Create a Car Buying Budget with Car Loan Calculators

If, like many people, you need to keep a close check on your budget situation, buying a car is going to cause you a financial headache. There are so many different offers and rates around that it can be quite stressful to find the best place to buy your vehicle. Technology however can help take some of the stress out of the financial equation with such online tools as car loan calculators.

Before you even set foot in a car dealership a car loan calculator can help you ascertain how much money you can afford to spend on your new car. By inputting the required amounts into the boxes on the online form, you will be given an indication of how much you can afford to spend. Usually you will be asked for only the amount of money you can afford as a down payment, and how much you can repay each month. The amount is calculated using a specified rate of interest and repayment period.

The best kind of car loan calculator will allow you to change the rate of interest and repayment period. If you have done a little bit of research and have a good idea what these figures are in the car dealerships you are most interested in using, then by inputting their terms into the online calculator you’ll get a fairly accurate picture of the kind of price you can afford to pay for your new vehicle. The great thing about this is that you can play with the system changing your personal financial information as well as the rates/terms information until you have a very clear idea of the best kind of financial solution for your budget.

If you’ve seen a car that you’re interested in buying, you can also use the calculator to get a good idea of how much the monthly repayment would be. In the appropriate box simply add in the price of the car, and then calculate the monthly figure. Again, you will be given an interest rate that has been set by the site rather than the dealership. If you can change the rate however, give the dealership a ring and see if they can give you an approximate rate charged by their financial services provider.

One thing that you must keep in mind is that these numbers are based only on the cost price as shown on the car. They don’t reflect additional charges such as license, tax and warranties that may be required to be purchased at the same time as you purchase the car. If these costs need to be paid upfront then you may find that you don’t have as much of a down payment as you initially thought. If the costs can be added to the overall cost of the vehicle, then the monthly repayment will increase. Either way a car loan calculator will give you some numbers that will help you develop a good working budget to use when deciding which car to buy.