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Out-the-Door Price Worksheet
$9.99One number, itemised, with the taxable amount working your state's trade-in rule live rather than leaving it to you to remember: four states with a sales tax credit nothing against a trade-in, and Ohio credits it against a new vehicle only. Checks a documentation fee against the nine statutory caps this site has confirmed, and is explicit that the other 41 states are unresearched rather than uncapped. Prices the F&I office as the optional extra it is, and adds the trade-in payoff back into the amount financed — because negative equity does not disappear when you trade the car, it moves into the new loan and accrues interest.
Format: Excel (.xlsx)
Look inside
Preview only — scroll to read it. The file you download is fully editable.
| Out-the-Door Price Worksheet | ||
| One number, itemised. Fill the blue cells and the taxable amount works your state's trade-in rule for you — including the four states that give no credit at all and Ohio's new-vehicles-only version. Anything you do not know yet, leave at zero and ask for it in writing before you sign. | ||
| Part 1 — The car | ||
| Vehicle / stock number | 2026 Sedan / STK-4417 | |
| Dealer | Example Motors | |
| Advertised price | 38000 | What the listing says. This is not the price. |
| Negotiated vehicle price | 38000 | What you actually agreed, before anything else. |
| New or used? 1 = new, 0 = used | 1 | Only matters in a state that restricts the trade-in credit to new vehicles. Ohio does; the row below handles it. |
| Part 2 — Your state's rules | ||
| Look these up once, from your state's own department of revenue or motor vehicles, and write them here. A salesperson is not the source for any of them. | ||
| State sales tax rate (%) | 5.75 | The STATE rate. If your county or city adds one, include it here and note that some states charge it where you live rather than where you buy. |
| Does the state credit a trade-in? 1 = yes, 0 = no | 1 | NO in California, Hawaii, Oklahoma and Virginia — those four charge tax on the full price however large your trade-in. Five more give no credit but have a 0% rate, so it costs nothing. |
| Credit restricted to NEW vehicles? 1 = yes, 0 = no | 1 | Ohio is the case this exists for. Set to 1 and buy used, and the credit disappears. |
| Hard dollar cap on the tax, if any | 0 | South Carolina caps its Infrastructure Maintenance Fee at $500. Leave at 0 for no cap. Yellow because almost nobody has one and a wrong value here quietly understates your tax. |
| Statutory doc fee cap, if your state has one | 0 | Nine confirmed: WA $200, CA $260, MI $280, MN $350, LA $425, PA $490, MO $620.79, MD $800; CT confirmed none. The other 41 are unresearched here, which is NOT the same as uncapped — check your own state. Leave at 0 if unknown. |
| Part 3 — The trade-in | ||
| Trade-in allowance offered | 12000 | |
| Payoff still owed on it | 4000 | From a ten-day payoff quote, not from a statement. The statement balance is out of date the day it prints. |
| Your equity in it | ƒx | Negative means you are underwater, and the difference gets financed into the new loan. Part 7 prices that. |
| Independent valuation — source 1 | 11500 | Two sources, before you hear the dealer's number. An allowance is only generous relative to something. |
| Independent valuation — source 2 | 12400 | |
| Part 4 — What tax is actually charged on | ||
| Trade-in credit you actually get | ƒx | Zero if your state gives no credit, zero if the credit is new-only and you are buying used, otherwise the allowance (capped at the price). |
| TAXABLE AMOUNT | ƒx | Check the dealer's tax line is computed on THIS figure. It is the single most valuable check on the page. |
| Sales tax before any cap | ƒx | |
| Sales tax owed | ƒx | |
| Extra tax caused by no trade-in credit | ƒx | What the trade-in credit would have saved you, and did not. Statute, not negotiation — but it changes whether trading in beats selling privately. |
| Part 5 — The fees, line by line | ||
| Every line here should appear on an itemised quote. A fee you cannot get a name for is a fee to question. | ||
| Documentation fee | 250 | |
| Over your state's cap by | ƒx | Ask about it as a question — "my understanding is the cap is X, can you show me where this comes from?" — not as an accusation. In a capped state it is usually corrected without argument. |
| Title fee | 15 | Your DMV publishes it. Ranges from a few dollars to a couple of hundred. |
| Registration | 235 | Often a function of weight or value rather than a flat figure. |
| Destination / freight | 0 | A real manufacturer charge, on the window sticker. |
| Dealer prep | 0 | Frequently the same work as destination, billed twice. Negotiable. |
| Advertising fee | 0 | Ask to see it on the invoice. If it is not there it is not a pass-through. |
| Other fee — name it: ____________ | 0 | |
| Other fee — name it: ____________ | 0 | |
| Total fees | ƒx | |
| Part 6 — The out-the-door number | ||
| OUT THE DOOR | ƒx | Vehicle price plus tax plus every fee. This is the only figure worth comparing between dealers. |
| Gap over the advertised price | ƒx | |
| As a share of the advertised price | ƒx | |
| Part 7 — Financing | ||
| Cash down payment | 0 | |
| Rebate applied | 0 | If you took a rebate instead of promotional financing. Note some states tax the price before the rebate. |
| Amount financed | ƒx | Out the door, less cash and rebate, less the trade allowance, PLUS whatever is still owed on the trade. That last term is the negative equity moving into this loan. |
| Interest rate (%) | 6.9 | From a pre-approval you already hold, ideally. Then let the dealer try to beat it. |
| Term (months) | 60 | The shortest you can genuinely sustain. A longer term lowers the payment and raises the cost, and keeps you underwater longer. |
| Monthly payment | ƒx |
Preview shows the first 60 rows. The full worksheet continues for 36 more — the complete worksheet is in the download.
This template is general information, not financial, legal, or tax advice.