Auto Loan Calculator
Work out the real monthly payment on a car loan before you visit the dealership — including down payment, trade-in and sales tax — and see exactly how much interest the loan will cost over its full term.
How much is a $27,000 auto loan per month?
Auto loan: An auto loan is an installment loan used to buy a vehicle, repaid in fixed monthly payments of principal and interest over a set term. Financing $27,000 at 6% APR over 60 months costs $521.99 a month — $31,319.14 repaid in total, of which $4,319.14 is interest. Enter your own price, down payment, tax rate, APR and term in the calculator below for your exact figures. Source: CFPB — Auto Loans.
How to calculate an auto loan payment
- Work out the amount financed: vehicle price minus down payment and trade-in value, plus sales tax on the taxable amount.
- Divide the APR by 12 to get the monthly interest rate r.
- Apply the amortization formula — payment = P × r(1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1) — where P is the amount financed and n is the number of monthly payments.
- Multiply the monthly payment by n and subtract the amount financed to find the total interest.
Source: CFPB — Auto Loans
Amortization by year
Each row totals the 12 monthly payments in that year of the loan.
How this auto loan calculator works
Enter the vehicle's sticker price, what you plan to put down, the value of any trade-in, your local sales-tax rate and the APR the lender is offering. The calculator first works out the amount financed: price minus down payment and trade-in, plus sales tax on the taxable amount (in most states, price minus trade-in). It then applies the standard amortization formula to turn that amount into a fixed monthly payment and builds the year-by-year table below the results, so you can watch the balance fall and see how the interest share of each payment shrinks over time. For example, the interest share falls from $135 of the first payment to under $3 of the last (source: our analysis of the worked example below).
Results update as you type: keep the price fixed and drag the term and APR around to see the trade-off every buyer faces — a longer term lowers the monthly payment but quietly adds hundreds or thousands of dollars of interest. In practice: watch the total interest, not the payment.
The auto loan formula
P = amount financed · r = APR ÷ 12 · n = number of monthly payments
This is the same formula banks and credit unions use. Early in the loan, most of each payment covers interest because the balance is highest; the table shows that split year by year. Total interest is simply the monthly payment times the number of months, minus the amount borrowed.
Worked example
Say you are buying a car priced at $30,000 with a $3,000 down payment, no trade-in and no sales tax for simplicity. You finance $27,000 at 6% APR over 60 months. The formula gives a monthly payment of $521.99. Over the five years you pay $31,319.14 in total, which means $4,319.14 of interest — roughly the price of a good used motorcycle, paid for the privilege of borrowing. Type those numbers into the calculator above to see exactly these figures and the amortization table. (Source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — auto loans; figures computed with the amortization formula above.)
What actually moves your monthly payment
- Amount financed. Every $1,000 you shave off the amount borrowed — through a bigger down payment, a better-negotiated price or a stronger trade-in value — saves about $19 a month on a 60-month loan at 6%, and $160 of interest over the term.
- APR. Your credit score is the biggest lever here. On a $27,000 loan, the difference between 5% and 8% APR is about $38 a month and roughly $2,280 of interest. A bank or credit-union pre-approval gives you a rate to beat.
- Term length. Stretching from 60 to 84 months can cut the payment by more than $100 a month, but at 6% it adds over $1,500 of interest on this loan and raises the risk of owing more than the car is worth.
- Sales tax. In many states tax is charged on the price after trade-in credit, so a trade-in can save you twice: once on the amount financed and once on the tax bill.
Tips before you sign
Aim for a down payment of at least 20% on a new car (10% on used) (source: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau auto-loan guidance) so you are not underwater the moment you drive away. Keep the total car cost — payment, insurance, fuel, maintenance — within about 15–20% of your take-home pay (source: CFPB consumer guidance). And compare the total cost of the loan, not just the monthly payment: dealers can make any car look "affordable" by stretching the term. Once you know your likely payment, check the car's insurance cost with our car insurance cost estimator, and run two loan offers through the loan comparison tool.
Frequently asked questions
How much car can I afford on a $60,000 salary?
A common guideline (source: CFPB consumer guidance on auto loans) is to keep the monthly payment at or below 10–15% of your gross monthly pay for the loan itself, and total car costs (payment, insurance, fuel, upkeep) under 20%. On a $60,000 salary that points to a payment of roughly $500–$750 a month — but your other debts and expenses matter more than any rule, so test amounts in the calculator against your real budget.
Is a 72- or 84-month auto loan a bad idea?
A 72- or 84-month auto loan is usually a bad idea, according to our analysis of the standard amortization formula: the loan lowers the payment, but on a $27,000 loan at 6% APR, moving from 60 to 84 months adds about $1,810 of interest and means you will likely owe more than the car is worth for several years. If you need a term that long to afford the payment, the car is probably too expensive.
Does a bigger down payment really save money?
Yes — twice over. You borrow less, so you pay less interest, and in many states your sales tax is calculated on a lower amount too. On the worked example above, adding $3,000 to the down payment cuts the monthly payment by about $58 and saves roughly $480 of interest.
What APR should I expect on a car loan?
It depends mainly on your credit score and whether the car is new or used. Buyers with excellent credit often qualify for rates in the mid-single digits on new cars, while poor credit can push APRs into the high teens or twenties. Always compare two or three lenders — the spread between offers is often worth more than negotiating $500 off the sticker price.
Should I take the dealer's financing or a bank loan?
Whichever has the lower APR for the same term and amount. Dealer financing is sometimes subsidized on new cars (zero-percent or low-rate promotions), but for used cars a bank or credit-union pre-approval usually wins. Compare total interest here, not just the monthly payment.
Sources
- CFPB — Auto Loans — Consumer Financial Protection Bureau guidance on auto loan shopping, APR and total cost of credit. Payments use the standard amortization formula lenders use.