Somebody is about to quote you a monthly payment, and it will not be the cost of the car. This is how to build the real number yourself — in about an hour, from free government tools — before you are in a room where someone else is doing the arithmetic.
Calculated from AAA, Your Driving Costs, 16 September 2025: $4,334 of $11,577 a year, on five years of ownership at 15,000 miles a year. AAA is a membership motoring organisation that also sells insurance, financing and repair services; its methodology is published, which is why it is used here.
You never write a cheque for depreciation. No salesperson mentions it. It is larger than fuel and insurance put together.
Shares calculated from AAA, Your Driving Costs, 16 September 2025 — $11,577 a year in total, on five years of ownership at 15,000 miles a year, for an average new vehicle of $38,938. Maintenance, repair and tyres make up a further 14%, licence, registration and taxes 7%.
It is the one number that can be made to look manageable regardless of the total, by extending the term. Longer term, lower payment, more interest, longer upside down.
The CFPB measured it across 21.4 million loans: a bigger loan, a longer term, a higher rate — and more than twice the likelihood of repossession within two years.
A federal regulator puts them at $700 to $2,500 per loan, and documented a retention hotline requiring three verbal cancellation requests before a written option was offered.
The FTC's CARS Rule was vacated in January 2025 and formally withdrawn in February 2026. A lot of car-buying advice still describes it as active protection.
Not "learn what everything costs". Build the total for the specific car, from sources that sell you nothing, before anyone quotes you a month.
In writing, itemised, with no financing and no add-ons in it. Every other line depends on this one, and the FTC's own guidance says to get it in writing.
Look up what the same model sells for at three years old. That gap is the most direct evidence you will get about the largest cost you will pay.
A pre-approval from your own bank turns the finance office from a seller into a competitor. It takes a day and costs nothing.
fueleconomy.gov for fuel, the EIA for this week's price, IIHS for insurer losses by model, your own insurer for the actual premium, your state DMV for tax and fees.
Cost per mile is the only figure that holds two different cars in the same frame — which is precisely why it is not the number you are offered.
Instant download. PDF and DOCX, so the worksheet and letters can be filled in rather than retyped.
Eleven chapters in three parts — the seven components, running costs from free public tools, and putting it together. Two sourced figures.
One column per vehicle, eleven cost lines, and three totals: per year, per month, and per mile. Fill in two cars and the comparison does the work.
Ten sources, what each one gives you, and how long it takes. Total about forty minutes, and every one of them sells you nothing.
Request the itemised out-the-door price; ask the finance office to beat your rate; decline add-ons in writing; confirm the financing is final; cancel an add-on and claim the refund; chase a refund that has not arrived; refuse changed terms after delivery; and a complaint narrative.
Your bank for a pre-approval; the dealer for an out-the-door price; the finance office; your insurer on the specific vehicle; your state DMV on tax and fees; and how to walk away well.
What the CFPB measured across 21.4 million loans, and the single most expensive mistake available to you in a dealership.
The federal credits ended for vehicles acquired after 30 September 2025. What is actually left, where to check it, and the battery warranty claim this book would not make.
Four prompts that help — loan arithmetic is the one thing an AI is genuinely good at here — and a blunt list of what not to ask it, starting with the EV credit.
Ten terms in plain English, honest answers to eight questions, and a source list that names every commercial interest and everything that could not be verified.
Because almost every figure in circulation comes from a company that sells cars, sells leads to dealers, or sells credit data to lenders. Where such a figure is the only one available, the book names the commercial interest on the spot.
Terminated for vehicles acquired after 30 September 2025. An enormous amount of published advice still assumes $7,500 is available, and a purchase decision built on that is built on nothing.
"A new car loses 20% of its value in the first year." It appears everywhere and this book could not trace it to any primary source. It may well be roughly right. A number nobody will stand behind is not a number to plan with.
AAA's model implies about 56% depreciation over five years; a commercial dataset says 41.8%. They measure different things. The book shows the gap rather than averaging two incompatible figures.
fueleconomy.gov, the EIA, the NAIC, IIHS, the DOE, the NCSL and your own state DMV. Forty minutes, no registration, no lead generation.
