By Jessica Martinez, Contributing Writer, Business & Finance · Updated 2026-07-02How much does a car payment cost by loan term and APR in 2026?
The table below shows the monthly payment, total paid and total interest for $20,000, $30,000 and $40,000 auto loans at 36, 48, 60 and 72 month terms, at three representative 2026 APRs. The middle APR, 7.52%, is the average rate on new-car loans at U.S. commercial banks for February 2026, the most recent figure in the Federal Reserve's G.19 Consumer Credit release at the time this page was last updated. The other two APRs (5.9% and 9.9%) bracket that average to represent stronger and weaker credit profiles. Every payment is computed with the standard loan amortization formula, the same one that runs the Auto Loan Calculator and Car Payment Calculator on this site, not estimated or rounded from a third-party table.
Summary table: monthly payment at 7.52% APR (2026 average, new-car, commercial banks)
| Loan amount | 36 months | 48 months | 60 months | 72 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000 | $622/mo | $484/mo | $401/mo | $346/mo |
| $30,000 | $933/mo | $726/mo | $601/mo | $519/mo |
| $40,000 | $1,245/mo | $968/mo | $802/mo | $692/mo |
Full reference table, all three APR tiers
The complete table below adds the 5.9% and 9.9% APR tiers, plus total interest paid over the full loan term for every combination. Use it to see how much a lower rate or a shorter term is worth in dollars, not just in monthly payment.
| Loan amount | Term | APR | Monthly payment | Total paid | Total interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000 | 36 mo | 5.9% | $608 | $21,871 | $1,871 |
| $20,000 | 36 mo | 7.52% | $622 | $22,403 | $2,403 |
| $20,000 | 36 mo | 9.9% | $644 | $23,199 | $3,199 |
| $20,000 | 48 mo | 5.9% | $469 | $22,502 | $2,502 |
| $20,000 | 48 mo | 7.52% | $484 | $23,221 | $3,221 |
| $20,000 | 48 mo | 9.9% | $506 | $24,302 | $4,302 |
| $20,000 | 60 mo | 5.9% | $386 | $23,144 | $3,144 |
| $20,000 | 60 mo | 7.52% | $401 | $24,057 | $4,057 |
| $20,000 | 60 mo | 9.9% | $424 | $25,437 | $5,437 |
| $20,000 | 72 mo | 5.9% | $331 | $23,797 | $3,797 |
| $20,000 | 72 mo | 7.52% | $346 | $24,912 | $4,912 |
| $20,000 | 72 mo | 9.9% | $370 | $26,605 | $6,605 |
| $30,000 | 36 mo | 5.9% | $911 | $32,807 | $2,807 |
| $30,000 | 36 mo | 7.52% | $933 | $33,605 | $3,605 |
| $30,000 | 36 mo | 9.9% | $967 | $34,798 | $4,798 |
| $30,000 | 48 mo | 5.9% | $703 | $33,752 | $3,752 |
| $30,000 | 48 mo | 7.52% | $726 | $34,831 | $4,831 |
| $30,000 | 48 mo | 9.9% | $759 | $36,453 | $6,453 |
| $30,000 | 60 mo | 5.9% | $579 | $34,715 | $4,715 |
| $30,000 | 60 mo | 7.52% | $601 | $36,085 | $6,085 |
| $30,000 | 60 mo | 9.9% | $636 | $38,156 | $8,156 |
| $30,000 | 72 mo | 5.9% | $496 | $35,696 | $5,696 |
| $30,000 | 72 mo | 7.52% | $519 | $37,368 | $7,368 |
| $30,000 | 72 mo | 9.9% | $554 | $39,907 | $9,907 |
| $40,000 | 36 mo | 5.9% | $1,215 | $43,742 | $3,742 |
| $40,000 | 36 mo | 7.52% | $1,245 | $44,806 | $4,806 |
| $40,000 | 36 mo | 9.9% | $1,289 | $46,397 | $6,397 |
| $40,000 | 48 mo | 5.9% | $938 | $45,003 | $5,003 |
| $40,000 | 48 mo | 7.52% | $968 | $46,441 | $6,441 |
| $40,000 | 48 mo | 9.9% | $1,013 | $48,604 | $8,604 |
| $40,000 | 60 mo | 5.9% | $771 | $46,287 | $6,287 |
| $40,000 | 60 mo | 7.52% | $802 | $48,114 | $8,114 |
| $40,000 | 60 mo | 9.9% | $848 | $50,875 | $10,875 |
| $40,000 | 72 mo | 5.9% | $661 | $47,594 | $7,594 |
| $40,000 | 72 mo | 7.52% | $692 | $49,823 | $9,823 |
| $40,000 | 72 mo | 9.9% | $739 | $53,209 | $13,209 |
Download the full table as CSV (36 rows: loan amount, term, APR, monthly payment, total paid, total interest).
Methodology
Every payment in this table comes from the standard loan amortization formula: monthly payment equals loan amount times monthly rate, divided by one minus (one plus monthly rate) raised to the negative number of payments, where the monthly rate is APR divided by 12. This is the identical formula used by the live Auto Loan Calculator and Car Payment Calculator elsewhere on this site; nothing here is estimated separately. The 7.52% APR used as the "2026 average" comes from the Federal Reserve Board's G.19 Consumer Credit release, Terms of Credit table, which reported a 7.52% average interest rate on new-car loans at commercial banks for February 2026, the most recent period available as of this page's last update. That series is reported quarterly, so it will not move every month; when the Federal Reserve publishes a newer figure, this page is updated to match. The 5.9% and 9.9% tiers are not survey data; they are CarCalcTools' own representative brackets around the Federal Reserve average, included to show the range a borrower might see across credit tiers. Figures are rounded to the nearest dollar.
Cite this page
CarCalcTools, "2026 Auto Loan Payment Reference by Term and APR," 2026, https://carcalctools.net/auto-loan-payment-reference-2026.
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