Free Auto Loan Calculator

Don't Shop for a Car by Monthly Payment Alone

Car shopping can get weird really fast because the conversation can go from "How much is the car?" to "What monthly payment are you trying to be at?" Those are not the same question.

Let's say one car deal is $600 per month for 60 months and another is $500 per month for 84 months. The second payment looks cheaper. But you are making that payment for two additional years.

That is why this Auto Loan Calculator is built to show the entire deal instead of giving you one pretty monthly number. The questions should be: What is the vehicle price? How much am I actually financing? What got added to that amount? What is my payment? How long am I paying it? How much interest am I paying? What does the whole loan cost?

CFPB specifically recommends comparing auto-loan offers using more than the monthly payment because the loan term and other costs can materially change what you ultimately pay.

Start With the Vehicle Price, Not the Payment

Suppose the vehicle price is $32,000. You have $5,000 cash down and no trade. Before tax or other charges, that means $32,000 minus $5,000, or $27,000 left to finance.

At 6.5% for 60 months, the estimated payment on $27,000 is about $528 per month. Across the 60 payments, you would pay approximately $31,697 toward the loan. About $4,697 of that is interest.

Now you know something much more useful than "My payment is $528."

The Car Price and the Amount Financed Can Be Completely Different Numbers

This is where buyers can get confused. Imagine the vehicle is $32,000. Then the deal includes sales tax, registration, title fees, dealer fees, a service contract, GAP, and maybe negative equity from the old car. Suddenly the loan could be larger than the vehicle's negotiated price.

That is not mathematically strange. It means additional costs were financed. The calculator should show exactly what was added instead of hiding everything inside one amount-financed number.

If you see vehicle price $32,000 and amount financed $38,000, your next question should be: where did the other $6,000 come from? That is exactly what the Deal Breakdown is for.

Down Payment: What Does It Actually Change?

A cash down payment lowers the amount that needs to be financed. CFPB explains that the more money you put down, the less you generally need to borrow.

Let's keep everything else the same. Vehicle price: $32,000. With $2,000 down, $30,000 remains before other transaction costs. With $5,000 down, $27,000 remains. With $10,000 down, $22,000 remains.

A smaller starting loan generally means less principal generating interest. That does not mean the calculator should tell everybody to empty their savings into the dealership. A bigger down payment uses more cash today. If you want to see whether the payment fits your monthly finances without draining the rest of your plan, use the Budget Calculator.

Your Trade-In Is Not Just One Number

This is probably one of the most important upgrades to this calculator. A trade-in has at least two numbers that matter: what the vehicle is worth in the transaction, and what you still owe on it.

Suppose the dealer offers $18,000 for your trade. You still owe $12,000. That leaves $6,000 of positive trade equity. Now switch it. Trade value $18,000, loan payoff $22,000. Now you're upside down by $4,000. That is negative equity.

CFPB describes negative equity as the situation where the amount owed on the old vehicle exceeds the value received for it. If the unpaid balance is rolled into the next loan, the new auto loan becomes more expensive. That is why this calculator does not use one little field that simply says "Trade-In: $18,000." It asks for both sides of the trade.

What Happens When Negative Equity Gets Rolled Into the New Car?

Let's use a simple example. New vehicle: $35,000. Trade value: $15,000. Old loan payoff: $20,000. Negative equity: $5,000.

Ignoring other costs for the moment, the new financing can effectively begin with $35,000 plus $5,000, or $40,000, before the new taxes, fees, down payment, and other adjustments are considered. You are now financing more than the new vehicle's price because part of the old loan came with you. That is information this calculator displays clearly, not buried. FTC also cautions buyers to understand negative equity when trading a vehicle that still has a loan balance.

Why the Loan Term Can Make a Payment Look Better Than the Deal Really Is

This is where term comparisons become extremely useful. Let's finance $30,000 at 6.9%. At 36 months, the payment is about $925 and total interest is roughly $3,298. At 60 months, the payment falls to around $593, but interest rises to roughly $5,557. At 72 months, the payment falls again to about $510, and interest grows to approximately $6,722. At 84 months, the payment is about $451, with estimated interest of about $7,910.

