Auto loan calculator
Work out the monthly payment on a car loan. Add your down payment, trade-in and taxes to see the interest, the total cost and when it is paid off, or find the car price a monthly payment can buy.
Monthly payment
$762.32
Principal and interest on a $44,400.00 loan at 7.25% over 6 years.
- Paid up front
- $9,365.00
- Total cost (price, interest, tax and fees)
- $64,251.84
- Paid off
- —
What you pay
- $44,400.00
- $10,486.84
- Taxes and fees$3,765.00
- Principal each year
- Interest each year
| Year | Paid | Interest | Principal | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $9,147.81 | $3,017.97 | $6,129.84 | $38,270.16 |
| Year 2 | $9,147.81 | $2,558.49 | $6,589.32 | $31,680.84 |
| Year 3 | $9,147.81 | $2,064.56 | $7,083.24 | $24,597.60 |
| Year 4 | $9,147.81 | $1,533.61 | $7,614.19 | $16,983.41 |
| Year 5 | $9,147.81 | $962.87 | $8,184.94 | $8,798.47 |
| Year 6 | $9,147.81 | $349.34 | $8,798.47 | $0.00 |
How the payment is worked out
The amount you borrow is the car price minus your down payment, any cash rebate and the value of your trade-in, plus anything you still owe on the trade-in. When you finance the taxes and fees, they are added to it too; otherwise you pay them up front with the down payment.
The monthly payment is loan × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)^−n), where i is the yearly interest rate ÷ 12 and n is the number of monthly payments; at 0% it is the loan ÷ n. Each payment first covers the month’s interest on the balance still owed, and the rest repays the loan, so the balance reaches zero with the last payment. The total interest is all the payments added up, minus the loan.
For example, a $50,000 car with $5,600 down, financed at 7.25% over 72 months, is a $44,400 loan: $762.32 a month and $10,486.84 in interest over the six years. With 7.53% sales tax paid up front, the total cost is $64,251.84.
From a monthly payment, the calculator works backwards. The loan that payment repays is payment × (1 − (1 + i)^−n) ÷ i, and the car price it covers is that loan plus your down payment, rebate and trade-in, minus anything you still owe on the trade-in. When the taxes and fees are in the loan, they come out of it first.
In Singapore, car loans are quoted at a flat rate: the interest is the original loan × the flat rate × the term in years, spread evenly over the months, so each payment is (loan + interest) ÷ the number of months. The rate applies to the full loan for the whole term while the balance falls, so the effective interest rate (EIR) that banks also show is almost twice as high: 2.78% flat over 7 years is an EIR of 5.19%. Banks contract the Rule of 78, which puts more of the interest in the early months, and Standard Chartered applies it to each payment; the schedule here does the same.
Some lenders also charge an origination or arrangement fee, or other one-off fees. Enter them under Lender fees to see the yearly rate that includes them, under your country’s name for it, such as the APR in the United States, the APRC in the European Union or the comparison rate in Australia. It is worked out as your country’s law defines it, or, in New Zealand and Singapore, where no law sets a method, as the rate per month × 12. Singapore’s EIR shows even without fees, since a flat rate understates the cost on its own.
Sales tax, VAT and registration taxes
In the United States and Canada, sales tax is added to the price at the sale: state and local sales tax in the US, and in Canada GST or HST plus, in some provinces, PST, RST or QST. Enter your rate: the calculator adds it to the price, minus the trade-in when that switch is on. A cash rebate does not lower the taxed amount here.
In the other 19 countries, the price a consumer sees already includes value-added tax, called GST in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, so nothing is added. The rates include 20% in the UK and France, 19% in Germany, 21% in the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium, 25% in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, 25.5% in Finland, 15% in New Zealand, 10% in Australia, 9% in Singapore and 8.1% in Switzerland.
Many countries also charge a one-off tax or fee when a car is first registered, often based on its CO₂ emissions or its price: BPM in the Netherlands, the registration tax in Denmark and Belgium, the one-off registration tax in Norway, car tax in Finland, VRT in Ireland, NoVA in Austria, the registration tax (IEDMT) in Spain, the CO₂ and weight malus in France, excise duty in Iceland, the ARF and the COE in Singapore, stamp duty in Australia, first-year vehicle tax in the UK, and title and registration fees in US states. A dealer’s price may already include them; enter in the fees field only what it does not.
When you include the taxes and fees in the loan, they are added to the amount you borrow and you pay interest on them too; otherwise you pay them up front with the down payment.
Trade-ins and negative equity
A trade-in is the car you hand over to the dealer as part of the payment. Its value comes off the price like a down payment, so it lowers the amount you borrow.
