Vehicle EconomicsAuto Loan Amortization Calculator
The full month-by-month principal, interest, and balance path of your loan.
Why this comes up
A payment figure tells you what leaves your account. It doesn't tell you how that payment splits between interest and principal, or why your balance barely moves in the first year despite paying on time every month. Seeing the actual schedule makes that visible instead of leaving it as a lender-side mystery.
How we calculated this
Each month, interest is charged on the current balance at your monthly rate (APR ÷ 12), the rest of the payment reduces principal, and the balance carries forward. We repeat this for every month of the term and show the totals.
Worked example, using this page's own defaults ($20,000 at 6% APR, 60 months): the payment is approximately $386.66/month, and roughly 65% of your first payment goes to interest versus principal. That split flips steadily as the balance falls, run the calculator above to see the full schedule.
What this means
- The balance drops slowly at first because interest is calculated on the higher opening balance, not because you're paying less toward the loan.
- Once you know your remaining balance at a future month, check Car Equity Calculator to see where that leaves you against your vehicle's value.
- An extra monthly payment applied here shows up as extra principal reduction every month, not just at the end, which is why extra payments compound over the life of a loan.
Limitations
This is a planning schedule, not a lender's official amortization statement. Exact payment-posting dates, daily accrual, and rounding conventions vary by lender. See Methodology.
Methodology
This engine is built on Vehicle Economics' fixed-rate amortization model: the standard loan-payment formula run out as a full month-by-month schedule. See Methodology for the full detail.