Car loans, and the total you'll pay

Enter the car's price, what you're putting down, the trade-in, the rate and the number of months. The calculator shows what you'd borrow, the monthly payment, the interest over the life of the loan and the total you'd pay.

Why the term matters as much as the rate

A longer loan lowers the monthly payment and raises the total interest. Take a $20,000 loan at 4.75 percent. Paid off over 36 months, the payment is $597 and the interest comes to $1,498. Over 72 months, the payment drops to $320, but the interest rises to $3,024, more than twice as much.

A longer loan also makes it more likely you'll owe more than the car is worth. Try the same price and rate at two or three terms to see the trade between the payment and the total.

Reading an advertised payment

A low monthly payment in an ad can mean a longer loan, which takes more time and costs more to pay back. It can also mean a large down payment, or payments that balloon later. The fine print can hold costs such as a processing fee, so read it before you run the numbers.

The rest of what the car costs

The loan is only part of the cost of owning a car. Registration fees, maintenance, insurance, gas and repairs come on top of the monthly payment. What your car costs you each month adds them up.

Add-ons and the amount borrowed

Anything rolled into the loan is borrowed too, and you pay interest on it. Financing an add-on such as GAP insurance raises the loan amount and the interest. To see what an add-on costs over the loan, run the calculator twice: once with the price alone, and once with the add-on's price added.

Where to find your numbers

• Price. Use the dealer's out-the-door price, which includes all charges and fees.
• Down payment and trade-in. Use the cash you're putting in and the dealer's written trade-in figure.
• Rate. Use the APR on the loan offer.
• Months. Use the term on the offer. A loan quoted in years is twelve months for each year.

What the figures mean

Borrowed is the price minus the down payment and the trade-in. A month is the level payment that pays off the loan over the term. Interest over the loan is all the payments added together, minus the amount borrowed. Paid in all is the total of the payments. It doesn't include the down payment or the trade-in, which you pay up front.