Monthly payment, total interest and resale value for a $15,000 car over 4 years
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Resale Value
Depreciation Curve
$15,000 4-Year Car Loan Calculator: Payment, Interest and Resale
A $15,000 budget sits at the heart of the used-car market, and financing it over four years at 7.5% APR keeps the payment manageable while avoiding the long interest tail of a five- or six-year loan. This page pre-fills a 10% down payment of $1,500, leaving a $13,500 loan across 48 instalments.
Monthly payment and total interest
With a monthly rate of 0.075 ÷ 12 = 0.00625 and n = 48, the amortization formula gives a payment of about $326.42 per month. Multiply by 48 and you repay roughly $15,668, so the interest cost is about $2,168 — roughly 16% of the amount borrowed.
monthly = L × r × (1+r)^n ÷ ((1+r)^n − 1) L = 15,000 − 1,500 = 13,500 r = 0.00625 n = 48 monthly ≈ 13,500 × 0.00625 × 1.3489 ÷ 0.3489 ≈ $326.42
How fast a $15,000 car depreciates
At the default 15% annual depreciation the car is worth about $12,750 after one year, $9,212 after three years and $7,830 after four. Depreciation — not interest — is the bigger number: the car loses about $7,170 of value over the term, more than three times the $2,168 you pay in interest.
Four-year cash out: $1,500 down + $15,668 instalments = $17,168, versus a $7,830 resale value.
Dropping to a 3-year term would raise the payment to roughly $420 but cut interest by several hundred dollars.
Buying a two- to three-year-old model at this price captures the steepest depreciation already taken by the first owner.
Servicing, tyres and insurance on a $15,000 car typically run $1,500–$2,500 a year on top.
Because this loan is comfortably within most monthly budgets, the smarter move is usually a slightly larger down payment rather than a longer term, which keeps both interest and the underwater risk lower.