Keep Above
New or used car
Two ways to own the next car. Each side takes its price, what it would sell for after the years you'd keep it, its running costs, and — if it's financed — the loan's interest, and lands on a cost per year. The sale values start from commonly cited car depreciation figures, marked EST.; every one is an estimate you can overwrite, and no winner is ever declared.
Not counted while this is $0
Sets where it enters the depreciation curve
Not counted while this is $0
Put in what each one would cost. Nothing here is read from your accounts, and nothing is saved.
| New | Used | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid up front | — | — |
| Value lost | — | — |
| Loan interest | — | — |
| Running costs | — | — |
| Total over 5 years | — | — |
| Cost a year | — | — |
| Cost a month | — | — |
This is one of the tools built into Keep Above
Keep Above is a budgeting app where you enter your bills and income and it works out the balance you need to keep — so you can see what's safe to spend. No bank connection, no ads on your data.
About this calculator
How is each side counted?
One formula for both, cash or loan: the price, plus any loan interest, plus running costs over the years you'd keep it, minus what it would sell for at the end. Selling mid-loan settles the remaining balance, and if the sale wouldn't cover it the shortfall is stated as a fact.
Where do the car sale estimates come from?
Picking the car category seeds both sale fields from commonly cited published depreciation ranges for cars — broad averages, marked EST., never a valuation of any particular car. The used side enters the curve at its current age, which is why it alone has an age field. Type your own figure and the estimate steps aside; "Use estimate" brings it back.
Why does the used car have an age field?
Because a used car joins the depreciation curve partway along: how much value the next few years would take off depends on how old it already is. The age field sets where on the curve it enters, and the sale estimate follows from there — replaceable with your own figure at any time.
Why is no winner shown?
Because the figures that decide it — what a particular one would really sell for, what it would really cost to run — are estimates only you can make. The page states both results identically and leaves the call with you. Nothing is read from anywhere, nothing is saved, and nothing here is financial advice.