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/ month
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How AffordEMI works out what you can afford in Australia
Two numbers drive everything on this page: the payment formula lenders use, and the share of your income they will let that payment take. For Australia the conservative ceiling is 38% of net monthly income across all your obligations, and a stretched approval reaches 48%. The default rate is 7.6% a year on vehicle finance and 9.5% on two-wheelers, which are market averages rather than an offer to you.
The formula
EMI = P × r × (1+r)ⁿ ÷ ((1+r)ⁿ − 1), where P is the amount financed after your down payment, r is the annual rate divided by twelve, and n is the term in months. Reducing balance, monthly rest, no balloon and no final lump sum — every instalment shown clears the debt in full by the end of the term.
Why 38% and not more
Your existing commitments come out first, so what remains is genuinely available rather than theoretical. The dashed mark on the meter sits at 20% of income, which is where most planners put the vehicle on its own, because fuel, insurance, servicing and parking are never inside the instalment. The gap between that dashed mark and the 38% line is the difference between what a lender will approve and what leaves you room to live.
Questions people ask about car finance in Australia
Is the drive-away price different from the list price?
Yes. Drive-away adds stamp duty, registration and CTP insurance, and every state sets those differently — the loading typically runs a few percent of the vehicle price. Pick your state and the calculator applies it before computing the repayment, because drive-away is the number you finance.
What is a comparison rate?
Lenders must publish a comparison rate alongside the advertised rate. It folds in most compulsory fees, so it reflects the real cost better than the headline number. The default here is a market average; if you have a quote, switch to "Set my own" and enter the comparison rate rather than the advertised one.
Should I take a balloon payment?
A balloon lowers the repayment by deferring part of the loan to a lump sum at the end. It makes an unaffordable car look affordable and leaves you owing thousands on a car worth less than the debt. This calculator never assumes one — every repayment shown fully pays off the loan by the end of the term.
What about a novated lease?
Salary packaging a car through your employer can be genuinely cheaper after tax, especially for EVs under the FBT exemption threshold. It also ties the car to your job and the maths depends entirely on your marginal rate. This tool models a straightforward secured car loan; use the safe repayment figure here as your budget ceiling and compare a novated quote against it.
Where the prices come from
List price before stamp duty and registration for popular variants on sale now, curated by hand rather than scraped live. Drive-away pricing adds stamp duty, registration and CTP, all of which vary by state. Prices move constantly — treat every figure here as a starting point and confirm with the dealer before you commit to anything.
What this page never does
- No account, no login and no email address to run a calculation.
- Your salary is never sent to a server. The maths runs entirely in your browser.
- Sharing a result encodes your inputs into the link, so you choose who sees them.
- No lending, broking or advice. See the disclosure for how this site is funded.