Flightline Foundry · Car-Buying Tools

Negative Equity Visualizer

Finance taxes, fees, and add-ons with nothing down and you start the loan above what the car is worth. The red zone below is the gap between your loan payoff and what a dealer would actually give you on trade. Scrub the timeline to watch it shrink, and find the month you get above water.

Deal Inputs

Purchase price

Down payment

APR

Loan term

ZIP code (tax, title & fees)

Rough estimate: state-average sales tax + typical title, registration & doc fees. Financed into the loan.

Warranty / add-ons financed

Extended warranty, GAP, protection packages rolled into the loan.

Negative equity rolled in from trade

Amount you still owed on your last car that got added to this loan.

Depreciation profile

Annual mileage

Higher mileage steepens both value curves.

Amount financed vs. price

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Peak negative equity

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Above water

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Total interest paid

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Timeline

Mo 0

Loan payoff

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Retail value

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Trade-in value

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Negative equity

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Loan payoff (what you owe)

Retail value (dealer sells it for)

Trade-in / wholesale (you get on trade)

Purchase price reference

Negative equity zone

How the estimates work: Tax, title & fees use state-average combined sales tax by ZIP prefix plus a typical title/registration/doc fee bundle; actual costs vary by county and dealer. Depreciation uses standardized curves (steep first-year drop, tapering after), adjusted for mileage; real vehicles vary by make, model, and condition. Trade-in value is modeled at ~13% below retail, the typical wholesale spread. This tool is for education, not an appraisal or lending quote.