Accurately calculating your vehicle's depreciation costs can be important whether you are trying to obtain a good idea of how to claim depreciation on a tax return or just trying to figure out what a good sale price might be. Vehicle depreciation may be calculated using accelerated depreciation factors. This fact makes it challenging to figure out the rate of depreciation of your vehicle. You can determine the amount of depreciation of your vehicle by collecting some information about it and taking advantage of resources available on the Internet.
Collect the data you will need to determine the depreciation of your vehicle. This includes the age of the car, value at the time of purchase, number of years you have owned the vehicle, the projected lifespan of the vehicle and its salvage value.
Determine the rate at which your vehicle will depreciate. According to published sources such as Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds.com, certain vehicles have high rates of depreciation while others better maintain their value over time. You may wish to use these sources in order to determine if your vehicle is depreciating at a high, medium or low rate of depreciation.
Use a car depreciation calculator such as the ones offered by Money-Zine.com or Caprice.com. See "Resources" for links to these tools.
Verify the results of the depreciation calculator by pricing your vehicle for sale or trade-in at an online service such as Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds.com (See "References" for links to both sites). This pricing service should not only provide an idea of the accuracy of the depreciation calculation but also take into account factors such as the condition of the vehicle.
