Can I afford this car in South Africa?

The number on the dealer printout is the debit order. It is real, and it is not the cost of having the car. Insurance still comes off, fuel still goes in the tank, and a service or a set of tyres arrives whether or not the finance term is 72 months. If you only check the instalment against your salary, you can sign a car the rest of the month cannot carry.

Judge the whole month, not the debit order

A useful affordability check adds five things: the bank instalment, comprehensive insurance, fuel, a maintenance set-aside, and the smaller bits (licence disc, tracking, parking, tolls). That total is what has to fit. The instalment on its own will almost always look kinder, which is why it is the number a quote leads with.

FinWise uses a household rule of thumb, not a bank score. If the full monthly car cost is at or under 15% of take-home pay, call it a yes. If it is over 15% and at or under 20%, it is a stretch: possible, and tight. Over 20% is not on these numbers. Take-home means what lands after PAYE and UIF, not the gross figure on the contract.

Banks do their own affordability assessment under the National Credit Act. This 15% and 20% split does not replace that, and it is not a promise that a lender will say yes. It is a way to see whether the car crowds out rent, food, and saving before you sit down with a finance house.

A worked example in rands

Take a car with a cash price of R280,000, a deposit of R28,000 (10%), and a 72-month loan at an illustrative 12.75%. That rate is September 2026 prime of 10.75% plus 2 percentage points. It is a planning ballpark for vehicle finance, not a quote. Many used-car rates sit higher. There is no balloon in this example.

The amount financed is R252,000. The bank instalment is about R5,025 a month. On a take-home salary of R45,000, that instalment alone is 11.2% of pay. Plenty of people would stop there and call the car affordable.

The rest of a normal month, as an illustration you should replace:

The full cost is about R8,575 a month, 19.1% of take-home. That is a stretch: R1,825 over the 15% comfortable line, and R425 under the 20% ceiling. The instalment looked fine. Insurance and fuel are what pushed it.

Interest over the 72 months is about R109,835. All in, deposit plus bank repayments plus running costs, the term costs about R645,435. Keeping the same deposit, rate, and running costs, a cash price of about R188,462 would sit on the 15% line, and about R301,287 would sit on the 20% ceiling.

What a longer term does to the same car

54, 60, and 72 months are the terms you will actually be offered. 48 months is on the table below because it shows the trade. A longer term cuts the debit order. It does not cut insurance or fuel, and it increases the interest you pay the bank. On this illustration the 72-month deal is the only one that stays inside the 20% ceiling. The shorter terms are a clearer no, even though they are the cheaper loans.

If the only way the car "fits" is 72 months, read that as a warning about the price, not as proof that 72 months is a bargain. You can still choose the longer term. Just do it knowing the interest, not only the debit order. Change the term in the calculator and the same table updates for your car.

Deposit, and the balloon at the end

A deposit reduces what you borrow. It does not reduce the insurance or the fuel. Ten percent is a common illustration, not a rule. If you have more cash, the instalment falls and the interest falls with it. If the deposit covers the cash price, you are left with the running costs only, which is often the honest test of a cheaper car.

A balloon, or residual, is the other lever dealers use. You borrow the price minus the deposit, but a chunk is left due at the end. The monthly instalment drops because you are not paying that chunk off along the way. You still owe it. You pay interest on it every month, and then you refinance it, pay it in cash, or hope the trade-in covers it.

The calculator does not treat that hope as a plan. If you enter a balloon, the bank instalment includes the monthly interest on the residual, and the affordability total also sets the balloon aside across the term (balloon divided by the number of months). Turn the set-aside off in your own head only if you already have a buyer or a trade-in you trust. The tool will not do that for you.

Insurance, fuel, and maintenance are not extras

While the car is financed, comprehensive cover is the usual expectation, not a nice-to-have. Get a quote for this car, this driver, and this excess. A guess of a few hundred rand is how a stretch becomes a no after you have signed. Tracking, which some insurers want above a certain value, belongs in other car costs if it is not already inside the premium.

Fuel is the line that moves without a new contract. A rate decision and a petrol price rise can land in the same month. The September 2026 hike note walks through that double hit: prime went to 10.75%, and anything linked to prime, including a lot of car finance, repriced. The rate hike calculator turns your balance and remaining term into a new instalment. It does not reprice your fuel. Keep that as its own line here.

Maintenance should be a set-aside, not a surprise. A new car on a service plan can justify a smaller number. An older car should be larger, even when the purchase price is the thing that made it look affordable. Tyres are not optional. Neither is a licence disc.

New or used is a rate and a repair question

The calculator does not have a new-or-used switch, because the cash price already carries that choice. What changes around it is the rate and the repair bill. A new car is often priced closer to prime. A used car is often a few points higher, and the maintenance line should not stay at the new-car number. If you only drop the price and leave the rate and the service fund alone, the tool will be kind to a car that will not be kind to you.

Initiation fees, monthly admin fees, and VAT on those fees are not given their own row. They are real. Add them to the cash price, or to other car costs, before you trust the verdict. The same goes for a warranted extra the dealer has already folded into the amount financed.

Before you sign

A car that passes the 15% line can still be a bad idea if the rest of the month is already borrowed. Clear the expensive debt first: credit cards, store accounts, personal loans. The debt payoff calculator compares avalanche and snowball on those balances. Keep an emergency fund you can reach without selling the car. A financed car is a poor emergency fund.

Housing still has to fit beside the car. If you are also deciding whether to rent or buy, the rent vs buy calculator is the earlier question. If you want the whole lifestyle, car included, turned into a gross salary after PAYE, use the salary you actually need.

A stretch can still be a yes for a household that needs the car for work, as long as the rand gap is a choice and not a surprise. The calculator will keep showing the gap. You are allowed to pick the tighter number on purpose. You are not required to pretend a 72-month balloon deal is cheap because the debit order fits on one line.

Put your quote in the calculator, then track the month

The R280,000 example is a sketch so the steps are visible. Your rate, your excess, and the kilometres you actually drive are the numbers that matter. A higher rate, a balloon, or a fuel bill from a long commute can flip a stretch into a no without changing the cash price on the windscreen.

Can I afford this car?

This is a planning aid, not financial, credit, tax, or insurance advice. The 15% and 20% lines are household rules of thumb. A lender, and the National Credit Act assessment they run, can reach a different answer on the same payslip.