So yes, the payment got smaller. The car did not become cheaper. You simply stretched the same debt across more months. CFPB makes the same basic point in its auto-loan guidance: longer terms may lower monthly payment while increasing total loan cost. That is why the term comparison sits directly beneath the result on this page.

Does That Mean a 72- or 84-Month Loan Is Automatically Wrong?

No. That is not what this calculator is here to tell you. It shows the payment, total interest, time in debt, and amount financed. Then you decide whether the tradeoff makes sense for your situation. What this calculator avoids is letting the monthly payment hide the tradeoff.

What Does APR Do to Your Car Payment?

APR, or the rate assumption you enter, affects the cost of financing. Take the same amount financed and same term. Change only the APR. The payment changes. The total interest changes. That is why a difference of one or two percentage points can matter, especially when the amount financed is large.

CFPB encourages consumers to compare auto-loan offers, and interest rate is one of the terms that can be negotiated or compared. The APR comparison on this page is not trying to tell you what rate you'll qualify for. It answers: what would the math look like if the rate were different?

Dealer Financing Is Not Your Only Financing Option

You can finance a vehicle through a dealership, bank, credit union, or other lender depending on what is available to you. FTC recommends shopping around for financing rather than assuming the dealership's financing offer is the only option. That means you can come to the dealership knowing "I already have an offer at X rate for X months." Now you're comparing numbers instead of beginning the financing conversation from scratch.

What Are Dealer Add-Ons?

Toward the end of the deal, you may be offered products such as service contracts, extended warranties, GAP products, window etching, protection products, maintenance plans, or other extras. Some may be useful to a particular buyer. Some may not. The important thing for this calculator is understanding the financing impact.

FTC says auto add-ons are optional products or services and notes that they can add meaningful cost to the purchase. Suppose an add-on costs $2,000. If you finance it rather than pay cash, the amount financed rises by $2,000. Now you are not only paying the $2,000 purchase price of the product. You may also pay interest on that $2,000 while it remains in the loan. That is why this calculator lets you add and remove financed add-ons and immediately see what happens.

What Is GAP?

Guaranteed Asset Protection, usually called GAP, is intended to address a particular problem. If a financed vehicle is totaled or stolen, the auto insurer generally pays based on the vehicle's covered value, which may be less than the amount still owed on the loan. CFPB describes GAP as an optional product intended to cover some or all of that difference depending on the contract.

This calculator does not tell you that you need GAP. It simply lets you include the cost if you intentionally plan to finance it.

What About Sales Tax?

Vehicle tax calculations can be more complicated than car price times state sales-tax rate. Rules can differ by state and locality. Trade-ins may affect the taxable amount differently. Rebates may be treated differently. Fees may or may not be taxable.

That is why this page allows either a percentage planning estimate or the actual dollar tax amount from a dealer quote. If you already have a dealer worksheet showing sales tax of $2,184, enter the dollar amount. That avoids pretending this calculator knows the exact vehicle tax rules for every transaction in the country. For a simple retail-tax calculation separate from a vehicle deal, use the Sales Tax Calculator.

Fees Matter Too

The monthly payment can also include the effect of financed registration costs, title costs, documentation and dealer fees, and other charges. Not every fee is negotiable. Not every fee is government-required. Not every fee is the same everywhere.

The point of this calculator is not to judge the fee. It is to show you what the fee does if it is being added to the financing. FTC recommends reviewing the sales and financing agreements and asking questions about charges or add-ons you do not recognize.

Why Is My Amount Financed Higher Than the Vehicle Price?

Now you know. Possible reasons include negative trade equity, sales tax, registration and title charges, dealer fees, financed add-ons, and other financed charges.

