Introduction
Buying a car costs more than the sticker price. This car purchase calculator shows you the full picture before you sign anything. Type in the vehicle price, your down payment, your trade-in, and the loan rate. You get your monthly car payment right away.
The tool also adds the parts people forget. Sales tax, title and registration fees, doc fees, and dealer fees all get counted. You can choose to roll them into the loan or pay them in cash at signing. If you owe more on your trade-in than it is worth, the calculator warns you and shows how that negative equity raises your payment.
You can do more than one thing here:
- Compare loan terms from 24 to 84 months side by side
- See a full month-by-month amortization schedule, and download it as a CSV file
- Find out how much car you can afford from a target monthly payment
- Add extra monthly payments or a lump sum to see how much interest you save
- Estimate the total cost of ownership with gas or electricity, insurance, and repairs
- Compare leasing against buying with real numbers
Every answer comes with a step-by-step math breakdown, so you can see exactly where each number came from. Change any input and the results update at once.
How to use our Car Purchase Calculator
Enter the car price, your down payment, trade-in details, loan term, rate, taxes and fees. The calculator shows your monthly car payment, total loan amount, total interest, cash due at signing, full amortization schedule, cost of ownership, and a lease vs. buy comparison.
Vehicle Price: Type the price you agreed to pay for the car, before tax and fees. You can also drag the slider. If you are still shopping, the car price calculator and the out-the-door price calculator help you set a realistic number.
Down Payment: Enter the cash you pay up front. Use the dollar box or the percent box — both stay in sync. See the down payment calculator to test different amounts.
Manufacturer Rebate / Incentive: Enter any cash rebate from the carmaker. It lowers the price before financing. Leave it at $0 if you have none.
Trade-In Value: Enter what the dealer will give you for your old car. Leave it at $0 if you are not trading one in. Not sure what it is worth? Check the trade-in value calculator or the used car value calculator.
Amount Owed on Trade-In: Enter the payoff still owed on your old car loan. If you owe more than the car is worth, the extra is added to your new loan. The auto loan payoff calculator can confirm your current balance.
Target Monthly Payment: Enter the payment you want to hit each month. The affordability panel uses it to show the highest car price you can afford.
Loan Term (months): Pick how long you will pay, from 24 to 84 months. Use the buttons, the dropdown, or the slider.
Annual Rate: Enter your interest rate. Then choose APR (normal car loan) or simple add-on interest, which costs more. Compare offers with the car loan interest rate calculator.
Credit Score Range: Pick your credit range. This only updates the suggested rate range. It never changes the rate you typed.
First Payment Date: Pick the date of your first payment. This sets the dates in the payment schedule.
Extra Monthly Payment: Enter any extra cash you will add to every payment. This pays the loan off sooner and cuts interest — see the extra payment calculator for more detail.
One-Time Lump Sum Payment: Enter a single big payment and the payment number when you will make it.
Sales Tax Rate: Enter your local sales tax rate. Rates change by state, county and city — look yours up with the sales tax calculator.
Title & Registration Fees: Enter what your state charges for the title and plates. The DMV fee calculator gives typical amounts.
Documentation Fee: Enter the dealer's paperwork fee.
Other Fee — Name and Amount: Name any extra charge, like dealer prep, and type the dollar amount.
Trade-in reduces the taxable amount: Turn this on if your state taxes the price minus your trade-in. Turn it off if your state taxes the full price.
Roll taxes & fees into the loan: Leave it on to finance taxes and fees. Turn it off to pay them in cash at signing.
Ownership Period (years): Enter how many years you plan to keep the car. This sets the cost of ownership total.
Annual Insurance: Enter what you pay for car insurance each year. The car insurance calculator can estimate this for you.
Annual Maintenance & Repairs: Enter what you expect to spend each year on oil changes, tires and repairs.
Annual Registration / Renewal Tax: Enter your yearly plate or renewal cost. Some drivers also owe a road tax.
Distance Driven per Year: Enter how far you drive in a year, then pick miles or kilometres. The mileage calculator helps if you are unsure.
Fuel / Energy Efficiency: Enter your gas mileage or EV efficiency, then pick the matching unit, like mpg, L/100 km or mi/kWh. The gas mileage calculator works out mpg from your last few fill-ups.
Fuel / Energy Price: Enter the price you pay for gas or power, then pick the matching unit. Gas units go with gas prices, and kWh goes with EV efficiency. See the fuel cost calculator for yearly totals.
