How Much Car Can I Afford?

Start from what you can spend each month, take off the cost of running the car, and see the price range that is left.

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  • Runs in your browser
  • Updated 4 Nov 2026
£a month

Everything: finance plus fuel, insurance, tax and upkeep.

Running costs

£a month

£a year
£a year
£a year
£a month

Finance

£
%
months
£

You could look at cars up to

Running costs
Left for finance
Borrowing this supports
Interest over the term
Share of take-home pay
Running costs alone are more than your budget. Raise the budget or look at cheaper-to-run cars.

An illustration for HP or loan-style repayment, not a lending decision or advice. Lenders run their own affordability checks.

Check this in the finance calculator

How to use the car affordability calculator

  1. 1 Enter the total you are happy to spend on motoring each month.
  2. 2 Enter running costs: fuel (or let it work them out from mileage), insurance, tax, MOT, servicing and others.
  3. 3 Enter your deposit, the APR you expect and the term.
  4. 4 See the payment left for finance, the car price it could support and the share of your income it takes.

Worked example

A £450 a month motoring budget

Running costs
£200 a month (fuel, insurance, tax, MOT, servicing)
Left for finance
£250 a month
Finance
9.9% APR over 48 months, £2,000 deposit

£250 a month over 48 months at 9.9% APR supports about £9,970 of borrowing

= A car price of roughly £12,000 including the deposit

Assumptions and limitations

  • An illustration, not a lending decision or advice. Lenders run their own affordability and credit checks.
  • Uses HP or loan-style repayment with no balloon payment. PCP lowers the monthly payment but you do not own the car without paying the balloon.
  • Running-cost examples are placeholders. Get an insurance quote for the specific car before you buy, because insurance varies more than anything else.

Budget for the whole car, not just the payment

Finance adverts lead with the monthly payment, but fuel, insurance, tax, servicing and the MOT come on top. Starting from one total motoring budget and subtracting the running costs first stops you buying a car you can afford to borrow for but not to run.

Young drivers in particular should get an insurance quote before choosing a car, because the premium can be bigger than the finance payment.

Leave room for the unexpected

Tyres, a battery or a failed MOT item can easily cost a few hundred pounds. A small monthly buffer in the other costs field makes the budget more realistic.

Once you have a price range, the car finance calculator lets you compare HP and PCP-style deals in detail, and the running cost calculator checks the full yearly cost.

Official guidance and sources

Run a free vehicle check

Found a car in budget? Run a free check before you hand over any money.

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Related tools and checks

Car Finance Calculator Monthly payments for HP, a personal loan or a PCP-style deal, with total payable and interest. Car Running Cost Calculator Fuel, tax, MOT, servicing, insurance, parking and finance added up per month, per year and per mile. Car Depreciation Calculator Low, base and high estimates of a car's future value from price, age, mileage and type. Not a valuation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Take your total monthly motoring budget, subtract the running costs (fuel, insurance, tax, MOT, servicing), and the rest is what you can put towards finance. The calculator converts that payment into a borrowing amount at your APR and term, then adds your deposit to give a price range.
There is no single rule, and it depends on your other commitments. Enter your take-home pay and the calculator shows the share your car budget would take, so you can judge whether it leaves enough for everything else.
It lowers the monthly payment, so the same payment supports a higher price, but you pay more interest overall and may owe more than the car is worth for longer. Compare the total payable before stretching the term.
Yes. Insurance is often the biggest running cost for new and young drivers, and it varies a lot between models. Get quotes for the cars on your shortlist and enter the real figure.
No. It is an illustration based on your numbers. We do not arrange or recommend credit, and any lender will run its own checks.

Figures and guidance last checked 4 November 2026. An independent free tool from Free Car Tax MOT Check; not affiliated with DVLA, DVSA or GOV.UK. Results are estimates to help you plan, not financial, legal or mechanical advice.

Our Data Sources

DVLA
Vehicle & Tax Data
DVSA
MOT Records
Police (PNC)
Stolen Vehicle Check*
MIAFTR
Finance & Write-Off Data*
MotorSure
Mileage & History Data*

*Available in Pro & Complete checks

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