Estimate your monthly car payment, total interest and total cost with down payment, trade-in and sales tax.
Quick answer
The payment is $534.63 a month on a $27,000 loan. Over 60 months you pay $5,077.94 in interest, so the car costs $35,077.94 in total including the down payment.
| Loan length | Monthly payment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| 36 months | $833.68 | $3,012.54 |
| 48 months | $646.55 | $4,034.33 |
| 60 months | $534.63 | $5,077.94 |
| 72 months | $460.32 | $6,143.27 |
| 84 months | $407.50 | $7,230.20 |
These figures are computed with the same formulas as the Car Payment Calculator above. Change the inputs in the tool to see your own result. For a full table, see Mortgage payment chart and Loan payment chart.
The Car Payment Calculator estimates your monthly auto loan payment from the price, down payment, trade-in, sales tax, fees, interest rate and term, and shows the total cost of the car, a price/tax/interest breakdown, a balance chart and a yearly schedule. Add an extra monthly payment to see the interest and months you would save. It works for new and used cars in any currency.
Made for everyone. Typical uses:
A $35,000 car with $5,000 down at 5.5% for 60 months means a $30,000 loan, a payment of $573.03 and $4,382.09 of interest. The total cost of the car, including the down payment, is $39,382.09.
The estimate assumes a fixed rate and equal monthly payments. Dealer add-ons, insurance, fuel, maintenance and dealer financing terms are not included, and sales tax rules differ by state and country.
Accuracy: Formulas follow standard published methods and are checked against worked reference examples. Results are estimates based on the values you enter and do not replace advice from a qualified professional.
Expert Tip
Get pre-approved financing from a bank or credit union before visiting the dealership — it gives you a real interest rate to plug in here, and a benchmark to compare against whatever rate the dealership's finance office offers.
A car loan is a normal instalment loan with a few extras that change the amount you borrow. Start with the vehicle price. Add sales tax and fees (registration, documentation), then subtract your down payment and the value of any trade-in. The result is the loan amount, and from it the monthly payment follows from the interest rate and the number of months.
The details matter. In many US states, sales tax is charged on the price minus the trade-in value, so a trade-in reduces the tax as well as the loan. On a $30,000 car with a $5,000 trade-in and 7 percent tax, the tax is $1,750, not $2,100. Add $500 of fees, take off $2,000 down and the $5,000 trade-in, and the loan is $25,250. At 6 percent over 72 months that is $418.47 a month and $4,879.51 of interest.
Dealers often steer buyers to the monthly payment, because a longer term makes almost any car look affordable. But a long term costs more and increases the risk of owing more than the car is worth. Take a $35,000 car with $5,000 down at 5.5 percent.
Cars lose value quickly, especially in the first years, while a long loan pays down slowly at the start because most of each payment is interest. The two lines can cross, leaving you "underwater": owing more than the car is worth. That is a problem if the car is stolen, written off or you need to sell it. With a short loan and a good down payment you build equity from the beginning.
A common guideline is to finance for no more than 60 months on a new car and less on a used one, and to keep the total of all car costs, including insurance and fuel, within 15 to 20 percent of your take-home pay. If that forces a cheaper car, it is better to know before you sign than after.
A larger down payment reduces everything: the loan, the payment, the interest and the chance of negative equity. Putting 20 percent down on the $35,000 car ($7,000 instead of $5,000) lowers the loan to $28,000, the payment to $534.83 and the interest to $4,089.95. Each extra $1,000 down saves roughly $150 in interest at these terms.
For a trade-in, get quotes from several buyers before you accept the dealer's figure, and keep the negotiations separate: agree the price of the new car first, then the trade-in value, then the financing. Mixing them lets one number hide another.
Extra payments cut the interest the same way they do on any loan. Adding $100 a month to the 60-month loan clears it in 50 months and reduces the interest from $4,382.09 to $3,635.30. If you can only afford occasional extra payments, apply them early. Check that your lender has no prepayment penalty and applies extra amounts to principal.
Before you accept dealer financing, get a pre-approval from a bank or credit union. A quote you can walk away with gives you leverage, and comparing the two offers with this calculator shows the true cost difference. A one-point difference in the rate on a $30,000, five-year loan is worth roughly $800.
The loan is only part of what a car costs. Insurance, fuel, maintenance, tyres, parking, tolls and depreciation can add up to more than the payment itself. A cheaper car with a higher-priced fuel or insurance bill may cost more over five years than a slightly more expensive one that is efficient. Use the Fuel Cost Calculator to estimate running costs before you decide.
For a general loan without vehicle-specific fields use the Loan Calculator; for a payment quoted in EMI form use the EMI Calculator. To see how much you should be saving towards the next car instead of borrowing, try the Savings Goal Calculator, and if sales tax is unclear, the Sales Tax Calculator shows the amount. The article loan payments explained covers the maths behind every instalment loan.
How loan term, interest rate, down payment, trade-in and sales tax change a car payment and total interest, with a worked $35,000 example you can reproduce.
How a monthly loan payment is calculated, why early payments are mostly interest, and how a shorter term or an extra payment changes the total cost.
Reference table with CSV download.
Reference table with CSV download.
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