A car quote you can trace
Compare the whole car loan cost.
Start with a written quote. A monthly payment is one result of the price, financing and trade-in—not a substitute for understanding them.
This is a planning worksheet, not a lender offer, legal tax interpretation or approval to borrow. All examples below are synthetic.
1. Build the amount financed
Ask for the vehicle's price, any rebate, each fee and the actual tax amount. Record the trade-in offer separately from the amount needed to pay off its old loan. Decide which tax and fees are paid now and which are included in the new loan.
| Worked quote item | Effect on financing |
|---|---|
| Vehicle price | $30,000 |
| Rebate | −$1,000 |
| Cash down | −$3,000 |
| Trade-in value | −$10,000 |
| Old trade payoff owed | +$14,000 |
| Entered tax, financed | +$2,000 |
| Entered fees, financed | +$1,000 |
| Amount financed | $33,000 |
The trade brings $4,000 of prior debt: $14,000 owed minus $10,000 offered. In this example, cash due upfront is $3,000. Paying the $2,000 tax and $1,000 fees upfront instead reduces the amount financed to $30,000 and raises upfront cash to $6,000. Those costs still exist.
A positive-equity trade works in the other direction. It can reduce borrowing, but the traded vehicle is an asset you are contributing. A total of cash payments that excludes its value is not the entire economic cost.
2. Choose the tax input deliberately
Trade-in credits, rebates, taxable fees and exemptions can change tax calculations. This tool does not identify your state's law. If the dealer's quote shows a tax amount, enter that amount and check its basis independently. If you calculate a percentage, choose the displayed base and read what it excludes.
The built-in full-price and price-less-trade bases are before rebates and exclude fees. Use the custom taxable amount when your paperwork uses a different basis. Do not interpret a zero in the form as a tax exemption. The worked example's $2,000 tax is an entered assumption, not a state rate.
3. Compare principal, rate and term together
The CFPB comparison guidance distinguishes amount financed, interest rate, APR and term. Use the contractual interest rate in this calculator. APR can include other credit costs; a payment estimate does not reconstruct it.
For the same $12,000 principal at zero interest, a 12-month loan pays $1,000 a month; a 24-month loan pays $500. The lower payment alone has not reduced the principal cost. At a positive rate, the longer schedule generally carries more interest.
Pin one entered quote in the calculator, change the inputs, then calculate the second. The comparison preserves each quote's own price, rate, term, trade debt and upfront cash. It does not rank lenders, infer eligibility or label either quote affordable. Read the full contract and budget ownership costs such as insurance, fuel and maintenance separately.
4. Separate a purchase estimate from a payoff quote
A daily simple-interest loan depends on elapsed days and the outstanding balance. Chase's lender explanation describes daily accrual and how timing affects payment allocation. Our dated mode requires your balance date, contractual payment, next date and chosen day-count denominator.
Worked example: $12,000 at 12% over 31 days with an Actual/365 basis accrues $122.30 after interval rounding. A $1,200 payment then pays $1,077.70 toward principal, leaving $10,922.30. The same inputs with a different day-count basis can produce a different result; use your contract's basis.
The CFPB also distinguishes precomputed-interest loans. This calculator does not model those contracts, penalties, extensions or special fee allocation. If a payment cannot cover the period's interest, the estimate stops rather than showing a false payoff date. Ask the lender for a current payoff quote before settling a loan.
5. Keep a useful record
Make, model and model year are optional labels. No VIN or contact details are needed. The calculator keeps entries and pinned comparisons only in tab memory. It does not upload or sell them; refreshing clears them. A downloaded worksheet contains your entries, so store it privately.
CSV includes separate baseline/extra-payment schedules and summary measures. Filter the section you need instead of summing the entire amount column. The printable summary keeps the model assumptions; you can choose whether schedules are included.
Open the free Car Payment & Payoff Calculator →
Saving for a down payment? Sinking Funds is a separate localStorage tool for an entered savings target. Its trial and license rules are separate from this free calculator.