Car Payment Calculator
Estimate your monthly auto loan payment with sales tax by state, trade-in, fees and APR by credit score, then compare loan terms and see how much car you can afford.
Your current loan payoff on the car you are trading in.
Texas base rate (state): 6.25%. Average with local taxes: 8.2%. Local taxes vary by city and county; enter your exact rate if you know it.
One-time fees at purchase. Dealer doc fees vary widely by state.
Use the rate from your preapproval or dealer offer if you have one.
Months (5 years).
Rates verified October 2026 · Sources: Experian, State of the Automotive Finance Market Q2 2026; Tax Foundation, State and Local Sales Tax Rates, Midyear 2026. APRs are averages, not offers. Whether a trade-in reduces the taxable amount, local add-on taxes and vehicle-specific taxes vary by state.
M = P × r × (1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1), r = 6.15% ÷ 12 = 0.005125, n = 60 → $568.74
Tax = 6.25% × (price − trade-in) = $1,812.50
- Pass: 20% down. Down payment plus trade-in equity is 22.9% of the price.
- Miss: 4 years or less. Your term is 60 months — 48 months would cost $690.42 a month but save $984 in interest.
- Pass: under 10% of income. The payment is 8.5% of your gross monthly income (10% = $667 a month).
Close: this loan meets two of the three guidelines. It can still work if your other debts are low. Stricter versions count insurance and fuel inside the 10%.
| Term | Monthly payment | Total interest | Extra interest vs 36 mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36 months | $893.74 | $2,862 | — |
| 48 months | $690.42 | $3,828 | +$966 |
| 60 months | $568.74 | $4,812 | +$1,950 |
| 72 months | $487.87 | $5,814 | +$2,952 |
| 84 months | $430.32 | $6,835 | +$3,973 |
Same APR for every term. In practice lenders often charge a higher APR on 72 and 84 month loans, so the real gap is usually larger.
Enter the monthly payment you want. We use your down payment, trade-in, tax, fees, APR and term from above.
- Negotiating the monthly payment instead of the out-the-door price: a dealer can hit any payment by stretching the term.
- Skipping preapproval: a bank or credit union rate gives you a benchmark the dealer has to beat.
- Ignoring negative equity: rolling an old loan into a new one means paying interest on a car you no longer own.
- Forgetting local taxes and dealer add-ons such as extended warranties, GAP and paint protection, which can add thousands to the amount financed.
- →Check your credit report before shopping; moving up one tier can cut your APR by several points.
- →Compare the total interest column, not just the monthly payment, before picking a longer term.
- →If you trade in, get a written offer from a used-car buyer too, so you know the dealer's trade-in value is fair.
- →Next step: if you carry card debt, plan to clear it with our Credit Card Payoff Calculator before taking on a car loan.
This tool is for informational purposes only. Always verify results with a qualified professional.
What is the Car Payment Calculator?
This car payment calculator works out what a new or used car really costs you each month and over the life of the loan. Enter the vehicle price, your down payment, your trade-in value and anything you still owe on it, pick your state to pre-fill the sales tax rate, add title, registration and dealer documentation fees, then choose your APR and loan term. It instantly shows your monthly payment, the amount financed, the total interest, the total cost of the car and your expected payoff date, with a yearly or monthly amortization schedule, a side-by-side comparison of 36 to 84 month terms, a 20/4/10 affordability check and a reverse mode that tells you how much car a target monthly payment can buy.
The payment uses the standard amortizing auto loan formula M = P × r × (1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1), where P is the amount financed, r is the APR divided by 12 and n is the number of monthly payments. The amount financed is the vehicle price minus your down payment and your trade-in equity (trade-in value minus the payoff you owe), plus sales tax and fees if you roll them into the loan. In most states sales tax is charged on the price after the trade-in is deducted, which is one reason trading in at the dealership can save money compared with a private sale. A few states, including California, tax the full price instead, and some states use a separate vehicle tax: Georgia charges a 7% Title Ad Valorem Tax and North Carolina a 3% Highway Use Tax instead of sales tax. Cities and counties often add local tax on top of the state rate, so check your dealer's buyer's order.
Worked example: a $35,000 new car in Texas with $4,000 down and a $6,000 trade-in that still has $2,000 owing gives $4,000 of trade-in equity. Texas tax at 6.25% applies to $29,000 (price minus trade-in), so tax is $1,812.50. Rolling that tax plus $500 of fees into the loan means you finance $29,312.50. At 6.15% APR, Experian's Q2 2026 average for prime borrowers buying new, the payment over 60 months is about $568.74, total interest is about $4,811.87 and the car costs about $42,124 in total. Stretch the same loan to 84 months and the payment drops to about $430.32, but interest climbs to about $6,834.73. At a subprime used-car rate of 19.10% the 60-month payment would be about $762 with roughly $16,407 of interest, which shows how much your credit score matters.
Your credit score is the biggest driver of your rate. According to Experian's State of the Automotive Finance Market report for Q2 2026, average new-car APRs ranged from 4.41% for super prime borrowers (781 and above) to 16.11% for deep subprime borrowers (300 to 500), and used-car APRs ranged from 6.29% to 21.62%. The overall averages were 6.35% for new cars and 11.19% for used cars, with an average new-car payment of $765 a month on a loan of $43,610 over about 69 months. Use the credit tier buttons to load these averages, then replace them with the real rate from your preapproval or the dealer's offer.
A popular rule of thumb for affordability is 20/4/10: put at least 20% down, finance for no more than 4 years (48 months) and keep your car payment (stricter versions include insurance and fuel) under 10% of your gross monthly income. Long 72 and 84 month loans keep payments low but leave you owing more than the car is worth for years, which becomes negative equity if you trade in early. This calculator flags negative equity, checks your loan against each part of the 20/4/10 rule and lets you copy a link to your exact scenario to share with a partner or compare dealer offers.
How to Use This Calculator
- 1Choose new or used, then enter the vehicle price, your down payment, your trade-in value and any amount you still owe on the trade-in.
- 2Pick your state to pre-fill the sales tax rate, then adjust it for local taxes and tick or untick whether your trade-in reduces the taxable amount.
- 3Enter title, registration and documentation fees, and choose whether to roll taxes and fees into the loan or pay them upfront.
- 4Tap your credit tier to load Experian's average APR, or type the APR from your preapproval, and select a 36 to 84 month term.
- 5Read your monthly payment, amount financed, total interest, total cost and payoff date, then check the 20/4/10 result and the term comparison table.
- 6Use the affordability box to see the most car a target payment buys, open the amortization schedule, and copy the link to share your result.