If you want to simplify your next vehicle purchase, then don’t shop based on the cash price. Unless you’re going to buy your next car or truck with a briefcase full of bills, thinking about it as a $25,000 purchase doesn’t do you much good. Instead, consider the vehicle as a monthly expense. It’s much more practical to choose your next vehicle based on its monthly cost because this is how you’ll be paying for it. Lucky for you, our Car Payment Calculator can tell you what any vehicle’s bi-weekly or monthly cost will be.
To find out what your bi-weekly or monthly payments will be, for any vehicle you’re looking at on any site, you just need to use the short form below and plug in a few details about your purchase!
If you’re not sure what your interest rate is likely to be, we have a solution for you. Just scroll down past the car payment calculator to find out how to get your interest rate.
First of all, don’t stress about this part of the form. Typically, most people fall between 2% and 7% interest. If your credit score is a bit lower (under 650) then you will likely get an interest rate about 7%. But if you’d like to know for sure, for your peace of mind, we can pre-approve you for auto financing here at My Ride, and we’ll be able to give you your interest rate during that process.
Getting pre-approved for financing is a win-win. By getting your finance rate you’ll be able to use our car payment calculator with complete confidence. You’ll also be able to shop with confidence, too. Once you already know that you’re pre-approved for financing, you can stop worrying about whether or not you’ll be able to buy certain cars that you like. You’ll already know what you’re qualified for!
At My Ride, the most questions we’re asked involve picking the right car, getting the best loan possible, and how to save for a car loan. So, we put together these give tips for avoiding some common mistakes regarding your car payments. These could save you thousands of dollars!
Like we just mentioned, your credit score will impact the interest rate you can get on your loan, how long a bank will finance you for (i.e. the term), and how expensive a vehicle you will be allowed to buy. If you talk to us at My Ride, we can pre-approve you for a loan before you ever step into a dealership. This will simplify your entire purchase experience, by narrowing down what you’re interested in.
If you don’t have a credit history (or don’t have much of one), getting a loan can be difficult, but not impossible. One of the benefits of getting pre-approved with My Ride is that we work directly with more than 20 car manufacturers across Canada. We can tell you exactly which vehicles you qualify for. We have more than 11,000 vehicles in our inventory, so we’re confident we’ll have something that works for you.
Since you’re here, you’re probably already doing that. If you haven’t researched the kinds of vehicles you’re interested in, do that before doing anything else. Compare cars in similar price ranges, find out what features you like and what features you absolutely need, settle on a price you’re comfortable paying, etc. If you’re not sure what you’re looking for—or what’s a good deal—then you’re more likely to make a decision you’ll regret later.
If you have enough money to pay for a vehicle in cash then you should absolutely do that. It’s always cheaper to buy a vehicle this way, because it allows you to avoid added interest costs. That being said, if you’re on this page right now you’re probably looking into financing your next vehicle. If you are, planning by payment makes a lot more sense than planning by sticker price.
For most of us, we plan our budgets monthly: cable costs, grocery costs, mortgage payments, etc. Why wouldn’t you budget your vehicle monthly as well? Thankfully, our car payment calculator can help!
If you know that you’ll be trading in your current vehicle when you buy you next vehicle, get your vehicle appraised before you start shopping. With My Ride, you can even do it online, without having to visit a dealership (just contact us to find out how). Once you know how much your vehicle is worth (or how much you still owe on it), you’ll be able to price out your next purchase that much easier. Knowing the value of your vehicle beforehand will make it harder for a dealership to lowball you on their trade-in offer.
Never, ever, ever buy a vehicle from a dealership you don’t trust. This is one of the biggest purchases you’re ever going to make, so do it with as much confidence as you can. A trustworthy dealership will be honest throughout the process, won’t shield you from potentially deal-breaking details, and put your interests above theirs whenever they can.
At My Ride, our goal is to get you the best possible loan for your situation. Once we do that, we work with you to pay off your loan as fast as you’d like. If you’re interested in exploring your options for a shorter-term loan (you’ll pay less in the end), we have a few strategies to get you started.
When you make bi-weekly payments on your loan, you’ll pay off your loan faster because you’ll make two extra loan payment every year. If you pay twice a month, you’ll make a payment towards your loan on the 1st and the 15th of each month, or 24 payments a year. If you choose bi-weekly, however, you’ll make 26 payments. Over the course of a 5-year term, you’ll be finished almost three months early.
Rather than pay, for example, $271.23 a month for a car loan, round up to $300. Over the course a 5-year term, you’ll make $1726.20 in additional loan payments.
One of the easiest ways to lower your payments and save interest is to re-finance your loan. If your credit improves during your auto loan contract, speak to your lender about re-negotiating your car loan. You could get a new loan with a better interest rate! (Note: at My Ride, we can lower our customers’ interest rates by as much as 3% every year.)
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