A $15K budget. A $750 buffer. A better stopping number.
Set aside the cash you want to keep after pickup before you decide what to pay for the car. Here is the whole calculation—and the same tool to change it.
Separate the reserve from the purchase budget.
Assume you have $15,000.00 available and choose to keep $750.00 untouched for unplanned expenses after pickup. That leaves $14,250.00 for the vehicle and purchase costs. The reserve is your choice; $750.00 is not a recommended repair allowance or a promise that it covers what the car needs.
Get an independent inspection and actual cost quotes. A reserve is not a substitute for checking condition, ownership or the transfer process.
- Total cash available
- $15,000.00
- Separate reserve you keep
- $750.00
- Purchase budget entered below
- $14,250.00
Show every line on the bill.
This sample is a third-party sale. It uses $250.00 inspection, $600.00 delivery, $150.00 transfer-provider costs, no other seller charges and a hypothetical $900.00 government-charge amount. That $900.00 is a placeholder, not a tax quote or a rate for any location. Obtain a quote that applies to the actual vehicle, price and transaction.
- Vehicle price at the ceiling
- $11,761.90
- WAA third-party buyer fee
- $588.10
- Independent inspection
- $250.00
- Transport / travel
- $600.00
- Transfer provider
- $150.00
- Entered tax, title and registration
- $900.00
- Total purchase spend
- $14,250.00
- Reserve left outside the purchase
- $750.00
$11,761.90 + $588.10 + $1,900.00 = $14,250.00. Add the separate $750.00 reserve and all $15,000.00 is accounted for.
The buyer fee is calculated at the vehicle ceiling; it is not 5% of your total cash. The existing model handles its minimum, maximum and cent rounding. If the actual seller is GVE, select that seller type—the WAA buyer fee is zero. Do not choose it just to make the numbers fit.
$12,476.19 → $11,761.90
With the same entered costs and no separate reserve, the ceiling would be $12,476.19. Keeping $750.00 back lowers the vehicle ceiling by $714.29 and the buyer fee by $35.71. Together, those two reductions keep exactly $750.00 out of the purchase.
Run it with your quotes.
- Start with cash you can actually use. Choose the reserve you want to leave untouched.
- Subtract that reserve once. Enter the remaining amount as Your purchase budget.
- Replace inspection, delivery, transfer and seller charges with actual quotes. Enter applicable government charges; if unknown, leave that field blank and treat the result as incomplete.
- Confirm the actual seller type. Review the buyer-fee line and any additional seller paperwork.
- Recheck the calculation when a quote changes. If the numbers do not fit, change your plan before committing.
The example below starts at $14,250.00, after the reserve. Its purchase budget and government costs differ from the original Bid Budget sample. Reset sample returns to this guide’s inputs. If you change your reserve, adjust the purchase budget yourself.
This vehicle price + known costs: $14,250.00
$0.00 left in your budget
- Vehicle price
- $11,761.90
- WAA buyer fee
- $588.10
- Other entered costs
- $1,900.00
Includes the government-charge amount you entered; verify the actual quote.
Hypothetical inputs: the $14,250 purchase budget already excludes a separate $750 reserve from $15,000 total cash. This calculator does not subtract that reserve again. The $900 government-charge amount is a placeholder, not a tax rate or jurisdiction quote. Replace every cost with your actual quote. Changing the purchase budget here does not update your separate reserve. WAA’s third-party buyer fee is 5%, with a $250 minimum and $7,500 maximum; GVE-owned sales have no WAA buyer fee.
Bring the numbers. Bring the questions.
Use the buyer checklist alongside the budget. These tools do not establish a vehicle’s value, availability or condition. Public bidding is currently disabled.