The Full Cost answers one question — what does this actually cost? — for big purchases and long commitments, starting with cars. Every guide, comparison, and calculator is built on cost data we can trace to a primary source, and on arithmetic you could redo yourself.
The site is published by Vitalitas LLC. It is a small, independent publisher — not a large newsroom and not a panel of named experts, and we won't pretend otherwise. What we can stand behind is the sourcing and the math.
How we work
Numbers come from primary sources, and we cite them. Cost figures trace back to the originating source — government data, manufacturer and lender disclosures, established industry datasets — and we name or link that source so you can check it yourself.
Models are labeled as models. When a figure is the output of a calculator or projection rather than an observed number — a multi-year cost estimate, say — we say so, and we show the assumptions that drive it. A modeled estimate is not a measurement, and we don't dress one up as the other.
We drop what we can't trace. If a number is widely repeated but we can't follow it back to a credible source, we leave it out rather than launder it. That sometimes means a guide says less than the ones that fill space with unsourced figures. We think that's the right trade.
The arithmetic is real, not a score. We don't reduce decisions to invented ratings or "trust scores." The calculators do plain, inspectable math on the inputs you give them, and run entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is sent to us.
Corrections
If you find a number you think is wrong, or a source that doesn't hold up, tell us — corrections are welcome at [email protected]. Getting the figures right matters more to us than being first.