Car Down Payment Calculator

The size of your down payment has a direct effect on both your monthly payment and how much interest you’ll pay over the life of your loan. This car down payment calculator lets you test different down payment amounts side by side, so you can see exactly how much a bigger upfront payment lowers your monthly cost, or how a smaller one frees up cash while increasing your loan balance. This is especially useful when you’re deciding how much of your savings to put toward a purchase versus keeping in reserve.

For a broader look at how down payment size compares to other ways of managing your monthly cost, our article on down payment vs. monthly payment covers the full tradeoff in detail. Once you’ve settled on a down payment amount, you can see your complete monthly figure — including tax — using our car payment calculator, or your total interest cost over the loan term with our car loan calculator.