Auto Loan Refinancing Calculator

Why Refinance Your Auto Loan?

People usually refinance car loans when their financial situation and/or credit score has improved, interest rates have dropped, or they want to remove a cosigner. As a more qualified borrower, you can get more favorable rates and terms on your refinanced car loan.

Pros and Cons of Refinancing Your Auto Loan

As with all methods of borrowing money, there are pros and cons to refinancing a car loan.

The pros

People usually refinance car loans when their financial situation and/or credit score has improved, interest rates have dropped, or they want to remove a cosigner. As a more qualified borrower, you can get more favorable rates and terms on your refinanced car loan.

• Car refinance rates can be lower than initial auto loan rates.

• Refinancing an auto loan could extend your loan term, meaning you owe less each month.

• Car loan refinancing can also shorten your term, meaning you could pay less in interest in the long term.

The cons

People usually refinance car loans when their financial situation and/or credit score has improved, interest rates have dropped, or they want to remove a cosigner. As a more qualified borrower, you can get more favorable rates and terms on your refinanced car loan.

• If you have enough equity in your car, you could get approved for a loan amount that exceeds what you owe on your vehicle.

• Extending your loan term could result in owing more money overall, as interest adds up over time.

• Shortening your loan term could result in larger payments each month.

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What to Expect in Your Auto Loan Refinance

Terms

Your refinance auto loan term can be for the same remaining term or changed. A change can affect your total interest paid, monthly payment, and when your car is paid off.

Rates

People are often tempted by auto refinance rates—and with good reason. A lower car refinance rate can save significant interest paid with the right terms and loan amount.

Monthly payments

When you refinance a car loan, your new loan amount and term will affect your monthly payment. A lower monthly payment can help ease cash constraints.

How to Use the Auto Refinance Calculator

Our car loan refinance calculator can help you estimate how much money refinancing your vehicle loan could save you. Using a few simple pieces of information, we can provide an educated guess about your auto refinance rates.

Details About Your Current Loan

Before using the car refinance calculator, you must compile the following information about your current vehicle loan. Contact your lender directly if you cannot find any of this information.

• Current monthly payment: Include what you pay in principal plus interest each month for your current car loan.

• Balance left on loan: This is how much you still owe on your current loan. Check your most recent statement or your lender’s payment portal/app to find this amount.

• Current interest rate: As with the others, your current interest rate should be on your statement or the lender’s site. Remember, if your auto loan has a variable interest rate, this number could change throughout the life of your loan based on the overall market. But if you went for a fixed rate, your interest rate should stay the same throughout the life of your loan.

Details About the Refinance Loan

After entering the information above, put in your potential new interest rate and term for your vehicle refinance.

• New interest rate: Include what you pay in principal plus interest each month for your current car loan.

• New loan term: Input your preferred or quoted new loan term. Typical auto loans follow 12 month increments (e.g. 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84). Longer terms can result in lower monthly payments but a higher overall cost because more interest accrues over the life of the loan. Conversely, shorter terms may have higher monthly payments but lower overall costs because interest has less time to accumulate.

Understanding the Results and Your Potential Savings

Once you enter all the information about your current and refinanced car loans, our auto refinance calculator crunches the numbers and shows your estimated new monthly payments and interest owed over the life of the loan.

It also shows you how much you could potentially save on monthly payments and/or interest so you can decide if refinancing your car loan is worth it.

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Your Next Steps

If you have found a result you like using the auto refinance calculator, such as a more acceptable interest rate or monthly payment, hit “get prequalified rates.” Prequalifying requires more information, including your contact details, but it will not affect your credit score.

Then you will be able to see what different lenders have to offer.

Compare your refinancing options thoroughly. Do not just look at terms and rates; check benefits, pre-payment penalties, additional fees, and user reviews.

After choosing the lender you are most comfortable with, apply directly with the lender. Their specific application requirements may differ, but they often require:

• Your employer information and pay stubs

• Tax documents

• Identifying documents, like a driver’s license and a Social Security number

• Details about your vehicle