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CalcTortoise

Car Loan Calculator

Enter the price of the car, your deposit and trade-in, and the loan terms to see the monthly payment and what the car really costs.

Written by the CalcTortoise editorial team · How we work

Assumed: 0% purchase tax. Change

Leave at 0 where VAT or sales tax is already in the price.

months

Monthly payment

$520

You’d finance $21,500 and pay $520 a month for 48 months, with $3,453 of interest in total.

Amount financed
$21,500
Purchase tax
$0
Total interest
$3,453
Total cost of the car
$33,953

Illustration only, not investment, tax or legal advice.

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What moves the result most?
Principal and interest each yearPrincipalInterest

Amortization schedule

YearPrincipalInterestBalance
Year 1$4,788$1,450$16,712
Year 2$5,160$1,078$11,552
Year 3$5,560$678$5,992
Year 4$5,992$246$0

How to use this calculator

  1. Enter the price, any purchase tax not already included, and the fees.
  2. Add your trade-in, any finance still to repay on it and your deposit.
  3. Enter the interest rate and the term.

Frequently asked questions

How much will my car loan cost?

In the example, a $30,000 car with a $6,000 trade-in and $3,000 deposit leaves $21,500 to borrow: $520 a month over 48 months, $3,453 of interest in all.

Is a longer loan cheaper?

The payment is lower, but the total is higher: over 72 months the example pays $372 a month and $5,265 of interest.

How much does a bigger deposit save?

Putting $5,000 more down cuts the payment to $399 and saves $803 of interest.

Sources and method

Standard compound-interest formulas, tested against worked examples. Nothing here depends on outside data; the rates you type in are your own assumptions.

No outside data is used. The numbers you type in are the only inputs.

Page and formula last reviewed . How we calculate · Editorial policy · Corrections and change log

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Last updated 10 October 2026. For information only — not financial advice. Check the final figures with your lender or bank.