for the selected powertrain. The comparison table also shows petrol, electric, lease and keep-current-car costs over the same horizon.
Ending equity is vehicle value less remaining debt. Negative equity on your current car increases the amount financed for a purchase. A negative cost difference means the first named option costs less in this model.
Questions about this calculator
Why compare total ownership cost as well as the loan payment?
A payment alone leaves out depreciation, running expenses and the remaining car value or debt. Total ownership cost includes these entered assumptions over the same period for each option.
How are electric and petrol cars compared?
The model uses your distance, consumption and energy prices, plus the electric vehicle price premium and charger cost. Both new cars use the same entered depreciation, maintenance and insurance assumptions.
Can I use a lease with a different term from the comparison?
Enter a quote covering the full comparison horizon. The calculator multiplies the monthly quote by that horizon and adds upfront, end and excess-distance fees. It does not renew or renegotiate a shorter lease.
Where do my figures go?
Your page calculations run in this browser. The API and connected assistants send the inputs supplied to them to our Cloudflare Worker. See Privacy.
How can I reproduce this result?
Use the same inputs and assumptions shown here. Simulation seeds reproduce the same paths. Read the calculation documentation.
Your calculation table
| Option | Cost | End Vehicle Value | End Loan Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy petrol | 36,763.2 | 13,311.16 | 0 |
| Buy EV | 36,169.52 | 15,529.69 | 0 |
| Lease | 46,175 | 0 | 0 |
| Keep current car | 22,734.67 | 5,904.9 | 0 |
Citable worked example
Car loan, lease and ownership calculator: fixed public worked-example outputs using the calculator’s published default inputs. Compare buying, leasing or keeping a car over the same period. Include loan payments, depreciation, negative equity and electric or petrol running costs. These illustrative figures are independent of visitor inputs and live market feeds. The table contains 4 rows and is available as CSV and JSON. Formula and assumptions reviewed 2026-09-07.
These are fixed public examples. Your calculation above does not change this table.
| Option | Cost | End Vehicle Value | End Loan Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy petrol | 36,763.2 | 13,311.16 | 0 |
| Buy EV | 36,169.52 | 15,529.69 | 0 |
| Lease | 46,175 | 0 | 0 |
| Keep current car | 22,734.67 | 5,904.9 | 0 |
Computed with KlarFort Calculators, https://klarfort.com/
Calculator reference: https://klarfort.com/tools/car-loan-calculator/. Usage and credit.
Formula and assumptions
Ownership cost = initial equity committed + payments + running costs + ending debt - ending car value.
- All options use the same horizon; loan balances and vehicle resale values are included at that date.
- The current car is traded for a purchase; positive excess trade equity remains cash and negative equity increases financing.
- Leasing assumes sale of the current car with its net equity retained, and an entered lease quote covering the comparison horizon.
- The current car uses the entered petrol consumption; new EV and petrol cars share the entered depreciation, maintenance and insurance assumptions.
- Cash retained across alternatives earns no modeled investment return.
- No tax credits, transaction taxes or manufacturer offers are assumed.
Assumptions reviewed:
Sources
- KlarFort calculator methodology. KlarFort-authored arithmetic; free to use with credit.; vintage 1.
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