Auto loans
Auto Loans: Rates, Refinancing & Car Payments
An auto loan is secured by the car, which keeps rates well below unsecured borrowing — but the asset depreciates faster than most loans amortise, which is why so many drivers end up owing more than the vehicle is worth. The term you choose matters at least as much as the rate.
These guides cover current pricing, refinancing an existing loan, borrowing with weak credit, and the arithmetic behind a payment you can actually sustain.
Data snapshot
- Year over year
- -0.16 pts
- 12-month range
- 7.37% – 7.63%
Average rate on a 60-month new-car loan at commercial banks, from the Federal Reserve's G.19 release. Captive finance arms and credit unions price around this level, sometimes far below it during manufacturer promotions.
Start here
Auto Loan Rates: What You Should Be Paying
How credit tier, term and vehicle age set your rate.
Read the guideCar Loan Refinancing: When It Is Worth It
Lower the rate without restarting the clock.
Read the guideCar Loans With Bad Credit: How to Borrow Safely
Get the car without the trap — and refinance out early.
Read the guideCar Payment Calculator: Work Out What You Can Afford
Size the loan, then test it against total running costs.
Read the guideCar payment calculator
Your monthly car payment
$492
- Amount financed
- $24,000
- Total paid over the term
- $29,544
- Total interest
- $5,544
- Cost per year of ownership
- $6,709
A car loses value while the loan runs. The shorter the term and the larger the deposit, the less of that loss you finance.
This car payment calculator turns a loan amount, an interest rate and a term into the numbers that actually decide affordability: the monthly payment, the total interest and the date the balance hits zero.
Every figure updates instantly, so you can test a shorter term or a slightly better rate before you ever speak to a lender.
Frequently asked questions
More calculators
Related tools and data
What people search for
Monthly US search volume for the questions this page answers, from our keyword research set.
| Search query | Monthly searches | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| car payments calculator | 450,000 | 96 |
| loan calculator car loan | 368,000 | 85 |
| car loan calculator car | 301,000 | 93 |
| estimate car payment calculator | 201,000 | 92 |
| refinancing car loan | 201,000 | 88 |
| auto loan and | 165,000 | 78 |
| cars car loan calculator | 165,000 | 88 |
| auto car payment calculator | 90,500 | 93 |
| vehicle car loan calculator | 90,500 | 86 |
| vehicle auto loan calculator | 90,500 | 92 |