Basics of Auto Loan Amortization

Amortization is the process of paying off a loan. Everythe price, sales tax and other fees and changes like
month a portion of the principal and some interest isdestination changes and trade in value of an old car.
paid. Amortization formula is the calculation of theRounding: Actual payments must be rounded to the
payment amount per period. An amortization calculatornearest cent and the spreadsheet takes care of this
is used to find the periodic payment amount due on aprocess.
loan based on the amortization process.Zero balance: In amortization spreadsheet, the formula
Auto loan amortization calculator has a table whichin the payment due column checks the last balance to
shows how the auto loan works month by month. Thissee if a payment adjustment is needed to zero out
gives an idea of the interest paid over the years andthe balance.
the balance to be paid at any given time. After filling inThe auto loan payment calculator which is another
the information related to the loan, the calculate buttonworksheet in the excel workbook is based on the auto
should be clicked and a table will appear in the textloan amount, annual interest rate, term of the loan and
box below.payment frequency. The spreadsheet contains the
Using the amortization table, payment of more moneyinformation about how to use the loan calculator as cell
than the vehicles' worth can be avoided. To achievecomments. Just entering the value in the white
this, some estimation on the vehicles value afterbackground will suffice. The payment calculator also
certain number of months should be made. Then,helps to see how extra payments can help to pay off
amortization table can be used to see how much isthe loan early thus reducing the interest amount. It
left on the loan. Amortization table is already filled in forcontains yellow cells where the values are to be
a general car purchase. Generally auto loans run fromentered and the spreadsheet is left unlocked giving
48 to 72 months. The longer the term, the more theroom to modify it further.
interest cost.The third worksheet comprising loan comparisons
Amortization table takes into account down paymentcreates graph by taking input from the loan payment.
and trade in or cash rebate. Auto loan paymentThis helps to know the different rates of interest,
calculator can be used to analyze different types ofnumber of payments and the down payment affecting
loans by changing the loan amount, interest rate, termthe monthly payment and total amount of interest. The
of the loan and the payment frequency. It is alsoauto manufacturer may offer incentives in the form of
flexible, in the sense, additional payment can be madecash rebate or low interest rate and the auto loan
to pay off the loan early and avoid paying so muchcalculator specifies the cash rebate and the annual
interest. Auto loan amortization calculator helpsinterest rate.
estimate the overall cost of purchasing a car, including