Can I only pay my principle on my car note and not be penalized?

[tygrtchr]

Each of your payments contains an amount for principal and interest.  It is perfectly fine to pay MORE than the minimum payment, but you can't pay less and specify that it is for the principal only.  Adding even $25 month extra will knock the debt down early since the $25 goes toward the principal.  The more extra you pay per month, the faster that car is paid off.

[Keyezell]

Hey Carl, what’s the best way to download the excel spreadsheet?

[lloyd1981]

I'm always interested in spreadsheets that allow for calculations of time and money. Unfortunately, the link supplied results in error.

FYI

[JQ83]

You can actually make principle only payments. I did through my credit union. Typically you have to speak with someone and tell them it is a principle only payment. This is usually done separately from your regular payments. That being said, it does depend on the lender.

[Saiquan27]

Dont get a loan from the car dealership. Get a loan through a bank yourself and then go purchase the car. Rates are usually lower that way.

[Mr_Roundtree]

I recently had a Loan and what I would do is make two payments. The first was the minimum payment due, then the second payment would be whatever extra I wanted to pay on the principal. I paid off my loan six months early and saved on interest. It really depends on what type of loan you get so I always recommend when buying a car to ask the lender if you can do so without penalty. I have heard some lenders will not let you pay on the principal unless you are doing a payoff.

[bdavis404]

can you please email me your excel spreadsheet at [email address removed]

Thank you so much!

How do i private message, I did a preview and it still blocks out my email

email is [email address removed]

[xmasbaby0]

@bdavis404 Please return to your post and go to the three little blue dots on the upper right so that you can edit out your email address.  This is a public web site that can be seen by everyone.  Do you want to receive emails and contacts from scammers and identity thieves pretending to be from TurboTax?

[Grammyb2]

Steven, you can pay more on your auto loan and the more you pay the sooner your vehicle is paid off and less interest you pay. I have a loan on my vehicle and I pay more then my payments t is and the loan payment is paid for the amount it is and anything extra goes to principle. I don't know who you get your loans through but every loan I have had even for my mortgage was the same way. Anything paid extra went to principle to lower the interest on the loan. You must be dealing with some crocked loan companies if they are doing that to you or if that is what you think as I have never taken a loan to the end of the term as I have paid it off sooner then they have given me the loan for and paid less interest with no penalties....

[jahman4us]

This is my email so you can send me the Excel: [email address removed]. Thanks!

Emmanuel

[KA12]

No to your intital answer.

However, I have had the same problem, except my payments were $495.33 with a 1.9% APR, 72 month loan. