Are you thinking of buying a brand new car or maybe even a good used one? It’s not one of the luxuries that can be easily afforded. Buying a car is, for most people, not a light purchase. Simply writing out a check or pulling out a wad of cash from your pocket to pay for it is just not possible, unless you’re a Bill Gates or a Mark Zuckerberg. Cars are usually obtained with a good car loan. Getting a car loan is fairly easy if you have good credit and a steady source of income. But, before signing for a loan through a dealership, a bank, credit union or any other lending institution, make sure you know how much you’ll need. Calculating your auto loan payments is a good practice to help determine how much of an impact it will be on your budget. Below are some steps on how to calculate your car loan payments and how some factors can affect the amount financed.
Here are the steps to calculate your auto loan payments:
1) Deduct the value of your car, if you have one, from the price of the car you wish to purchase to get an estimate of the overall amount you’ll need to pay.
2) Calculate the amount of state sales tax. Find out how much sales tax your state charges, using the estimated price you’ve come up with and add it get the whole amount with the tax.
3) Find out from the dealer you’ve chosen if they will be charging any additional fees. Usually there are fees charged for preparing the vehicle for sale, a destination fee or a fee for handling the paperwork for the loan. Add any and all fees to the overall amount you’ve already calculated.
4) Subtract the amount of the down payment you’re willing to provide so you can get the total of the amount you want to finance.
5) Decide on a financial institution to use. Comparing the interest rates being charged by local banks, credit unions, car dealerships and online will yield a good representation of the best deals available.
6) Check with the financial institution you’ll be using for the interest they’ll be charging. Add that to the finance amount then divide it by the number of months you want for the duration of the loan.
You can change any of the variables as much as you want, for example, paying a larger down payment to lower the amount of the auto loan or deciding to prolong the duration of the auto loan. It’s really your decision. But what’s important is that you know how much you’ll be able to afford and not overstep your budget so you can be sure about getting the auto loan paid off properly.