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Car Loan Calculator — fast & transparent

See your monthly payment, total cost, and true price with trade-in and sales tax included.

New & used car loans
Includes trade-in & tax
No personal data collected

Car loan calculator

Monthly payment with trade-in value, down payment & sales tax

Vehicle price
$
Down payment
$
Trade-in value
$
Interest rate (APR)
%
Loan term
Sales tax rateVaries by state
%
Fees (title, reg, doc)
$
Extra payments (optional)
Extra per monthAdded each month
$
Extra per yearAnnual lump sum
$
Monthly payment
$585
for 60 months
Loan amount
$32,600
Total interest
$2,500
Sales tax
$2,100
True cost of car
$40,100
Payment breakdown
Principal $30,000
Interest $5,100
MonthPaymentPrincipalInterestBalance

True cost of ownership

Vehicle price$35,000
Sales tax$2,100
Title, registration & fees$500
Total interest paid$5,100
Less: down payment−$5,000
Less: trade-in−$0
Total out of pocket$37,700

Smart car buying tips

🏦

Get pre-approved

Get a rate from your bank or credit union before visiting the dealer. Use it as leverage.

📉

Avoid 72+ months

Longer terms cost thousands more and risk going underwater on your loan.

🔄

Sell vs. trade-in

Private sale typically gets you 15–25% more than dealer trade-in value.

Average auto loan rates (2026)

New cars:

Excellent: 4.5–6.0% · Good: 6.5–8.5% · Fair: 9–13%

Used cars:

Excellent: 5.5–7.5% · Good: 8–11% · Fair: 12–17%

Rates vary by lender, credit score, and vehicle age.

How to get the lowest rate

1
Check your credit score — 720+ gets the best rates
2
Get pre-approved at your bank or credit union first
3
Keep your term to 48–60 months max
4
Put at least 20% down to avoid being underwater
5
Don't finance add-ons (warranty, GAP) through the dealer

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Frequently asked questions

For new cars, excellent credit borrowers (720+) can get rates of 4.5 to 6%. Good credit (670–719) typically sees 6.5 to 8.5%. For used cars, add about 1.5 to 3% on top of new car rates. Rates above 12% for new cars or 17% for used are considered high — consider improving your credit score or getting pre-approved at a credit union.
Financial experts recommend keeping total car costs — including payment, insurance, gas, and maintenance — under 15% of your take-home pay. For the payment alone, aim for no more than 10% of gross monthly income. On a $60,000 salary, that's a maximum payment of about $500 per month, which finances roughly $25,000 to $28,000 over 60 months at current rates.
Be cautious with loans longer than 60 months. A 72-month loan on a $30,000 car at 7% costs about $4,300 more in interest than a 48-month loan. Longer loans also risk going "underwater" — owing more than the car is worth — because cars depreciate quickly. If you need a 72 or 84 month term to afford the payment, you're probably looking at too much car.
In most U.S. states (about 42 of 50), yes. You only pay sales tax on the difference between the new car price and your trade-in value. For example, buying a $35,000 car with a $10,000 trade-in means you pay tax on $25,000, saving $500 to $700 in tax depending on your state. This calculator accounts for this trade-in tax benefit.
Always get pre-approved at your bank or credit union before visiting a dealer. This gives you a baseline rate to compare against. Dealers sometimes offer competitive promotional rates (0% or low APR on new cars), but their standard rates are often 1 to 3% higher than banks. Having a pre-approval also gives you negotiating leverage — the dealer knows you can walk away with financing already in hand.
The standard recommendation is 20% down on a new car and 10% on a used car. This protects you from going underwater on the loan (owing more than the car is worth) since new cars lose 20 to 30% of value in the first two years. A larger down payment also gets you a lower interest rate and reduces the total amount you pay in interest over the loan term.