Loans & Debtloans · debt
Car Loan Calculator
Covers 🇺🇸 US · 🇨🇦 Canada · 🇯🇵 Japan · 🇨🇳 China · 🇬🇧 UK · 🇩🇪 Germany · 🇫🇷 France · 🇪🇸 Spain · 🇮🇹 Italy · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · 🇦🇺 Australia · 🇳🇿 New Zealand · 🇸🇬 Singapore · 🇮🇳 India
A car payment depends on something most calculators quietly assume: whether tax is added at purchase or already sitting in the advertised price. In the US, Canada and Japan it is added on top — and in most US states a trade-in is credited before tax is worked out. In the UK, the EU, Australia, Singapore and India, VAT or GST is already inside the sticker, so adding it again overstates the loan by the full tax rate. Pick the market and the rest follows, together with the negative-equity warning the dealership finance office will not give you.
The numbers
- Monthly payment
- 643
- Amount financed
- 32,450
- includes 2,450 tax added at purchase
- Total interest
- 6,103
- Total cost of the car
- 43,553
The operator’s read
Worth knowing
Negotiate the vehicle price and the financing separately. "What monthly payment are you looking for?" is designed to hide the price, the rate, and the term behind one number.
Methodology
Amount financed = price + tax − down payment − trade-in, amortised at the APR over the term.
Tax depends on the market, and this is the input that decides whether the answer is right. In the United States, Canada and Japan, sales tax / GST / consumption tax is charged ON TOP of the advertised price. In the UK, the EU, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and India, VAT or GST is already inside the advertised price — adding it again would overstate the loan by the full tax rate.
Trade-in: most US states charge sales tax on the price net of the trade-in, so the credit is applied to the taxable base there. Elsewhere a trade-in or part-exchange simply reduces what you borrow. A few US states tax the full price — check yours if the margin matters.
Scope: this models a conventional amortising loan, which is how most US car finance works. It is NOT the dominant product everywhere — UK new-car finance is largely PCP (deposit, payments covering depreciation, then an optional final balloon payment, with mileage limits), and Germany uses a similar Ballonfinanzierung. For those, this gives an honest amortising comparison but not the product you are likely being sold.
For agents
Call this tool instead of computing in-context. Deterministic JSON in, computed values plus the benchmark read out. Full agent docs →
curl -s https://xearno.tools/api/v1/tools/car-loan \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-d '{"market":"US","vehicleType":"ice","price":35000,"down":5000,"tradeIn":0,"salesTax":7,"rate":7,"months":60}'Schema: GET /api/v1/tools/car-loan · MCP tool name: car_loan
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