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Car loan calculator
Calculate how much you could expect to pay each month
Enter the amount you want to borrow to buy a new car under Loan amount. This might not be the same as the cost of your car, since many lenders require a down payment.
Write the amount of time you have to pay off your car loan under Loan terms (in years). If your loan term is in months, divide it by 12 first.
Enter the interest rate you expect to pay on a car loan under Interest rate. If your car loan comes with fees, enter the annual percentage rate (APR) instead.
Click Calculate.
In addition to your monthly payment, this car loan calculator shows how much you’d pay on your loan’s principle amount and how much you’d pay overall in interest. The principle amount is the amount that you borrowed and should be equal to your loan amount. Total interest is the amount you would pay on top of the principle — the cost of having your loan.
I calculated my car loan monthly payment. What’s next?
It depends on why you used this calculator. If you wanted to know your car loan monthly payment based on an offer from a lender, you might want to pre-qualify with a few more lenders to find out if you can get a better deal.
If you’re trying to figure out how much you can afford to borrow, use the loan amount, term and interest rate as a guide for finding a car and a corresponding loan that you can afford. Some lenders require that you have a car picked out before you apply. Even if they don’t, it doesn’t hurt to visit a few dealerships to compare your options.
After you’ve found a car that you like, research lenders that are willing to finance the particular car you’re interested in buying — some have restrictions on models, makes and mileage if you’re getting a used car. You can get started by using our comparison table. Once you’ve found a lender you like, follow their specific directions for applying for an auto loan.
Our 'promoted' products are presented as a result of a commercial advertising arrangement or to highlight a particular feature. Promoted products are not a recommendation, an indication a product is the best in its category, nor represent all products in the market. It is important to compare your options and find the right product for you.
Taxes. Make sure you’re including the sales tax (GST/HST) in your loan amount when calculating the monthly repayments.
Insurance premiums. On top of car loan payments, you’ll have to pay for insurance. Your insurance payment will be determined based on where you live, your gender, your age, what type of car you drive, your driving history and other factors. In Canada, auto insurance fees usually cost between $700 – $3,000 per year. Ontario generally has the most expensive auto insurance due to the number of accidents that occur there. Drivers under the age of 25 will be charged a higher rate in any province.
Using car loan payment calculator can help you understand what kind of car is in your budget. After all, your monthly payment is the immediate cost you’ll have to deal with on a regular basis. If you can’t afford the monthly payments on a loan for a particular car, then you probably can’t afford that car.
Keep in mind that you might only be able to get a loan worth 80% of your car’s value. This means that you might be required to pay the other 20% upfront. Paying some money upfront can actually be a good thing because your entire payment goes directly to reducing the principal amount owing on the car. Any part of the purchase price covered by the loan is subject to interest, which will eat away at the regular payments you make.
Frequently asked questions
This depends on your monthly income and debts. Generally, people should spend less than 15-20% of their take-home pay on car-related expenses.
This depends on your income and debts. A shorter loan term means you’ll pay less interest overall. However, you still want to have monthly payments that you can manage.
William Eve is the Country Manager for Finder's Canada operations. He has previously held the positions of group publisher of insurance for Finder Australia and lead publisher for the Finder global team. William has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. He loves the challenge of launching Finder into new markets while helping grow Finder’s global team.
Annual customer service awards helps recognise car loan alternative and traditional lenders and loan search platforms on quality customer service based on the real-world experience of customers.
Find out where you can get a private sale car loan and what you should know before you apply.
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finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
