Includes trade-in value & sales tax – download your results as PDF
This sophisticated auto loan calculator helps you estimate your monthly car payments while taking into account two important but frequently overlooked factors: sales tax and trade-in value. When you enter your car price, down payment, trade-in estimate, local sales tax rate, interest rate, and loan term (in months), the tool automatically calculates the following:
Loan Amount: The total amount financed after subtracting your trade-in value and down payment and adding the applicable sales tax.
Monthly Payment: Determined using the interest rate and standard amortization methods.
Total Interest: The additional cost you will incur over the loan term.
Total Payments: Your total cash outlay, including your down payment and all monthly installments.
This auto loan calculator factors in sales tax and your trade-in value to provide a realistic monthly payment estimate. It uses standard financial formulas in the background to ensure accuracy.
Step 1 – Loan amount
The calculator first determines the taxable amount:
Taxable Amount = Price – Trade-In
Then it computes the sales tax:
Sales Tax = Taxable Amount × (Tax Rate / 100)
Finally, the amount to be financed is calculated as:
Loan Amount = Price – Down Payment – Trade-In + Sales Tax
Step 2 - Monthly payments
Using the loan amortization formula, the monthly payment is calculated as:
Monthly Payment = P × [r × (1 + r)^n] / [(1 + r)^n – 1]
where:
P = Loan Amount
r = Monthly interest rate (Annual Rate / 12 / 100)
n = Loan term in months
Step 3 - Totals
Total Interest = (Monthly Payment × n) – Loan Amount
Total Payments = Down Payment + (Monthly Payment × n)
How to Use It
Use the placeholders as a guide while filling in the fields with your estimates. Click Calculate to view your personalized results. You can also download a professional PDF report of all inputs and outputs, making it ideal for record-keeping or comparing loan offers.
This tool removes uncertainty from auto financing by giving you a comprehensive overview that includes taxes and trade-in value.