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What car can you afford at $600 a month?
Start from the payment instead of the sticker: here is the loan $600 a month supports across common terms and rates, plus the calculator to add your down payment and real APR.
Short answer
At 7.5% APR, $600 a month pays off roughly $29,943 over 60 months, or $34,702 over 72 — and about $27,596 at a typical used-car rate. Add your down payment and trade-in on top to get the sticker price you can shop for, then leave room for sales tax, registration and fees. The calculator's affordability mode does the exact math for your rate.
Car price you can shop for
$34,943
- Loan your budget repays
- $29,943
- Plus your down payment
- $5,000
Before sales tax, registration, and fees — leave headroom for those.
About the numbers
A useful guardrail: keep the total of all car costs — payment, insurance, fuel, maintenance — inside about 15–20% of take-home pay. Stretching the term makes a bigger sticker "fit", but the affordability table shows what that really is: the same budget buying more interest instead of more car.
What $600/month finances by term
| Term | At 7.5% APR | At 11% (used) |
|---|---|---|
| 36 months | $19,289 | $18,327 |
| 48 months | $24,815 | $23,215 |
| 60 months | $29,943 | $27,596 |
| 72 months | $34,702 | $31,522 |
Loan principal only — add your down payment and trade-in to get the sticker price you can shop, and remember tax and fees come out of it too.
Monthly car payment by amount and term (at 7.5% APR)
| Amount financed | 36 months | 48 months | 60 months | 72 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $15,000 | $466.59 | $362.68 | $300.57 | $259.35 |
| $20,000 | $622.12 | $483.58 | $400.76 | $345.80 |
| $25,000 | $777.66 | $604.47 | $500.95 | $432.25 |
| $30,000 | $933.19 | $725.37 | $601.14 | $518.70 |
| $40,000 | $1,244.25 | $967.16 | $801.52 | $691.60 |
| $50,000 | $1,555.31 | $1,208.95 | $1,001.90 | $864.51 |
Payment = principal × monthly rate ÷ (1 − (1+rate)^−months), at 7.5% APR. Your rate depends on credit, lender, and the car's age.
What APR does to a $30,000 loan (60 months)
| APR | Monthly payment | Total interest |
|---|---|---|
| 3% APR | $539.06 | $2,343.60 |
| 5% APR | $566.14 | $3,968.40 |
| 6% APR | $579.98 | $4,798.80 |
| 7.5% APR | $601.14 | $6,068.40 |
| 9% APR | $622.75 | $7,365.00 |
| 12% APR | $667.33 | $10,039.80 |
Each APR point on a five-figure loan is worth hundreds of dollars — comparing one pre-approval against the dealer's rate is the highest-value negotiation in the deal.
How we calculate this
The standard amortized-loan formula, applied to the amount you actually finance:
- Amount financed. vehicle price (plus sales tax if you roll it into the loan) minus your down payment and trade-in value.
- Monthly payment. principal × monthly rate ÷ (1 − (1+rate)^−months), where the monthly rate is APR ÷ 12. A true 0% promotional APR degrades to principal ÷ months.
- Total interest & schedule. payment × months − principal; the amortization table splits each payment into interest (largest early) and principal, month by month.
Assumptions
- Fixed APR for the whole term — the standard for auto loans.
- Sales tax is either financed (entered here) or paid upfront; registration, doc fees, and add-ons are extra unless you fold them into the price.
- The affordability mode inverts the same formula — it shows what a monthly budget finances, before tax and fees.
- Average APRs move with the market and your credit tier; the defaults here are planning figures, not quotes.
Sources
Last reviewed: July 22, 2026
Frequently asked questions
How is a car payment calculated?+
With the standard amortized-loan formula: payment = principal × monthly rate ÷ (1 − (1 + monthly rate)^−months), where the monthly rate is your APR divided by 12 and the principal is the price plus financed tax, minus your down payment and trade-in. A $25,000 loan at 7.5% APR over 60 months comes to about $501 a month. This calculator runs the formula and shows the interest-versus-principal split for every month.
What is a good APR for a car loan?+
It depends on your credit tier and whether the car is new or used: strong credit on a new car can land in the mid-single digits, average credit is typically several points higher, and used-car loans run above new-car loans across every tier — averages around 7% new and 11% used. The most reliable move is getting a pre-approval from a bank or credit union first, so the dealer's finance offer has a number to beat.
Should I choose a 60-month or 72-month loan?+
The 72-month term lowers the payment but raises the total cost: on a $25,000 loan at 7.5% you save about $69 a month and pay roughly $1,050 more interest — while spending longer owing more than the car is worth. Pick the shortest term whose payment genuinely fits your budget. A long term is only a clean win when paired with a genuinely low promotional APR.
How much should I put down on a car?+
The common target is 20% on a new car and 10% on a used one. A bigger down payment cuts your payment dollar-for-dollar of principal, reduces the interest you pay on everything, and — importantly — keeps you from being upside-down when the car depreciates faster than the loan amortizes in the early years. A trade-in works exactly like extra down payment in the math.
How much car can I afford?+
Work backwards from the payment: at 7.5% APR over 60 months, every $100 of monthly budget finances about $5,000 of car. A common guardrail keeps all car costs — payment, insurance, fuel, maintenance — inside 15–20% of monthly take-home pay. The calculator's affordability mode inverts the loan formula for your exact rate and term, then you add your down payment on top.
Is sales tax included in a car loan?+
It can be, and it matters: most states charge sales tax on the purchase price, and if you don't pay it upfront the dealer rolls it into the amount financed — so you pay interest on the tax too. This calculator has a sales-tax field that does exactly that. Some states tax only the price minus your trade-in value, which makes trading in slightly more valuable there.
Does this calculator check my credit or store my numbers?+
No. It is pure math in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded, no credit check, no rate quote, no email. The APR you enter is the APR it uses, so the payment it shows is exactly what the amortization formula gives for your inputs. For a real offer you would still shop lenders; this tells you what any offer should cost.
Also try the Auto Loan Calculator.