Out the door
- You would finance
- Every month
Want to know what this payment does to your debt-free date?Debt Corral for iPhone shows you, before you sign.
What will it actually cost?
The sticker price is not the number that leaves your account. Fill in what you know and the rest becomes obvious -- including the four figures worth asking the dealer for before you are sitting in their office.
The car
What it costs, and what you are putting toward it.
One question, worth real money
Does your state charge sales tax on the trade-in?
Most states tax the price minus your trade-in. Some tax the whole sticker anyway. Nobody can tell which yours is from here, and the two answers are not close -- apart on these numbers. Ask the dealer, or search your state's DMV.
Ask for these
Four figures the dealer knows and you do not
Every one of these is on the buyer's order or the window sticker. They are where the difference between the sticker and the total hides, and they are far easier to ask about before you have chosen a car.
State plus any county or city share. Vehicle rates are sometimes not the ordinary retail rate, so ask for the one that applies to the car.
The dealer's own charge. Capped in some states, not in others.
Paid to the state to put the car in your name.
Often billed with the title fee, sometimes separately.
If you finance it
Leave both blank if you are paying cash. Fill both in to see the monthly payment.
Where the money goes
The five states with no sales tax on a vehicle
If your state is not on this list, answer yes above. Three of the five charge something else instead, so "no sales tax" does not mean nothing is owed.
Checked on . These change, and a local rate can differ from the state one.
Debt Corral does not know your state's rate and does not guess one. Every figure here is arithmetic on numbers you entered, which is why it is only as good as what the dealer tells you. It is not advice about whether to buy.