What the site does
Automobile Loan Calculator provides free tools for comparing car purchase financing, refinancing, extra payments, repayment length, monthly affordability, lease costs, and negative equity. Calculations run in your browser. You can change the inputs and download a monthly loan schedule without creating an account.
How results are computed
The tools use fixed monthly amortization. Each payment pays the monthly interest first and uses the remainder to reduce principal. The entered APR is treated as an annual amortization rate. Actual contract payments can differ when APR includes fees, a separate interest rate applies, interest accrues daily, or payment timing changes. The calculations keep full precision internally and round displayed currency to cents.
The purchase tool adds user-entered tax, fees, and old trade-in debt, then subtracts trade-in value and cash down. The affordability tool solves the same equation backward using tax on the full purchase price. The lease comparison includes user-entered cash costs and ending ownership equity; it does not supply future values or tax rules.
Sources and maintenance
Worked examples use official CFPB and Federal Reserve educational material. The reference-rate file uses FRED series RIFLPBCIANM60NM, sourced to Federal Reserve G.19. It is a dated commercial-bank new-auto 60-month reference, not an individual offer. The refresh script downloads the official CSV, validates the observations, and replaces the local file only after successful validation. A failed refresh preserves the last good file, and its retrieval date remains visible.
Official sources are linked on each calculator page. Archived official pages can verify the text when an original host blocks automated access. Data as of 2026-10-05. No approval, rate matching, or application service is provided.
Loan calculation reference
For the calculation method and official worked example, read CFPB amortization guidance or use the homepage calculator.
Official sources
Sources checked October 5, 2026. Archived copies were used to verify visible text where the live host blocked this server. Official links above point to the original sources.