Lease Term (months): Enter how many months the lease would run.
Money Factor: Enter the lease rate as a small decimal, like 0.00250. The calculator shows the matching APR.
Residual Value (%): Enter what the car is worth at lease end, as a percent of the price. The car depreciation calculator shows how fast value drops.
Acquisition Fee: Enter the fee the leasing company charges to start the lease.
Disposition Fee: Enter the fee charged when you turn the car back in.
Mileage Allowance: Enter how many miles or kilometres the lease lets you drive each year.
Excess Mileage Charge: Enter what you pay for each mile or kilometre over the limit.
Click Calculate to see your results, Reset to start over, or Print Summary to save a copy. You can also download the full payment schedule as a CSV file.
Buying a Car: What You Really Pay
The sticker price is only part of the cost. When you buy a car, you also pay sales tax, title and registration fees, a dealer document fee, and interest on your loan. Adding all of these together shows the true price of the car.
The Main Parts of a Car Deal
- Vehicle price: the price you and the dealer agree on before tax and fees.
- Down payment: cash you pay up front. A bigger down payment means a smaller loan and less interest.
- Rebate: cash back from the carmaker. It lowers the price you finance.
- Trade-in: what the dealer gives you for your old car. If you still owe money on it, that payoff is subtracted first. Run the numbers in the trade-in calculator.
- Taxes and fees: sales tax plus title, registration, and dealer fees. You can pay these in cash or roll them into the loan.
How Car Loans Work
A car loan is paid back in equal monthly payments. Each payment covers some interest and some principal (the balance you owe). Early on, more of your money goes to interest. Later, more goes to principal. The auto loan calculator and the car loan amortization calculator show this split payment by payment.
APR is the yearly cost of borrowing. A lower APR means a lower payment. Your credit score matters a lot here: people with scores over 720 usually get the best rates, while lower scores pay much more. The APR calculator converts a quoted rate into the true yearly cost, and the car interest calculator totals what interest will cost you.
The loan term is how many months you pay. Common terms are 36, 48, 60, and 72 months. A longer term lowers your monthly payment but raises the total interest you pay. Short terms cost more each month but save you money overall. Buying used? The used car loan calculator uses the shorter terms and higher rates lenders apply to older vehicles.
Watch Out for Negative Equity
Negative equity happens when you owe more on your old car than it is worth. If you trade it in, that extra debt gets added to your new loan. You end up paying interest on a car you no longer drive, and your new loan starts out "underwater." If your current rate is high, an auto refinance may be cheaper than rolling the balance forward.
Loan-to-Value (LTV)
LTV compares your loan amount to the car's value. An LTV under 100% is healthy. Above 120% is risky, because if the car is totaled or stolen, insurance may not pay off the full loan. Gap insurance can help cover that gap. Use the LTV calculator to check the ratio on any deal.
Paying Extra Saves Money
Adding even a small amount to each payment goes straight to principal. That shortens the loan and cuts total interest. A one-time lump sum, like a tax refund, works the same way. Check that your lender has no prepayment penalty, then test your plan in the early payoff calculator.
Total Cost of Ownership
Your loan payment is not your only car cost. Each year you also pay for insurance, fuel or electricity, maintenance and repairs, and registration renewal. A cheap car with poor gas mileage and high insurance can cost more than a pricier car that sips fuel. Looking at cost per mile gives you a fair way to compare cars, and the fuel consumption calculator sharpens your energy estimate.
Lease vs. Buy
When you lease, you pay for the car's drop in value during the lease, plus a finance charge based on the money factor (multiply it by 2400 to get a rough APR). Leases have lower monthly payments, but you own nothing at the end and you pay fees for extra miles and turn-in. When you buy, payments are higher, but the car is yours once the loan ends. Buying usually costs less over many years. Leasing can make sense if you want a new car every few years and drive few miles. Dig into the lease side with the lease calculator.
Tips Before You Sign
- Negotiate the car price first, not the monthly payment.
- Get a loan offer from your own bank or credit union to compare with the dealer's — the loan comparison calculator lines them up side by side.
- Aim for at least 20% down on a new car and a term of 60 months or less.
- Check that the payment fits your budget by reviewing your debt-to-income ratio and your monthly budget.
- Ask for a full out-the-door price in writing, with every fee listed.
- Check your local sales tax rules — most states tax the price minus your trade-in, which saves you money.