How to use the car loan calculator
Feel confident about what you can afford, thanks to CarGurus' auto loan calculator. Enter the price of any vehicle, and adjust your terms, down payment, and expected interest rate.Tip: Your down payment should include the value of your trade-in.
Not sure how much your current car is worth? Try our Instant Market Value tool.
Not sure of your interest rate? Get pre-qualified on CarGurus, with no impact to your credit score.
Car loan FAQs
- How does the CarGurus loan calculator work?
- After you input your down payment, estimated interest rate, loan term, and trade-in value, our auto loan calculator will provide your expected monthly payment.
- Can I finance a loan with CarGurus?
- CarGurus has partnered with participating lenders including Capital One, Chase, Westlake Financial, and Global Lending Services to provide Finance in Advance, allowing shoppers to get pre-qualified with no impact to their credit score. After pre-qualifying, shoppers can get personalized real offers for vehicles while shopping on CarGurus. The shopper can bring their offer certificate into the dealership to finalize financing for that vehicle.
- How do I calculate my total interest paid on a car loan?
- The total interest paid on a car loan is calculated using an amortization schedule formula, which can be a bit tricky to do manually. If you use our loan calculator, you can simply subtract the loan principal (vehicle price - down payment) from the total cost of the loan, which we calculate for you.
- What factors affect my loan payment and interest rate?
- The total cost of the vehicle and your down payment will affect the total loan amount, whereas factors like your credit score will affect your interest rate.
- Can I refinance a car loan?
- Yes. Refinancing a loan is a common way to try to reduce the monthly payment or total interest paid on a car loan.
- How do I know what I can afford?
- As a rule of thumb, a new car payment should be no more than 15% of your monthly income and a used car or lease payment should be no more than 10% of your monthly income. Your total monthly car expenses should not exceed 20% of your monthly take-home income.
- How do I calculate my debt-to-income ratio?
- Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is calculated by summing the total of all your debts and dividing by your total income.
- Are used cars interest rates higher?
- On average, interest rates on a used car will be higher than that of a similarly priced new car.
- How do I calculate my monthly payment?
- Your monthly car payment is calculated by the total loan amount (principal + interest) divided by the number of months in your loan term. • Ex: A $50,000 loan with a total of $5,000 paid in interest for a 60-month loan, would be. ($20,000 + $5,000) / 60, or $416.67 per month.