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Principal and interest
Principal $30,240.00 (83%) · Interest $6,116.85 (17%)
Amortization schedule
| Year | Principal | Interest | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $5,179.00 | $2,092.38 | $25,061.00 |
| 2 | $5,581.05 | $1,690.32 | $19,479.95 |
| 3 | $6,014.33 | $1,257.04 | $13,465.62 |
| 4 | $6,481.23 | $790.14 | $6,984.39 |
| 5 | $6,984.39 | $286.98 | $0.00 |
Payments by loan amount
Pre-computed car payments for common financed amounts, across typical rates and 4, 5, and 6 year terms.
Car Loan and Car Payment Calculator
The Tools Kit’s free Auto Loan Calculator works out your monthly car payment from the vehicle price, sales tax, down payment, trade-in value, interest rate, and loan term. Use it as a car loan calculator before you visit a dealership, to compare financing offers, or to see how much car you can afford at a payment you are comfortable with.
Alongside the monthly payment you see the amount financed, the sales tax, the total interest, and the total paid over the life of the loan. Everything runs in your browser and updates as you type, with no signup. For loans that are not tied to a vehicle, the general loan calculator uses the same amortization math without the tax and trade-in fields.
How to Use the Auto Loan Calculator
- 1
Enter the vehicle price
Type the purchase price of the car, truck, or SUV you plan to finance.
- 2
Add your down payment and trade-in value
Enter any cash down and the value of a vehicle you are trading in. Both are subtracted from the amount you borrow; leave either at 0 if it does not apply.
- 3
Set sales tax, interest rate, and term
Enter your local sales tax percentage, the loan APR, and the loan term in years (half years such as 5.5 are allowed; a term that is not a whole number of months shows an error).
- 4
Read your monthly car payment
The monthly payment, amount financed, sales tax, total interest, and total paid update instantly as you type, with no calculate button to press.
How a Car Payment Is Calculated
The calculator works in two steps. First it finds the amount financed: vehicle price plus sales tax, minus down payment and trade-in value. Then it applies the standard fixed-rate loan formula:
M = P × r × (1 + r)n ÷ ((1 + r)n − 1)
Here M is the monthly payment, P is the amount financed, r is the APR divided by 12, and n is the term in years multiplied by 12. At 0% APR the formula reduces to P ÷ n.
Worked example: a $32,000 car with 7% sales tax adds $2,240 of tax. Subtract $4,000 down and the amount financed is $30,240. At 7.5% APR over 5 years (60 payments), the monthly car payment is $605.95, the total paid is $36,356.85, and the total interest is $6,116.85. To check the tax figure for your own state rate on its own, the sales tax calculator gives the tax and the tax-inclusive price.
Loan Term: 48 vs 60 vs 72 Months
Stretching a car loan lowers the monthly payment but increases the total interest you pay. Here is the same $30,240 financed at 7.5% APR across common terms:
- 36 months (3 years): $940.65 a month, $3,623.47 total interest
- 48 months (4 years): $731.17 a month, $4,856.16 total interest
- 60 months (5 years): $605.95 a month, $6,116.85 total interest
- 72 months (6 years): $522.85 a month, $7,405.42 total interest
- 84 months (7 years): $463.83 a month, $8,721.67 total interest
Going from 60 to 72 months saves about $83 a month but costs about $1,289 more in interest. A longer term also means the balance falls more slowly than a car typically loses value, so you are more likely to owe more than the car is worth if you sell early. To see how a payment fits your take-home pay, run your salary through the paycheck calculator first.
How a Trade-In Changes the Payment
A trade-in works exactly like extra cash down: its value is subtracted from the amount you finance, so it lowers both the monthly payment and the total interest. On a $32,000 vehicle at 7.5% APR over 5 years, with $4,000 down and 7% sales tax, an $8,000 trade-in cuts the payment from $606 to $446 a month and saves $1,618 in interest over the loan.
| Trade-in value | Amount financed | Monthly payment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| No trade-in | $30,240 | $606 | $6,117 |
| $2,000 | $28,240 | $566 | $5,712 |
| $4,000 | $26,240 | $526 | $5,308 |
| $6,000 | $24,240 | $486 | $4,903 |
| $8,000 | $22,240 | $446 | $4,499 |
| $10,000 | $20,240 | $406 | $4,094 |
Two things worth knowing. Sales tax is applied to the vehicle price before the trade-in is deducted here; some states instead tax only the difference, which makes a trade-in worth more than this table shows. And if you still owe money on the car you are trading in, only the equity above that balance reduces your new loan - negative equity gets added to it. The calculator has no separate payoff or negative-equity field, so enter only your net equity as the trade-in value. If you owe more than the car is worth, enter a trade-in of 0 and add the shortfall to your planned loan by hand (adding it to the vehicle price would also charge sales tax on it).
Ways to Lower Your Car Payment
- Put more down. Every $1,000 less borrowed at 7.5% over 5 years lowers the payment by about $20 a month.
