Auto Loan Calculator
Estimate a car payment including sales tax, fees, a deposit and a trade-in.
Input Details
Taxes & Fees
Your Results
What Auto Loan Calculator does
A car's advertised price is not what you finance. Sales tax and dealer fees are added, while a deposit and any trade-in are subtracted, and the loan is written against what remains.
This calculator works through those steps so the monthly payment reflects the actual amount financed rather than the sticker price.
- Vehicle price, deposit and trade-in value
- Sales tax rate and dealer fees
- Terms from 24 to 84 months
- Amount financed, monthly payment and total interest
How to use Auto Loan Calculator
- 1
Enter the price and what you are putting in
Your deposit and the trade-in value both reduce the loan.
- 2
Add tax and fees
Sales tax is applied to the price after the trade-in is deducted, which is the rule in many US states.
- 3
Choose a term
Longer terms lower the payment. They also mean owing more than the car is worth for longer, because cars depreciate faster than the loan reduces.
Limits and known behaviour
- Sales tax is applied to the price less the trade-in. Some states tax the full price, in which case this underestimates the tax.
- Registration, documentation and dealer fees vary widely and are entered as a single figure.
- Manufacturer incentives, rebates and subsidised finance rates are not modelled.
- Insurance, servicing, fuel and depreciation are not included, and together they usually exceed the loan payment.
- Amounts are calculated and displayed in US dollars using US lending conventions. The arithmetic is currency-independent, so the results hold for another currency if you read the symbol as your own.
- Figures are estimates for comparison and planning. They are not financial advice, not a quote, and not an offer of credit.
Privacy and data handling
Runs entirely in your browser
- Every figure you enter stays in this page. What you type about a vehicle purchase is not transmitted, logged or stored anywhere.
- There is no account, no saved history and no autosave: reloading the page clears the form.
Site-wide data handling, including analytics and advertising, is described in the privacy policy.
Frequently asked questions
Is a 72 or 84 month car loan a bad idea?
It lowers the payment and increases the total interest, and it keeps you in negative equity — owing more than the car is worth — for much of the term. That matters if the car is written off or you need to sell early.
Does a trade-in reduce my tax?
In many US states, yes: tax is charged on the price after the trade-in is deducted, which is what this calculator assumes. Some states tax the full price, so check locally.