Suppose the car costs $30,000. You put nothing down. Then $2,000 sales tax, $500 fees, $2,000 service contract, and $3,000 negative equity are added. Now the amount financed could be around $37,500, depending on the transaction. The car did not secretly become a $37,500 vehicle. The loan became $37,500 because other costs were added. That distinction matters.

What Is Loan-to-Value?

You may hear lenders talk about LTV. CFPB defines auto-loan loan-to-value as the loan amount divided by the vehicle's actual cash value. This calculator does not assume the purchase price is necessarily the lender's official vehicle value, but it can still show Amount Financed as a Percentage of Vehicle Price.

If your amount financed is $36,000 on a $30,000 vehicle, the financing equals about 120% of the purchase price. That tells you immediately that the loan contains more than the vehicle price alone. Lenders may calculate official loan-to-value using the vehicle's actual cash value rather than the purchase price.

Can I Pay an Auto Loan Off Early?

Possibly, but check the contract. Some auto loans may contain prepayment penalties, depending on the agreement and applicable law. CFPB recommends reviewing the contract to determine whether paying the loan off early triggers a penalty.

If there is no relevant penalty and extra payments are applied toward principal as intended, reducing principal faster can reduce future interest. That is why the calculator can include an optional extra-payment scenario. But it stays optional. This is not the Debt Payoff Calculator.

What If I Pay $100 Extra Each Month?

The calculator shows the actual difference, not just "pay extra because it's smart." Instead: original payoff X months, with $100 extra Y months, estimated interest difference $Z. Now you have something you can compare. CFPB explains that paying principal down faster can reduce the interest paid over time.

Cash Rebate or Low APR?

Sometimes buyers may encounter different incentive structures. One offer might reduce the purchase amount. Another might offer promotional financing. There is no generic rule saying one is always better.

If the actual offers are known, you can model both scenarios separately: vehicle price after applicable rebate at the regular APR, versus no rebate at a promotional APR. Then compare amount financed, payment, total interest, and total cost represented by the financing. Let the math show the tradeoff.

The Payment Is Only Part of What the Car Costs Every Month

Even if the financing looks comfortable, the vehicle may still require auto insurance, fuel, charging, maintenance, parking, tolls, registration, repairs, and other costs. Those are not part of this Auto Loan Calculator because they are not all part of the loan.

Once you have the payment, take it to the Budget Calculator and see what happens when the rest of your real expenses are included. That answers the question the dealership cannot answer for you: does this payment fit my actual life?

What Should You Compare Before You Sign?

Do not leave the dealership knowing only "My payment is $525." Know the vehicle price, down payment, trade-in value, trade payoff, whether the trade has positive or negative equity, taxes, fees, financed add-ons, amount financed, APR, number of payments, monthly payment, total estimated interest, and total estimated loan payments. CFPB's auto-loan materials encourage consumers to understand and compare the factors that determine total loan cost. That is exactly what this calculator helps you do.

The Number I Want You to Leave With

Imagine the salesperson says, "Good news, I got you to $499 a month." Your response in your head should be: Okay. For how many months? At what APR? How much am I financing? Did my trade have negative equity? What fees got added? Are there add-ons? How much interest am I paying? What is my total loan cost?

Because $499 a month is not the deal. It is one number inside the deal. The purpose of this calculator is to show you the rest.

How a $32,000 Car Can Turn Into a Much Bigger Loan

This is an illustrative example only. Actual taxes, fees, add-ons, trade equity, and financing terms vary. Vehicle price $32,000 plus sales tax $2,000, fees $600, add-ons $1,500, and negative equity $3,000 gives a subtotal of $39,100. Subtracting a $5,000 cash down payment results in an amount financed of $34,100.

Same $30,000 Loan, Very Different Monthly Payments

Using a $30,000 amount financed at 6.9% APR as a QA example:

The $451 payment looks much easier than $925, but the 84-month model also keeps the debt outstanding four years longer and produces substantially more estimated interest. Neither term is automatically the correct choice; compare the full picture using your own numbers above.

Real Questions People Ask Before Financing a Car