Methodology

Every number the checker can mark red comes from an official statute, fee chart, or agency page, and it carries the source address and the date it was checked. The current release is bundled-2026-10-24, reviewed October 24, 2026. The sources page lists those addresses.

What can turn red

• A doc fee over a verified hard cap, over a verified lesser-of cap, or over the top of a verified partner band.
• Sales tax computed on a base the verified rule does not allow, such as California tax after a trade-in, or Florida county surtax on the full price when the county rate is known.
• A government fee above the verified maximum, past the tolerance.
• A doc fee labeled as a government fee where the state says it cannot be presented that way.
• An out-the-door total that does not equal its own lines, beyond one dollar.

What stays yellow

Unverified fee codes, a doc fee in a state with no verified cap, a local tax rate you have not entered, and a formula that needs a weight or MSRP you did not provide. Yellow is a gap in the evidence. It is not a finding that the dealer is wrong, and it is not a finding that the dealer is right.

Tolerances

Tax may differ from the computed amount by the greater of $5 or 0.5 percent of the expected tax. A government fee may exceed the verified maximum by the greater of $10 or 5 percent of that maximum before it is flagged high. Those allowances cover rounding and small statutory add-ons that are not their own line. They do not excuse a fee over a verified cap.

What this release deliberately leaves out

A figure is omitted when the official page was not confirmed for this release, even if a secondary article states it. In the calculator, any fee we could not confirm (for example some registration amounts that depend on horsepower, county, or vehicle value) appears as a field you fill in from the linked official page, never as a guessed dollar amount.

Estimates from official sources as of October 24, 2026; not legal or tax advice; confirm with your DMV.