Tested tool guide
Tested browser tools
Checked August 16, 2026
What Auto Loan Calculator does, with a checked example
This tool computes the fixed monthly payment on a vehicle loan by subtracting your trade-in value and down payment from the vehicle price to find the amount actually financed, then applying the standard amortization formula against your APR and loan term. It also totals the interest paid over the full term and breaks each month into principal and interest in a schedule. The figure people most often misread is the loan amount itself: sales tax, registration, and dealer fees are usually rolled into the amount financed, so the true balance owed can be higher than price minus trade-in and down payment.
Worked example
A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.
Input
Vehicle price $30,000, trade-in value $5,000, down payment $2,000, APR 6%, term 60 months
->
Expected output
Amount financed: $23,000. Monthly payment: about $444.65. Total interest over 60 months: about $3,679.
Trade-in and down payment reduce the $30,000 price to a $23,000 principal; amortizing that at 6% APR over 60 months gives a level payment of about $444.65, and 60 payments total roughly $26,679, of which $3,679 is interest.