Part of the joy of driving is picking your ideal vehicle to get you from A to B in style, whether that’s choosing a comfortable ride or something a little sportier for your journeys. No matter what type of car you own, you’ll have a number of expenses to factor into the annual cost of running it, which can be hard to work out if you don’t have access to the information you need.

That’s where the Money Advice Service comes in – you can take advantage of their different budgeting tools, like their Car Cost Calculator which can help you to understand how much the running costs for different types of cars can be.

Not only is this great for getting an idea of how much your car will cost to run each year, including your yearly expenses for things like road tax and car insurance, but it’s especially useful when you’re looking at new cars so you can work out the real cost of buying a new car.

This is because things like your car insurance will fluctuate in price according to the type of car you drive in addition to what you’re like as a driver, so a £12,000 car with a powerful engine could cost considerably more to insure when compared to a £5,000 run-around.

The car cost calculator can show you a wide range of information about your car or car you’d like to purchase, from the annual average fuel costs to the insurance bracket and road tax costs for that particular make and model within a specific age bracket.

One of the main benefits to using a car finance calculator tool is getting a sense of whether you can afford the upkeep of a new vehicle you’ve been looking at. Buying a new car that costs you more than you can afford to keep on the road isn’t a worthwhile investment, so using a car cost calculator can help you make the right decision when it comes to buying a new car.

You can also use the tool to look at the information about your current car to see whether you’re potentially paying more than average for your car insurance, allowing you to switch to a different provider and save money on running your current car. Alternatively, if you’re looking to sell your current car then the tool can even show you the estimated value of your vehicle, meaning you can make an informed decision on how much you could potentially get for it.

It’s quick and easy to look up the details for your vehicle using the Car Cost Calculator – all you need to do is enter your car registration number if your car is less than 5 years old, or you can select your car’s make and model information from the drop down boxes.

If you are paying more than average for your car insurance then using a price comparison tool can be a big help – like Asda Car Insurance which compares quotes from the UK’s leading providers.

The Money Advice Service is an independent service, set up by government to help people make the most of their money, they give free, unbiased money advice to everyone across the UK – online, over the phone and webchat.