Vehicle EconomicsCurrent Vehicle Remaining-Life Cost
What will your current car cost you going forward, not counting what you already paid for it?
Why this comes up
What you already paid for your car, and the interest you've already paid, is sunk: no decision you make today can get it back. The only cost that matters for what comes next is what the car will cost you from here forward. This engine isolates exactly that, which most "cost of ownership" tools blur together with backward-looking purchase cost.
How we calculated this
Depreciation is derived from projecting your entered value forward, not a flat annual guess. Financing interest comes from actually amortizing your remaining loan balance, so a nearly paid-off loan correctly shows little forward interest. We add fuel or energy, insurance, maintenance, repairs, registration, and tires, then also project your vehicle's value and loan balance at the end of the horizon, so you can see the equity you'll be left with, not just the cost you'll have paid.
Worked example, using this page's own defaults: over 3 years this vehicle is projected to cost $21,479 total ($596/month, about$0.65/mile), ending with a projected value of $8,800and a paid-off loan, for $8,800 in end-of-horizon equity.
What this means
- A paid-off car can still have a substantial forward cost, mostly depreciation and operating costs, that does not revive the sunk cost of what you already paid; don't let "it's paid off" alone justify keeping it.
- The end-of-horizon equity figure is what you'd actually have available toward a future replacement if you sold or traded at that point.
- Use this total directly as the "keep" side of Keep vs Replace Car or Repair vs Replace Car if you haven't already run those.
Limitations
Value and repair projections are estimates, not appraisals or forecasts; unexpected repairs or a faster-than-expected value decline will change the real outcome. See Methodology.
Methodology
This engine combines Vehicle Economics' fixed-rate amortization model (the standard loan-payment formula run out as a full month-by-month schedule), equity and depreciation projection model (your value and loan payoff projected forward from your own depreciation figure until they cross), ownership total cost model (every ownership cost, depreciation, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, repairs, and fees, summed over your horizon), and fuel and charging cost model (your own miles, MPG or kWh, and rates converted directly to a dollar cost). See Methodology for the full detail.