Car Finance Calculator
Estimate your monthly car payment using price, down payment, APR, and loan term.
This simple version assumes tax and fees are added to the financed amount.
Use this Car Finance Calculator to estimate the amount you may need to finance, your monthly car payment, total interest, and total scheduled loan payments. You can include a down payment, trade-in value, estimated sales tax, and financed fees.
Important: This calculator provides a planning estimate for a standard fixed-rate auto loan. Actual financing costs depend on the lender, interest rate, APR, taxes, fees, credit profile, vehicle price, and final contract terms.
Car Finance Calculation
First estimate any sales tax:
Sales tax = vehicle price × sales tax rate ÷ 100
The calculator then estimates the amount financed:
Amount financed = vehicle price + sales tax + fees − down payment − trade-in value
For a standard fixed-rate amortizing loan:
M = P × [r(1 + r)n] ÷ [(1 + r)n − 1]
Where:
- M = monthly payment
- P = amount financed
- r = monthly interest rate
- n = total number of monthly payments
Monthly interest rate = annual interest rate ÷ 12 ÷ 100
If the interest rate is 0%:
Monthly payment = amount financed ÷ number of payments
Total Interest and Payments
Total loan payments = monthly payment × number of payments
Total interest = total loan payments − amount financed
These figures represent the financed loan only and should not be interpreted as the complete cost of owning the vehicle.
Worked Example
Suppose you are purchasing a vehicle with:
- Vehicle price: $30,000
- Down payment: $3,000
- Trade-in value: $5,000
- Sales tax: 7%
- Financed fees: $500
- Interest rate: 6.5%
- Loan term: 60 months
Estimated sales tax:
$30,000 × 7% = $2,100
Estimated vehicle cost before down payment and trade-in:
$30,000 + $2,100 + $500 = $32,600
Amount financed:
$32,600 − $3,000 − $5,000 = $24,600
Using a 6.5% annual interest rate for 60 months:
Estimated monthly payment ≈ $481.33
Total scheduled loan payments ≈ $28,879.63
Total estimated interest ≈ $4,279.63
Important Notes
- Use the loan interest rate for the monthly-payment formula. APR may be higher because it can include certain financing fees.
- A longer loan term generally lowers the monthly payment but can increase total interest.
- The calculator assumes sales tax and entered fees are added to the financed amount.
- Actual sales-tax treatment varies by location, including how trade-ins may affect the taxable amount.
- If you owe more on a trade-in than the vehicle is worth, that negative equity is not automatically included and may increase the new loan balance.
- Rebates, incentives, dealer add-ons, GAP products, service contracts, title fees, registration, insurance, maintenance, fuel, and repairs are not automatically included.
- Most auto loans use simple interest based on the outstanding balance, but loan contracts can use different methods. Review the actual agreement.
- Compare the APR, interest rate, amount financed, loan term, monthly payment, finance charge, and total cost rather than choosing a loan based only on the monthly payment.