Launching WhatCarCanIAfford: the honest car budget calculator built for buyers, not lenders
Hey IH 👋
I just launched WhatCarCanIAfford.com — a free car affordability calculator that helps people figure out what they can realistically spend on a car, using income, savings, and monthly budget.
The short backstory: most car payment calculators online are built by lenders and dealerships. They're designed to tell you the maximum loan you can get, not what you can actually afford without wrecking your finances. I got tired of that, so I built the alternative.
WhatCarCanIAfford uses the professionally recommended 20/4/10 rule and shows three honest budget tiers:
- Safe: what you can comfortably handle
- Stretch: pushing but survivable
- Lender Max: what banks will approve (and probably shouldn't)
The goal is to help buyers walk into a dealership knowing their real number before they're in a negotiation.
Early feedback has been positive. I'm now focused on getting more real users through the tool so I can see where people get confused or drop off.
Happy to share more on what I've learned building this. Any feedback on the product or the positioning is welcome.
