Sources
Sources and methodology
Calculator defaults are transparent and editable. Results are educational estimates, not financial, lending, tax, or insurance advice.
Editorial standard
Pages are written to explain estimates, not to push a lender, insurer, dealer, or product. The site does not claim that a user qualifies for a rate, premium, loan amount, or vehicle price. When source data is broad, the page labels it as a benchmark and asks users to replace it with personal quotes.
Primary sources
- NAIC 2023 Auto Insurance Database Average Premium Supplement: State and countrywide average auto insurance expenditure and premium tables for 2019-2023.
- NAIC release for 2022/2023 Auto Insurance Database Report: NAIC summary of the 2022/2023 report and national average expense context.
- FRED TERMCBAUTO48NS: Federal Reserve series for finance rate on 48-month new auto loans at commercial banks.
- BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey: Transportation spending context for vehicle ownership categories.
Calculator methodology
Auto loan payments use standard amortization. The financed amount is vehicle price plus estimated taxes and fees, minus down payment and trade-in value. Insurance defaults use NAIC average expenditure data by state. Fuel, maintenance, registration, and fee assumptions are planning defaults that should be replaced with user-specific numbers.
What is not included
The calculators do not include every possible cost, such as parking, tolls, repairs after a major failure, extended warranties, negative equity from a prior loan unless entered manually, or personal tax consequences. They also do not evaluate creditworthiness or insurer underwriting rules.