Free tool
Fleet cost planner
Plan the finance for one vehicle or a whole fleet: the amount to borrow, the split per vehicle, what a balloon does to it, and a replacement timeline you can actually budget around.
Amount to finance
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Total purchase
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Per vehicle financed
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Balloon due at end
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Principal paid down / month
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Before interest and fees
Your replacement timeline
Twelve years from your first purchase. Each row is a wave of vehicles.
Buy purchase or replacement Term ends finance paid off Balloon lump sum due Owned no finance, running on
General planning estimate only — not a quote or an offer of finance. Figures exclude interest and fees unless you add charges from a quote. Talk to your accountant about GST credits, depreciation and other tax treatment.
What the fleet cost planner works out
Most vehicle finance calculators start with an interest rate and spit out a repayment. The trouble is that the rate is the one number you don't know until a lender has looked at your business — and a made-up rate makes the answer look more precise than it is. This planner does the opposite. It works out the parts of the deal you control and can plan around today.
- Amount to finance. The number of vehicles multiplied by the price of each, less your deposit and any trade-in value. This is the figure to put in your enquiry.
- The split per vehicle. Lenders assess each vehicle as security, so it helps to know what's being financed against each one, especially if you're mixing new and used.
- The balloon effect. A balloon (or residual) leaves a lump sum owing at the end of the term. The bars show how much of the loan you'd pay down during the term with and without it.
- Principal paid down each month. The amount financed, less any balloon, spread evenly over the term. Your actual repayment adds interest and fees on top — but this is the floor your cash flow has to carry.
- A replacement timeline. When each wave of vehicles is bought, when the finance ends or the balloon falls due, and when it's time to replace — over twelve years.
How to read the replacement timeline
Fleet managers think in cycles, not single purchases. If you buy four vans this year on a five-year term and plan to replace them at five years, the timeline shows the term ending and the next purchase landing in the same year — tidy. If you add a 30% balloon, that year also carries a lump sum for every van at once, which is usually covered by the trade-in value of the outgoing vehicles or by refinancing the balloon. Whether that works depends on what the vans are worth by then, so be conservative.
Change "Buy the vehicles in" to two or three waves and watch the pressure spread out. Staggered buying is one of the simplest ways to keep a fleet affordable: one wave is always new, one is mid-life and one is approaching changeover. Our guide to setting a fleet replacement cycle goes deeper on when to swap vehicles out.
Using your numbers in an enquiry
When you're ready, the most useful things to tell us are the amount to finance, how many vehicles, whether they're new or used, who you're buying from and whether you want a balloon. If you have a dealer quote or tax invoice, have it handy — approval and settlement can move quickly when the invoice, your ID and recent bank statements are ready, and next-business-day settlement is possible for straightforward applications.
Not sure which structure to pick? Read about the chattel mortgage, the finance lease and hire purchase, or financing several vehicles at once. Then start a 60-second enquiry — there's no credit check to enquire, your details stay with one specialist rather than a list of lenders, and a real person calls you. Please fill the form in accurately so the first conversation can be a useful one.
Frequently asked questions
Why doesn't the planner ask for an interest rate?
Because every vehicle finance deal is priced on the business, the vehicle and the structure, and a guessed rate gives you a false sense of the cost. The planner works out the parts you control — how much you borrow, how much sits in a balloon and when vehicles fall due — and lets you add the finance charges from a real quote if you have one.
Is the balloon worked out on the price or on the amount financed?
In this planner the balloon is a percentage of each vehicle's purchase price, which is how many lenders quote it. Some lenders calculate it differently, and most set a maximum balloon based on the vehicle type, its age and the term, so treat the figure as a planning number.
What does 'principal paid down each month' mean?
It's the part of the amount financed that has to be repaid through regular instalments, spread evenly over the term. Your actual repayment will be higher because it also includes interest and any fees, and the split between principal and interest changes over the life of the loan.
Why stagger vehicle purchases?
If every vehicle is bought in the same month, every vehicle also needs replacing in the same month — along with every balloon falling due together. Buying in waves spreads the cash flow, the downtime and the admin, and gives you a chance to learn from the first wave before committing to the next.
Should the replacement cycle match the finance term?
It doesn't have to, but it's simpler when it does. Replacing before the term ends means paying out the remaining balance at changeover, while keeping vehicles well beyond the term means higher maintenance in the later years. The timeline shows where your plan creates overlaps.
Is the result an offer of finance?
No. It's a planning estimate to help you work out how much to ask for and how to structure it. A specialist confirms what's possible after looking at your business, the vehicles and the lender's criteria.
Numbers worked out? Let's get the vehicles financed.
One short enquiry, no credit check when you first enquire, and a real person who calls you back with options that fit.
No credit check to ask
One enquiry, not twenty
A real person on the phone