{
  "id": "car-depreciation",
  "version": "484b4d53db36",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Car Depreciation Calculator",
  "question": "How much will my car depreciation be?",
  "summary": "Computes a car’s value after each year and the total depreciation, when it loses one percent of its value in the first year and another percent of the remaining value each later year.",
  "category": "finance",
  "subcategory": "loans",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/car-depreciation-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/car-depreciation-calculator.md",
  "kind": "schedule",
  "method": "value after year 1 = price × (1 − first-year % ÷ 100); each later year, value = value × (1 − later % ÷ 100); depreciation = price − value.",
  "assumptions": [
    "You type the yearly percents; the page uses no market data. Look at prices of the same model at different ages to estimate them.",
    "The car loses the same percent of its remaining value every year after the first (declining balance), so the value never reaches 0 unless a rate is 100%.",
    "Mileage, condition, accidents and market swings are not included except through the percents you type.",
    "Percents are read to 10 decimal places; values are exact from there until the display, which rounds half up to the cent."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "price": {
        "title": "Price paid",
        "description": "What the car cost, or its value at the start.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "exclusiveMinimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "first": {
        "title": "Value lost in year 1",
        "description": "The percent of the price the car loses in its first year.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100
      },
      "later": {
        "title": "Value lost each later year",
        "description": "The percent of the remaining value the car loses in each year after the first.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "percent",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100
      },
      "years": {
        "title": "Years of ownership",
        "description": "How many years you keep the car.",
        "type": "integer",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 30
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "value": {
      "label": "Value at the end",
      "description": "The car’s value after the years of ownership.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "lost": {
      "label": "Total depreciation",
      "description": "The price minus the value at the end.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "lostPercent": {
      "label": "Share of the price lost",
      "description": "Total depreciation as a percent of the price.",
      "format": "percent"
    },
    "perYear": {
      "label": "Average depreciation a year",
      "description": "Total depreciation divided by the years.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "rate": {
      "label": "Average yearly rate",
      "description": "The one yearly percent that gives the same value at the end: 1 − (value ÷ price)^(1 ÷ years).",
      "format": "percent"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "price": 35000,
      "first": 20,
      "later": 15,
      "years": 5
    },
    "outputs": {
      "value": 14616.175,
      "lost": 20383.825,
      "lostPercent": 58.2395,
      "perYear": 4076.7650000000003,
      "rate": 16.024395660932576
    },
    "text": "A $35,000.00 car losing 20% in year 1 and 15% a year after that is worth $14,616.18 after 5 years."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "price": 35000,
        "first": 20,
        "later": 15,
        "years": 5
      },
      "expect": {
        "value": 14616.175,
        "lost": 20383.825,
        "lostPercent": 58.2395,
        "perYear": 4076.765,
        "rate": 16.024395660932576
      },
      "source": "IRS Publication 946, How To Depreciate Property, Which Depreciation Method Applies (declining balance methods), https://www.irs.gov/publications/p946, retrieved 2026-10-01; hand calculation in content.mdx: 35,000 × 0.80 × 0.85⁴ = 14,616.175",
      "tolerance": 1e-9
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "price": 20000,
        "first": 10,
        "later": 10,
        "years": 3
      },
      "expect": {
        "value": 14580,
        "lost": 5420,
        "lostPercent": 27.1,
        "rate": 9.999999999999998
      },
      "source": "IRS Publication 946, How To Depreciate Property, Which Depreciation Method Applies (declining balance methods), https://www.irs.gov/publications/p946; hand calculation in content.mdx: 20,000 × 0.9³ = 14,580",
      "tolerance": 1e-9
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "price": 12500,
        "first": 0,
        "later": 0,
        "years": 2
      },
      "expect": {
        "value": 12500,
        "lost": 0,
        "rate": 0
      },
      "source": "IRS Publication 946, How To Depreciate Property, Which Depreciation Method Applies (declining balance methods), https://www.irs.gov/publications/p946; hand calculation in content.mdx: no loss keeps the price"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "IRS Publication 946, How To Depreciate Property, Which Depreciation Method Applies (declining balance methods under MACRS), retrieved 2026-10-01. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p946",
    "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Auto loans (planning the cost of a car), retrieved 2026-10-01. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/auto-loans/"
  ],
  "related": [
    "auto-loan",
    "car-affordability",
    "depreciation",
    "auto-lease"
  ],
  "changelog": []
}