Car Loan / Auto Financing Calculator
Car loan calculator — enter the price, down payment, trade-in, interest rate and term to see your monthly payment, total interest, the all-in cost and an amortisation curve, in your choice of currency. Runs entirely in your browser.
Car Loan / Auto Financing Calculator
How to Use the Car Loan Calculator
Enter the price and deposit
Type the vehicle price, your down payment and any trade-in value. The tool finances the difference.
Add rate and term
Enter the APR your lender quotes and choose the loan term in months.
Read the payment
See the monthly payment, total interest and all-in cost, updating as you type.
Compare terms
Watch the payoff curve and interest share change as you adjust the term and deposit to find the best fit.
Understanding a Car Loan
A car loan is a fully amortising loan, which is a precise way of saying that you repay it in equal instalments that, by the final payment, have cleared both the money you borrowed and all the interest. The calculator starts from the amount you actually finance — the vehicle price minus your down payment and any trade-in — because that, not the sticker price, is what you pay interest on. It then applies the standard amortisation formula, converting your annual percentage rate into a monthly rate and spreading the balance over the number of months in your term, to produce a single fixed monthly payment. Seeing that payment update the instant you change the price, deposit, rate or term turns an opaque dealership negotiation into something you can reason about.
The most important thing the tool reveals is the shape of the loan over time. Interest is charged on whatever you still owe, and you owe the most at the very beginning, so your early payments are mostly interest with only a sliver going to principal. As the balance falls, the interest portion shrinks and more of each identical payment attacks the principal, which is why the payoff curve starts shallow and steepens. This front-loading of interest is also why stretching the term is a false economy: a longer loan lowers the monthly payment, which feels cheaper, but you carry the balance — and pay interest on it — for far longer, so the total interest climbs. The donut showing the split between principal and interest makes that cost impossible to ignore.
Two related risks are worth keeping in mind, and the calculator helps you manage both. The first is the total cost, which is not just the loan: the all-in figure adds your down payment back so you see the real outlay, and remember that registration, road tax, insurance and dealer fees sit on top of all of it. The second is negative equity — owing more than the car is worth — which arises because vehicles depreciate quickly while a long, low-deposit loan is repaid slowly. A larger down payment and a shorter term are the two levers that protect you, lowering both the interest you pay and the chance of being underwater if you need to sell. Use the calculator to find the shortest term whose payment you can comfortably afford, rather than the longest term that makes the monthly number look small. Everything is computed in your browser from a transparent formula, so nothing you enter leaves your device.
Pick the shortest term you can comfortably afford — a smaller monthly payment on a longer loan usually means a much larger total cost.
10 Facts About Car Loans
A car loan is a fully amortising loan — fixed equal payments.
Early payments are mostly interest; later ones mostly principal.
A longer term lowers the payment but raises total interest.
A bigger down payment cuts both the payment and interest.
APR bundles the interest rate with certain fees.
Cars depreciate fast, so long loans risk negative equity.
A trade-in reduces the amount you need to finance.
0% promotional finance means no interest — payment = price ÷ months.
Total cost includes the down payment, not just the loan.
This calculator runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Frequently Asked Questions
- It uses the standard amortising-loan formula. The amount financed (price minus down payment and trade-in) is multiplied by the monthly interest rate, divided by one minus (one plus the monthly rate) raised to the negative number of months. The result is a fixed payment that fully repays the loan over the term, with interest front-loaded.
- You only borrow what is left after your down payment and any trade-in value. So a $30,000 car with a $5,000 deposit and a $3,000 trade-in means a $22,000 loan. The calculator shows this financed amount, and the all-in cost adds your cash contributions back so you see the true total.
- It lowers the monthly payment, which can feel cheaper, but it almost always increases the total interest you pay because you owe the balance for longer. The amortisation curve makes the trade-off visible — stretch the term and the balance falls more slowly. Choose the shortest term whose payment you can comfortably afford.
- APR (annual percentage rate) is the yearly cost of the loan expressed as a percentage, and it can include certain mandatory fees on top of the base interest rate, making it a fairer basis for comparison. Enter the APR your lender quotes; the tool converts it to a monthly rate internally.
- Interest is charged on the outstanding balance, which is highest at the start, so early payments are mostly interest with only a little principal. As the balance falls, the interest portion shrinks and more of each payment chips away at the principal — which is why the payoff curve steepens over time.
- Negative equity, or being “underwater”, is when you owe more on the loan than the car is worth, because cars depreciate faster than a long loan is repaid. It is a risk with low deposits and long terms, and it hurts if you need to sell or the car is written off. A larger down payment and shorter term reduce the risk.
- Every unit of down payment is a unit you do not borrow, so it directly reduces both the monthly payment and the total interest, and it lowers your chance of negative equity. The calculator updates instantly as you change it, so you can see the effect of putting more down.
- No. It models the loan itself — principal, interest and term. Registration, road tax, insurance, and dealer or processing fees are extra and vary by location, so add them separately when budgeting. For the full picture of running a car, pair this with a total-cost-of-ownership calculator.
- Yes. Enter 0 for the rate and the payment is simply the amount financed divided by the number of months, with no interest. Just be sure the 0% offer does not come with a higher price or fees that offset the saving.
- Completely free, with no account or usage limit. It runs entirely in your browser, collects no data, and works offline once the page has loaded.
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