Auto refinance calculator: should you refinance your car loan?
Drop in five details. We will tell you the exact monthly and lifetime savings, and whether the move is worth your time.
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How this auto refinance calculator works
You enter what you still owe, your current rate, the months left and your monthly payment. The calculator prices a new loan for the same balance over the same number of months at the average rate for your credit tier, then compares the two payments.
The new rate is not a guess. It is Experian's average used-car loan rate for your credit band, from its State of the Automotive Finance Market report for Q2 2026. We use the used-car figure because a refinance is a new loan on a car that is no longer new. That keeps the estimate on the cautious side: in the same quarter, people who actually refinanced landed at 7.97 percent on average, down from 10.40 percent on their original loans.
The verdict follows plain rules. If you would save at least $30 a month, it says Refinance now. Savings of $10 to $30 a month get Worth checking, or Refinance now when they add up to $1,000 or more over the rest of the loan. Anything under $10 a month gets Stay put, because a hard credit pull and a stack of paperwork are not free. Savings are measured against the payment your balance, rate and months left actually require, so extra payments you choose to make do not count as savings.
We keep the term the same on purpose. Stretching a refinance over more months always lowers the payment, but it can raise what you pay in total, so a smaller payment on its own is not proof of a better deal.
The rate we use for each credit tier
| Your tier | Experian band | Rate used |
|---|---|---|
| Excellent (781 or higher) | Super prime (781 to 850) | 6.29% |
| Good (661 to 780) | Prime (661 to 780) | 8.81% |
| Fair (601 to 660) | Near prime (601 to 660) | 13.93% |
| Rebuilding (600 or lower) | Subprime (501 to 600) | 19.10% |
Source: Experian, Q2 2026, average used-car APR by VantageScore 4.0 band. Scores of 300 to 500 averaged 21.62%, so expect higher offers there.
For the full table, including new-car rates, see car loan rates by credit score.
Worked example: is refinancing worth it?
Say you owe $24,000 at 11.5 percent with 48 months left, so your payment is about $626. You bought with fair credit, and your score has since climbed into the prime band (661 to 780).
At the prime average of 8.81 percent, the same $24,000 over 48 months costs about $595 a month. That is $31 a month less and about $1,484 over the rest of the loan.
If your score is 781 to 850, the super prime average of 6.29 percent drops the payment to about $567, saving $59 a month and roughly $2,840 in total.
Now the trap. Refinance the same balance at 8.81 percent but stretch it to 60 months, and the payment falls to about $496. That looks like $130 a month saved, but you would pay about $29,759 in total versus $30,048 if you simply keep your current loan. A year of extra payments for very little. Our guide to why 84 month loans are a trap explains the same math at a larger scale.
When refinancing does not make sense
- Your loan is nearly paid off. Most of the interest on a car loan is paid in the early years, so the savings shrink fast near the end.
- You owe more than the car is worth. Lenders limit how much they will lend against a car, so an underwater loan is harder to refinance at a good rate. See negative equity explained.
- Your current rate is already at or below the average for your tier. The table above is the quick check.
- Fees or a prepayment penalty eat the savings. Ask the new lender for the full cost in writing and read your current contract. Our guide on when to walk away from a refinance covers the red flags.
How to refinance, step by step
- Ask your current lender for a 10 day payoff quote. That, not the balance on your statement, is what the new lender has to pay.
- Check prequalified offers that use a soft pull, which does not touch your score. The difference is covered in soft pull vs hard pull.
- Do your formal applications inside a two week window so the inquiries count as one.
- Have your documents ready to avoid delays: the refinance documents checklist.
- The full walkthrough lives in how to refinance your auto loan.
FAQ
Is it worth refinancing a car loan for 1 percent?
Often, if the balance is big and years remain. On a $24,000 loan with 48 months left, dropping from 11.5 to 10.5 percent saves about $12 a month and roughly $553 over the loan. On a small balance or a loan with a year to go, the same cut may not be worth a hard credit pull. Run your own numbers in the calculator above.
Does refinancing a car hurt your credit?
Checking a prequalified rate uses a soft pull, which does not affect your score. A formal application adds a hard inquiry, which usually means a small, temporary dip. FICO counts several auto loan inquiries as one when they fall inside a 14 day window on older score versions, or 45 days on newer ones, so do all your rate shopping within two weeks.
What credit score do you need to refinance a car?
There is no single cutoff, because every lender sets its own. What your score changes is the price. In Experian data for Q2 2026, the average used-car rate was 6.29 percent for scores of 781 to 850, 8.81 percent for 661 to 780, and 13.93 percent for 601 to 660. If your score has moved up a band since you bought the car, refinancing is worth checking.
Should I refinance with a credit union or a bank?
Get quotes from both. In Experian data for Q2 2026, refinancing through a credit union lowered payments by $102 a month on average, compared with $65 for banks and $38 for finance companies. Averages hide a lot of variation, so compare real offers for your own loan.
Can you refinance a car loan with the same lender?
Sometimes, but do not count on it. Your current lender has little reason to cut a rate you already agreed to, so treat it as one quote among several rather than the only call you make.