In most US states, and in every Canadian province when you trade in a car you own, a trade-in also lowers the sales tax: the tax is charged on the price minus the trade-in. California, Virginia and the District of Columbia give no trade-in credit, Michigan caps the credit ($12,000 in 2026) and Ohio gives it on new cars only, so turn the switch off where it does not apply. Many states, including California, Florida and New York, also tax manufacturer rebates, and some, such as Texas, do not; in Canada, GST and HST are charged before the rebate, but British Columbia’s PST after it. The calculator always taxes the rebate.
If you still owe money on the car you trade in, that debt has to be paid off, and it can be added to your new loan. When you owe more than the car is worth, the difference is called negative equity: you go on paying for the old car, with interest, inside the new loan. In the example above, trading in a car worth $10,000 with $14,000 still owed adds $4,000 to the loan and raises the payment from $762.32 to $830.99.
Sources: the payment formula of the Wikipedia article Amortization calculator; for Singapore’s flat rate and EIR, MoneySense and the Association of Banks in Singapore’s Code of Advertising Practice; for sales tax, trade-ins and rebates, the tax authorities of the US states and of Canada and its provinces; for VAT rates, each country’s tax authority and the European Commission.
Frequently asked questions
How is a car payment calculated?
Take the price, subtract the down payment, rebate and trade-in, and add anything still owed on the trade-in, plus the taxes and fees if you finance them: that is the loan. The monthly payment is loan × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)^−n), where i is the yearly rate ÷ 12 and n the number of months. A $44,400 loan at 7.25% over 72 months gives i of about 0.60% and a payment of $762.32.
Does a trade-in lower the sales tax?
In most US states, yes: the tax is charged on the price minus the trade-in. On a $50,000 car with a $10,000 trade-in at 7.53%, the tax is $3,012.00 instead of $3,765.00. California, Virginia and the District of Columbia give no such credit, and Michigan caps it. In Canada, GST, HST and the provincial taxes all apply to the price minus the trade-in when you trade in a car you own. In the other countries the price includes VAT, so there is no sales tax to lower.
What happens if I owe more on my trade-in than it is worth?
The difference is negative equity. It does not go away: when it is added to the new loan, you borrow more and pay interest on it. Enter the trade-in’s value and the amount still owed, and the calculator adds the difference to the loan; in the example above, owing $14,000 on a car worth $10,000 raises the payment from $762.32 to $830.99 a month.
How much car can I afford with my monthly payment?
Choose “From a monthly payment” and enter the payment, the rate, the term, your down payment and any trade-in: the calculator works out the car price that payment covers. At 7.25% over 72 months, $762 a month with $5,600 down covers a car of about $49,980 before sales tax.
What changes when the taxes and fees are in the loan?
You pay less up front but borrow more, so the payment and the interest rise. In the US example, financing the $3,765 sales tax raises the loan to $48,165, the payment to $826.96 and the interest to $11,376.09, and what you pay up front falls to the $5,600 down payment.
What is a flat rate on a car loan?
A flat rate charges interest on the original loan for the whole term, even though you repay part of it each month. Singapore car loans are quoted this way. A S$100,000 loan at 2.78% flat over 7 years costs S$19,460 in interest, or S$1,422.14 a month; its effective interest rate, which counts interest only on what you still owe, is 5.19%.
Which rate do I enter: the interest rate or the APR?
The yearly interest rate on your offer, or in Singapore the flat rate. The APR and similar rates, such as the APRC in Europe or the comparison rate in Australia, include fees, so entering one as the interest rate overstates the payment. To see the rate with fees, open Lender fees and enter them: a 2% origination fee paid up front on the US example gives an APR of 7.97%.
Is this a car loan EMI calculator?
Yes. EMI, short for equated monthly installment, is what lenders in India call the monthly payment on a loan like this, worked out with the same formula. India is not in the country list, so amounts show another currency; for the same loan, rate and term the payment is the same.
Does it work for used cars, trucks and motorcycles?
Yes, for any vehicle bought with a fixed-rate loan repaid in equal monthly payments: enter its price as the car price. Taxes and registration fees for other vehicles can differ from those for cars, and in Singapore the MAS loan limits the calculator checks apply to cars, not to motorcycles or commercial vehicles.
Can I use this auto loan calculator outside the US?
Yes. It covers 21 countries in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The country sets the currency, how tax is added (sales tax in the US and Canada, VAT already in the price elsewhere), the name of the one-off registration fees, the local name of the rate that includes fees and, in Singapore, the flat rate and the MAS loan limits.