Car Loan Calculator
Estimate your monthly car payment from the vehicle price, down payment, trade-in value, interest rate and loan term, with an optional sales tax field.
Documentation, registration or dealer fees you finance.
$528.29
Monthly payment
$27000.00
Amount financed
$4697.16
Total interest
$31697.16
Total repayment
$34697.16
Total cost (down + trade-in + payments)
This is an estimate, not a loan offer or approval. Actual dealer or lender financing may include other fees, rebates or a different tax treatment than modeled here — confirm final figures before signing.
Amortization summary (by year)
| Year | Principal paid | Interest paid | Remaining balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4723.51 | $1615.93 | $22276.49 |
| 2 | $5039.85 | $1299.58 | $17236.65 |
| 3 | $5377.38 | $962.06 | $11859.27 |
| 4 | $5737.51 | $601.92 | $6121.76 |
| 5 | $6121.76 | $217.67 | $0.00 |
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How to use car loan calculator
- 1Enter the vehicle price, along with any down payment and trade-in value.
- 2Enter the interest rate and loan term in months.
- 3Optionally add your sales tax rate and any fees you're rolling into the loan.
- 4Review the amount financed, monthly payment, total interest and the total cost of the car.
About this tool
A car loan works the same way as any other fixed-rate amortizing loan, but the amount you actually finance is rarely the sticker price — your down payment and any trade-in value are subtracted first, and in many places sales tax is added to the vehicle price before financing rather than paid separately upfront.
This calculator follows that order: it adds sales tax to the vehicle price if you enter a rate, then subtracts your down payment and trade-in to arrive at the amount financed, before running the standard loan formula on that figure.
If you're financing documentation, registration or dealer fees, enter them and they're added to the amount financed. The total cost adds your down payment and trade-in to every loan payment, so you can see what the car really costs over the loan. To compare offers that charge different fees, check each one's APR with the APR Calculator.
Trade-in valuations vary between dealers and lenders set their own rates, so use this as a planning estimate — not a loan offer or approval — and compare it with the dealer's actual figures.
Frequently asked questions
Sales tax is calculated on the vehicle price first, then your down payment and trade-in value are subtracted from the price-plus-tax total to get the amount you actually finance — this matches how most dealers structure the numbers.
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