Six things, named in the sources appendix, including the public-charging premium and any federal EV battery warranty minimum. Absent rather than guessed.
Fill in Appendix A for both. Cost per mile is the only figure that compares them honestly.
Chapter 2 before anything else. This is where the largest avoidable losses happen.
Chapter 8. Redo the arithmetic with the federal credit set to zero, then check what your state and utility still offer.
Chapter 3 and script D3. Decide about add-ons before you are in the room.
Chapter 11 — an add-on you cannot cancel, financing changed after delivery, or a loan you are struggling with.
No document can know that. This gives you a method and free sources instead.
The book is deliberately model-agnostic. It gives you the worksheet; the choice is yours.
Taxes, registration, incentives, lending rules and the agencies here are all American.
A federal regulator puts add-on products at $700 to $2,500 per loan. Chapter 3 is one sentence, said before you walk in.
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An explanation of the economics of vehicle ownership. Not financial advice, and buying it creates no professional relationship.
That depends on your credit, your state, your mileage and your insurer. It gives you the method and the free sources to find out.
AAA sells insurance and financing. iSeeCars monetises shopping traffic. Experian sells to lenders. Where a figure is theirs, the book says so.
Federal EV credits terminated on 30 September 2025; the FTC's CARS Rule vacated January 2025 and withdrawn February 2026. Neither is a protection you can rely on.
This edition has just been released. Rather than publish testimonials from people who do not exist, these spaces are held for the first genuine reader reviews. On a product about not being sold things, that seemed like the only defensible choice.
If the worksheet changed which car you bought, we would like to hear how — and to publish it with your permission, in your own words.
We will not publish claims about amounts saved, because that depends on things no document controls.
Reserved for someone who walked in with a pre-approval. That is the chapter we would most like to hear worked.
Get a pre-approval from your own bank before you shop. It takes a day, costs nothing, and turns the finance office from a seller into a competitor. Everything else is easier once that is done.
No. The IRS states that the New Clean Vehicle, Previously-Owned Clean Vehicle and Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicle credits are not available for vehicles acquired after 30 September 2025. Build every EV comparison with the credit set to zero, then check what your state and utility still offer.
Because this book could not trace one to a primary source. The available data comes from car-search and valuation companies with a commercial interest, and it is used with that interest named. You get a method instead.
You can, and the CFPB's data across 21.4 million loans says what happens: a bigger loan, a longer term, a higher rate, and more than twice the chance of repossession within two years. Usually the cheapest thing is to keep it until you are not upside down. Not the answer anyone wants, and it is what the data says.
The book does not give a general answer and does not pretend to. It tells you a federal regulator puts add-ons at $700 to $2,500 per loan, documented cases of them being sold where they could never pay out, and refund delays averaging 84 days. Buy one as a separate decision, after you have the out-the-door price.
Not very. A conservative estimate of depreciation and a real insurance quote get you far closer than any monthly payment. The point is comparison between two cars, not a precise forecast of one. Rough and complete beats precise and partial.
The book frames it rather than answering it. Whatever the exact curve, the first owner absorbs the steepest part of depreciation. Against that, a used vehicle is more likely to be out of warranty, which means a larger repair contingency. Fill the worksheet in for both.
A 49-page PDF plus an editable DOCX of the same content, so the worksheet and letters can be filled in rather than retyped. Instant download after checkout.
Email sales@viralbydesign.co within 7 days of purchase for a full refund. No forms, no explanation required.
Open it, run the forty minutes of free lookups in Appendix B against the car you are actually considering, and see what the total comes to next to the monthly payment. If it is not what you expected, email sales@viralbydesign.co within 7 days of purchase and you get a full refund. No forms, no explanation required.
Every source in the book is free, published by a government agency or a regulator, and sells you nothing. What you get at the end is one number you can compare across cars — which is the one thing a monthly payment can never do.
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