Car Payment Calculator 🔒 Your data never leaves your browser.
Estimate car loan payments from price, down payment, trade-in and rate.
About this tool
This car payment calculator works out your monthly auto loan payment using the same amortization formula lenders use, after subtracting your down payment and trade-in value from the vehicle price. Since car loans are typically quoted in months rather than years, the term field takes months directly (60 for a common 5-year loan). It also totals what you would pay over the life of the loan and how much of that is interest on top of the amount financed.
This covers principal and interest only. It does not include sales tax, registration or title fees, or optional add-ons like extended warranties and GAP insurance that dealers often roll into the financed amount — all of which would make the real loan amount and monthly payment higher than what is shown here. Figures update as you type, entirely in your browser, and should be treated as a planning estimate rather than a binding financing offer.
Frequently asked questions
Does the trade-in value reduce my payment the same way a down payment does?
Yes, mathematically they work identically in this calculator — both a down payment and a trade-in value are simply subtracted from the vehicle price before the loan amount is determined, so $2,000 of trade-in equity reduces your financed amount exactly as much as $2,000 of cash down payment would. In the real world there can be small practical differences (trade-in value is negotiated and sometimes taxed differently than cash, depending on your location), but for the purposes of this payment estimate they're treated the same.