Refinancing your car loan can be a great way to lower your interest rate and save money on monthly payments. Enter your information in our calculator below to compare your existing loan to a potential refinanced loan to see how much you can save over time.
For the most accurate results from our auto loan refinancing calculator, fill in all relevant fields:
Loan term. How long you’d like to take to pay off your new car loan.
Loan amount. The payoff amount of your current car loan.
Bank name. The name of the lenders you’re working with — not necessarily a bank.
Fixed rate. The interest rate you were initially quoted by each lender.
Fixed period. The time the fixed rate is in place. If the fixed rate lasts the length of your loan, leave blank.
Ongoing rate. If your fixed rate changes after so many months, enter the new interest rate here.
Upfront fees. Any one-time application or origination fees.
Fees. Any ongoing fees that reoccur during the loan term. Select monthly or annually based on their frequency.
Early repayment. The prepayment penalty your lender charges, if applicable.
Information needed to use this car loan refinancing calculator
You’ll need the following information to compare your current car loan against a refinancing offer. If you’ve been preapproved to refinance your car loan, you’ll likely know the interest rate and other fees your lender will charge. If not, reach out and ask for the required info. For info on your current loan, either check your loan agreement or contact your lender.
Your new refinancing offer:
New loan term
Interest rate
Fees
Prepayment penalty
Your current car loan:
Payoff amount
Interest rate
Fees
Prepayment penalty
What car loan interest rates are worth refinancing for?
The average car loan interest rate in Canada is 4.4%. Most Canadians can expect to pay interest rates from 4% to 6% on their car loan. If you’re paying more than that with your current loan, it’s worth it to compare your options and consider refinancing. The car loan interest rate you’re offered will depend on your personal factors, like your credit score, employment income and employment history. Learn more about car loan interest rates here.
Should I refinance my car loan?
Once you’ve calculated your results, you’ll be able to compare the monthly repayments and total cost of each loan. If refinancing your car loan means you pay less in interest overall or have a lower monthly repayment, it might be worth it. But if you’ll end up paying more by refinancing, you might want to hold off or compare other refinancing offers available to you.
Benefits and drawbacks of refinancing a car loan
Refinancing a car loan isn’t going to be the right choice for everyone. Read through the pros and cons of refinancing below to help decide if it’s the right financial move for you.
Benefits
Get lower interest rates. Lock in lower interest rates so that you pay less on your loan over time by refinancing with good credit.
Lock in lower monthly payments. Extend your term to lower your monthly payments if you’re struggling to repay your loan.
Switch to a different lender. Pick a lender with better customer service or lower rates than your former provider when you refinance your car loan.
Get cash back. Get cash back when refinancing an auto loan for a larger amount than what you owe for your car.
Drawbacks
Not a good option if you have bad credit. You won’t be able to take advantage of lower interest rates if you have bad credit.
Prepayment penalties. You could end up losing money if you get lower rates but have to pay penalties for closing your old loan contract early.
Pay more in interest if you extend your term. You could end up paying more in interest if you extend your term (even if your monthly payments are smaller).
Where can I refinance my car loan?
Banks, credit unions and online lenders all typically offer options for borrowers looking to refinance. You can apply for pre-approval with multiple lenders without impacting your credit to help you find the best offer available to you. If that seems like too much work, consider using a car broker service that sends your application to multiple lenders at once to help you hunt down the best deal.
Compare lenders that offer car loan refinancing
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Is it expensive to refinance a car loan?
No, car loans are relatively inexpensive types of loans to refinance. You may have to pay a relatively small application fee, transfer fee or a fee to cancel your current loan. Just keep in mind that depending on how much these fees are, you may not actually end up saving that much money in the end if there’s not a significant enough difference between your new and old interest rates.
That being said, some auto finance lenders will charge a fee worth the full amount of unpaid interest if you try to pay off the loan early. In that case, you won’t save money by refinancing.
Bottom line
Refinancing your car loan could help you save on interest, lower your monthly repayments or both. Using our auto loan refinancing calculator can help you decide if refinancing you car loan is worth it. Check out our guide to car loan refinancing to understand more about how it works and compare lenders.
Kellye Guinan is a freelance editor and writer, specializing in consumer lending. Her writing and analysis has been featured on Bankrate, MSN and MediaFeed. She holds degrees in anthropology and German language and literature from Middle Tennessee State University.
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