- Shop the APR. On $30,240 over 5 years, 6% APR is $584.62 a month versus $635.10 at 9.5%, a difference of $3,028.34 in interest.
- Negotiate the price, not the payment. A lower price also lowers the sales tax rolled into the loan.
- Keep the term as short as you can afford. The shortest comfortable term keeps total interest down.
If you are paying down credit card debt at the same time, the credit card payoff calculator shows how long that balance will take to clear, which helps decide whether extra cash is better spent on a larger down payment or on higher-interest debt. And if you are saving toward a down payment instead of borrowing more, the compound interest calculator projects how those savings grow.
Common uses
- Estimating a new or used car payment before visiting a dealership
- Comparing a dealer financing offer with a bank or credit union rate
- Checking whether a 0% APR deal beats a cash rebate with a normal rate
- Seeing how much a trade-in or bigger down payment lowers the monthly payment
- Deciding between a 48-, 60-, or 72-month loan term
Planning a larger purchase too? The mortgage calculator handles home loans, and the full set of financial calculators on The Tools Kit covers budgeting, tax, and interest.
Auto loan terms explained
| Term | What it means here |
|---|---|
| Vehicle price | The agreed purchase price of the car before tax, down payment, or trade-in |
| Down payment | Cash you pay upfront; it reduces the amount you borrow dollar for dollar |
| Trade-in value | What the dealer credits you for your current vehicle; treated here exactly like extra cash down |
| Sales tax | Your state or local tax rate, applied here to the full vehicle price and added to the loan |
| Amount financed | Price plus sales tax, minus down payment and trade-in: the principal the payment is based on |
| APR | Annual percentage rate; the calculator divides it by 12 to get the monthly interest rate |
| Loan term | How long you repay the loan, entered in years and converted to monthly payments (5 years = 60 payments) |
| Total interest | Everything you pay above the amount financed over the whole term |
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with the amount financed: vehicle price plus sales tax, minus your down payment and trade-in. Then apply the loan formula M = P × r × (1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1), where r is the APR divided by 12 and n is the number of monthly payments. A $32,000 car with 7% sales tax and $4,000 down finances $30,240; at 7.5% APR over 5 years that is $605.95 a month.
It depends on four things: how much you finance, the APR, the term, and how much tax you roll in. Enter those in the Auto Loan Calculator and the monthly payment appears immediately, along with total interest and total paid so you can see the full cost, not just the monthly figure.
In this calculator, yes. Sales tax is worked out as a percentage of the vehicle price and added to the amount financed, which is how many buyers roll tax into a dealer loan. If you plan to pay the tax in cash, set the sales tax field to 0 and add the tax amount to your down payment instead.
Yes. The trade-in value is subtracted from the amount financed exactly like a down payment. On a 5-year loan at 7.5% APR, every $1,000 of trade-in lowers the payment by about $20 a month and saves about $202 in interest.
This calculator charges sales tax on the full vehicle price before the trade-in is deducted. Many US states instead tax only the difference between the price and the trade-in, which makes a trade-in worth more than the calculator shows. Check your state rules if your trade-in is large.
A longer term lowers the monthly payment but raises total interest. Financing $30,240 at 7.5% APR costs $605.95 a month and $6,116.85 in interest over 60 months, versus $522.85 a month and $7,405.42 in interest over 72 months. Choose the shortest term whose payment fits your budget comfortably.
Yes. Enter 0 as the interest rate and the calculator divides the amount financed evenly across the months, so total interest is $0. $30,240 over 5 years at 0% APR is $504.00 a month.
No. Total paid is the sum of all the monthly loan payments, which equals the amount financed plus total interest. To get the full out-of-pocket cost of the car, add your down payment and trade-in value to that figure.
No. It covers price, sales tax, down payment, trade-in, APR, and term only. If dealer, documentation, or registration fees are being rolled into the loan, add them to the vehicle price to include them in the amount financed. Insurance, fuel, and maintenance are separate ongoing costs.
Yes. Below the monthly payment, amount financed, sales tax, total interest and total paid, it shows the split between principal and interest and a schedule by year or by month with the remaining balance, which you can download as a CSV file.
Yes. The math is the same for any fixed-rate installment loan on a vehicle: new or used car, truck, SUV, or motorcycle. Enter the price, your rate and term, and the tax that applies to the purchase.
No. The auto loan calculator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to a server or stored, and there is no signup.
Reviewed by Raja Jahangir · Last reviewed: October 7, 2026
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How do you calculate a car payment?
A car payment starts from the amount financed: vehicle price plus sales tax, minus down payment and trade-in value. A $32,000 car with 7% sales tax, $4,000 down, and no trade-in finances $30,240; at 7.5% APR over 5 years that is $605.95 a month and about $6,117 in total interest.
Does a trade-in lower your car payment?
Yes. Trade-in value is subtracted from the amount financed exactly like a down payment, so every $1,000 of trade-in removes $1,000 of principal. On a 5-year loan at 7.5% APR, each $1,000 knocked off the balance lowers the monthly payment by roughly $20 and saves about $200 in interest overall.