Auto Loan Calculator

This auto loan calculator finds your monthly car payment before you visit a dealer or lender. Enter the vehicle price, your down payment, any trade-in value, the loan term in years and the APR, and it returns your fixed monthly payment, the amount you actually finance, the total interest you will pay and the total of all payments.

The math uses the standard amortization formula that lenders use for fixed-rate car loans, and every step is shown beside the answer. Run two loan offers through it the same way to see which one really costs less. A car loan calculator gives the same payment from the loan amount alone when you already know it.

Monthly payment = P × r × (1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1). P is the loan amount, which is the vehicle price minus the down payment and the trade-in value. r is the monthly interest rate (the APR divided by 12) and n is the number of monthly payments (the term in years × 12). The formula solves for one fixed payment that clears the loan exactly at the end of the term.

At a 0% APR there is no interest to divide, so the payment is simply the loan amount divided by the number of months. Carmaker promotional financing is the common case where you will see 0%.

Buy a $30,000 car with a $5,000 down payment and a $2,000 trade-in. The loan amount is 30000 − 5000 − 2000 = $23,000. The monthly rate is 0.07 ÷ 12 = 0.0058333, and 5 years gives 60 monthly payments.

M = 23000 × 0.0058333 × 1.0058333^60 ÷ (1.0058333^60 − 1) = $455.43 a month. Over 60 payments you hand over 455.43 × 60 = $27,325.80, so the loan costs $27,325.80 − $23,000 = $4,325.80 in total interest.

Try it above with price 30000, down payment 5000, trade-in 2000, term 5 years and APR 7, and you will see the same four numbers with every step shown.

1. Type the vehicle price in dollars, for example 30000.
2. Type your down payment in dollars, for example 5000. Enter 0 if you have no down payment.
3. Type the trade-in value in dollars, for example 2000. Enter 0 if you have no trade-in.
4. Pick the loan term in years, from 2 to 7. Five years is the most common choice.
5. Type the APR as a percent, for example 7. Use the rate from the offer, not the monthly figure the dealer quotes.
6. Press Calculate. The monthly payment appears first and large, then the loan amount financed, the total interest and the total of all payments, followed by the step-by-step math.

A bigger down payment shrinks the loan amount, and every dollar it removes also removes the interest that dollar would have charged. On a $30,000 car at 7% APR over 5 years with no trade-in, the payment moves like this.

Moving from $2,000 to $10,000 down cuts the payment by $158.41 a month and saves $1,504.60 in interest. A down payment calculator shows how different down amounts change the loan size before you run the payment here.

A longer term cuts the monthly payment but stretches the interest over more months. The rate stays the same, yet the total cost moves a lot. Here is the worked example loan of $23,000 at 7% across three common terms.

The 7-year term feels cheaper month to month, yet it costs $3,592.80 more in interest than the 3-year term. Pick the shortest term whose payment you can make every month without strain. Terms rarely go past 7 years because the car can end up worth less than what you still owe.

Every payment stays the same, but the split inside it shifts. Each month you pay interest on the balance you still owe, and the rest comes off the loan. Early on the balance is at its largest, so interest eats the biggest share of the payment.

On the $23,000 example at 7%, the first payment of $455.43 breaks into $134.17 of interest and $321.26 of principal. By the final payment the balance is tiny, so almost the whole $455.43 clears principal. A personal loan calculator uses the same amortization math, so the pattern looks identical there.

This calculator gives an estimate for planning. Actual terms come from your lender.