Compare your car loan with a refinance offer. See the saving the lower rate really buys, what a longer term costs, and when the fees are repaid.
Estimates only. Your lender's payoff quote, fees and APR are what actually apply, and a payoff balance changes daily. Fees are treated as paid up front; rolling them into the new loan costs more.
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Almost every auto refinance calculator answers the same way: it divides your fees by the drop in your monthly payment and calls the result break-even. That is only honest when the new loan runs for the same number of months as the old one. Stretch a loan with 12 months left back out to 24 and the payment falls by hundreds — none of which is a saving. This calculator prices the new APR over the term you actually have left, so the monthly saving it reports belongs to the rate, and it shows separately what the term change costs you.
Refinancing replaces your current car loan with a new one, usually at a lower APR after your credit has improved or market rates have fallen. Your lender pays off the old balance and you start again on new terms. The decision has three moving parts and they pull in different directions: a lower rate saves money, a longer term costs money, and any cash you take out costs interest. A calculator that reports only the change in your monthly payment tells you nothing about which of the three you are looking at.
The identity behind the result
A year or two of on-time payments can move you up a credit tier. Check what the better APR is worth before applying and adding an inquiry.
Extending the term will lower the payment. This shows you what that relief costs over the life of the loan, so you choose it knowingly.
Late in a loan almost all of the payment is principal, so there is very little interest left for a lower rate to save. Fees usually win.
Two offers with the same APR and different terms are not the same offer. Run each and compare net saving rather than monthly payment.
A cash-out refinance turns equity into cash. See what that cash costs in interest before deciding it is cheaper than the alternatives.
Fees are measured against the saving the lower APR produces at your existing term, so a longer loan can never make the payback look quick.
Extending the loan is shown as its own line with its own cost, beside the saving from the rate, so you can see which one is bigger.
Most people know their payment, not the exact number of months left. Give either one and the calculator solves for the other instead of assuming both.
Money you take out is not a loss. Only the interest on it counts against you, which is usually a fraction of what other calculators report.
The rate saving, the term cost and the cash-out interest sum exactly to the headline net saving, and the worked steps show it.
Break-even is your fees divided by the monthly saving the new APR produces over the term you have left — not over the new lender's term. Most calculators use the new term, which counts a longer loan as a saving. If you refinance a loan with 12 months left over 24 months, the payment can halve while your total cost rises; measured properly, break-even in that case often falls beyond the loan itself, which is the same as saying you never break even.
Yes, and it is the most common outcome of a refinance sold on payment relief. A longer term spreads the same balance over more months, so each payment is smaller and more of them carry interest. This calculator shows the term effect as its own line so you can see whether the rate saving covers it.
There is no single threshold, because it depends on your balance, your fees and how many months you have left. A one-point drop on $25,000 with four years to run is worth several hundred dollars; the same drop on $4,000 with eight months left will not cover a $400 fee. Run your own numbers rather than relying on a rule of thumb.
Choose "Monthly payment" and enter it. Your balance, APR and payment together determine the remaining term exactly, so the calculator solves for it and shows the result. This is usually more accurate than counting months from memory, because it uses the numbers on your statement.
No. Cash you receive is not a cost — you still have it. What costs you is the interest on the extra amount borrowed, plus any effect of a longer term. This calculator separates the two, so a $3,000 cash-out shows its real cost rather than being counted as a $3,000 loss.
Include the lender's origination or documentation fee, the state title transfer and re-registration costs, and any lien recording fee. Ask whether the fees are payable up front or added to the loan. This calculator assumes you pay them up front; rolling them in means you also pay interest on them, so the true cost is a little higher than shown.
It is harder. Lenders cap the loan-to-value ratio they will refinance, often around 120% of the vehicle's book value, and being underwater usually means a higher APR or a declined application. Getting a payoff quote and a current valuation before applying tells you where you stand.
An application creates a hard inquiry and a new account, which can dip your score briefly. Rate-shopping several lenders within a short window is typically treated as one inquiry by the main scoring models. Over time, the payment history on the new loan matters far more than the inquiry.