Auto Loan Calculator

Enter your numbers below to see your estimated monthly payment, total interest, and total cost, instantly.

How the auto loan calculator works

This calculator uses the standard loan amortization formula lenders use to set your monthly payment: it spreads the amount you finance (the vehicle price minus your down payment and any trade-in) evenly across your loan term, at a fixed interest rate, so that the loan is fully paid off in the final month.

What actually changes your rate

• Credit score. This is the single biggest factor. The gap between top-tier and subprime credit can be several percentage points of APR, worth thousands of dollars over a loan.
• New vs. used. Used-car loans typically carry higher rates than new-car loans, partly because of higher default risk and shorter usable vehicle life.
• Loan term. Some lenders price longer terms slightly higher because the risk window is longer.
• Lender type. Credit unions often beat dealership financing; banks and online lenders fall in between. Getting pre-approved before you visit a dealer gives you a real number to negotiate against.

A practical rule of thumb

Try to keep your total monthly car payment (loan plus insurance) under about 15-20% of your monthly take-home pay, and avoid financing for longer than you plan to keep the car. If the payment only works at 72 or 84 months, that is usually a sign to look at a less expensive vehicle instead. Use our Car Affordability Calculator to check your budget before you run the numbers through this auto loan calculator.

A worked example: the same loan at three different terms

Say you are financing $28,000 for a used car, the balance left once your down payment and any trade-in are subtracted, at 7.5% APR. Run that amount through this calculator at three different terms: a 48-month term runs about $677 a month with roughly $4,496 in total interest; 60 months drops the payment to about $561 but raises total interest to roughly $5,664; 72 months lowers the payment further to about $484 while pushing total interest to around $6,857. Stretching from 48 to 72 months lowers the payment by about $193 a month but adds roughly $2,360 in extra interest and two more years of payments on the same car.

It is also worth comparing terms against how long you actually plan to keep the car. A 72-month loan on a car you trade in after four years means you are still financing a vehicle you no longer own, since depreciation runs fastest in a car's first two to three years while a long loan's balance falls slowly at first.

Mistakes that skew the estimate, and how to use the result

The math this calculator runs is reliable; the numbers people type into it are where things go wrong. Common ones: using an optimistic advertised APR reserved for top-tier credit, leaving out negative equity rolled over from a trade-in, entering the sticker price instead of a negotiated price, forgetting dealer add-ons that get rolled into the loan, and assuming a 0% APR offer is automatically the best deal when it often requires passing on a cash rebate that would have lowered the price instead. Once you trust the number from the auto loan calculator, add a realistic insurance and fuel estimate rather than treating the loan payment as the full cost of owning the car. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's auto loan tools are a good independent resource for comparing offers before you sign.

How lenders read this number when you apply

The monthly payment this calculator estimates is not just a budgeting figure, it is also what an underwriter plugs into your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio when reviewing your application. Lenders typically add up all your monthly debt payments, including the estimated car payment, and divide by your gross monthly income; many auto lenders want that combined ratio to stay under a particular threshold before approving a loan at their best rates, alongside your credit score.

Say your gross monthly income is $5,000 and you already carry a $400 minimum credit card payment plus a $300 student loan payment. Adding a $561 car payment from the example above brings your total monthly debt to $1,261, a debt-to-income ratio of about 25%. Some lenders would approve that comfortably; others might ask for a larger down payment or a shorter term to bring the payment, and the ratio, down before approving the loan.