Auto Loan Payment and Interest Calculator

Table of Contents

Guide to Auto Loans

Shopping for a new or used car? Use our free car loan calculato🦄r to see your monthly payment and the total interest cost over the life of the loan.

Key Takeaways

Use our calculator to determine both your monthly auto loan payment and the total amount of interest you’ll have paid once your loan is repaid in full.
It’s vital to consider the additional cost of interest when you 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:finance a vehicle.
Car price, down payment, trade-in value, and loan term also determine how much you'll pay each month and overall.
Understanding the economic and personal factors that impact interest rates can help you know how and when to shop around for a desirable rate.

How to Use the Auto Loan Payment Calculator

To use our auto loan payment calculator, you’ll have to enter a few key pieces of information. The calculator will use that info to calculate your expected monthly payment, your total interest paid, a🐲nd the total cost of the loan.

Bear in mind that these are ಌballpark numbers. The real-life details vary based on factors like the terms of the loan and your repayment behavior.

What You’ll Need

Car Price: The price of the vehicle. Consider factoring in any add-ons you plan to purchase, if you’ve got an idea of the price—things like 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:gap insurance are generally folded into your principal balance when purchased through the dealer.
Down Payment: Any money you’ll put toward the car upfront, or the value of any trade-in vehicle.
Loan Term: The length of your loan repayment period. You can typically choose from several 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:loan term options.

You’ll also need one of the following numbers:

Interest Rate, or APR: The rate you’ll pay your lender for the privilege of borrowing money, expressed as a percentage of the overall amount you’re financing.

Your Credit Score: Auto loan rates depend heavily on your credit history. Take note that lenders sometimes use industry-specific 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:auto credit scores that are calculated differently from the consumer-facing credit scores you might have access to.

What You’ll Get

Monthly Payment: The minimum amount you’ll be charged per month throughout the loan term. This number remains the same unless you refinance. You can generally pay more than the minimum payment if you’d like to pay off your loan earlier (and save on interest).
Total Interest Paid: The total amount of interest you’ll pay by the time the loan is paid in full if you pay the exact minimum monthly payment every month.
Loan Amount: The amount of money you’re borrowing, which doesn’t include any interest or your down payment.
Total Paid: Your loan amount and total interest paid combined, or the total amount you’ll pay the lender by the end of the loan term.

How Is Interest Calculated on a Car Loan?

Auto loans usually use 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:simple interest at a fixed rate. So, you pay a set percentage of your principal balance in interest per year, and you’re not charged interest on any interest that has accumulate꧃d.

Over the course of the loan, your minimum payment will remain the same. But the composition of that🎀 payment will change: You’ll pay less toward interest and more toward your pr✅incipal as time passes. That’s a natural result of you chipping away at your principal balance, therefore accumulating less in interest per payment period.

Use the following formula to see how much you'll pay in simple interest per month over the couꦡrse of a year fo♏r a given loan balance and interest rate.

$\begin{aligned}&\text{Monthly interest}=\left(\frac{\text{interest rate}}{12}\right)\times\text{loan balance}\end{aligned}$

Here's an example, based on a $30,000 balance with a 6% interest rate:

$\begin{aligned}&=\left(\frac{0.06}{12}\right)\times\$30,000\\&\ =0.005\times\$30,000\\&\text{Monthly interest}=\$150\end{aligned}$

What Is a Good APR for a Car Loan?

Here’s an approximate picture of current auto loan rates according to an Experian report from fall 2024.

Risk Level	Credit Score Range	New Car Interest Rate	Used Car Interest Rate
Deep Subprime	500 or lower	15.43%	21.55%
Subprime	501 to 600	13.00%	18.95%
Near Prime	601 to 660	9.73%	14.07%
Prime	661 to 780	6.70%	9.63%
Super Prime	780 and up	5.08%	7.41%

What’s considered a “good APR” ꧅fluctuates based on the state of the economy 🐽and the automotive industry.

And, on a personal level, the rates available to you depend on your credit, your overall financial profile, and your choiไce of car.

With that in mind, it’s crucial to understand how the factors at play can impact interest rates before you sign up for an auto loan. These factors include:

Credit score: Your credit history shows lenders how risky you are as a borrower. A higher credit score may translate to better interest rates, since you’re expected to more reliably pay back the loan.
Debt-to-income (DTI) ratio: A high 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:DTI ratio can indicate a higher-risk borrower even with good credit.
Vehicle status: New vehicles can often be financed at lower interest rates than used vehicles.
Loan term: A shorter loan term might help you secure a lower interest rate, as it (hypothetically) gives you less of an opportunity to fall behind on your loan. This comes with higher monthly payments than a longer term loan, however.
澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Federal funds rate: Essentially, this is the rate banks charge each other to borrow money. This rate influences interest rates across lending products—car loans included. A lower fed funds rate leads to lower rates on loans, and vice versa.