Car Finance Calculator
Enter the price, the deposit, the APR and the term. Choose hire purchase or a personal contract plan with a final payment.
This is an estimate to help you plan and not advice.
Worked examples
Personal contract plan
£22,000 car, £2,000 deposit, 7.9% APR, 48 months, £9,500 final payment
£314.89 a month
Total cost to own the car is £26,615 including the deposit and the final payment.
Hire purchase
The same car with no final payment
£484.77 a month
Total cost is £25,269, and the car is yours at the end.
About Car Finance Calculator
Car finance usually comes in one of two forms. With hire purchase you pay a deposit and equal monthly payments, and the car is yours at the end. With a personal contract plan, part of the price, the final payment, is held back to the end, so the monthly payments are lower, but you need to pay that amount if you want to keep the car.
Enter the car price, your deposit, the rate, the term in months and, for a personal contract plan, the final payment. You can choose whether the rate you have is an APR, as most finance quotes are, or a yearly interest rate. The page shows the monthly payment, the total interest and the total it costs you to own the car, so you can compare finance with a loan or a cash purchase.
How to use Car Finance Calculator
- Choose hire purchase or a personal contract plan.
- Enter the price, deposit and any fees added to the loan.
- Enter the rate and the number of months.
- For a personal contract plan, enter the final payment, then read the monthly payment and total cost.
Common uses
- Comparing a dealer's finance quote with a bank loan
- Seeing how much the final payment lowers the monthly cost
- Working out the total cost of owning a car on finance
- Checking the effect of a bigger deposit
Sources
Last reviewed 18 October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between HP and PCP?
Hire purchase repays the whole price in equal payments. A personal contract plan repays only the car's expected loss in value, and leaves a final payment. With the plan, you can pay it to keep the car, hand the car back, or trade it in.
What is the final payment?
It is the amount set at the start as the car's expected value at the end of the agreement, often called the guaranteed minimum future value. You pay it to own the car.
Is the total cost higher with a personal contract plan?
The monthly payment is lower, but you also pay interest on the whole amount for the whole term, including the part left to the end, so the total cost of owning the car can be higher than with hire purchase.
Do mileage limits affect the figures?
Personal contract plans have a yearly mileage limit with charges for going over, and condition rules on return. These are not included here.
Does the APR include fees?
The APR on a finance quote includes compulsory fees. If a fee is added to the loan, enter it in the fees box and it is financed as well.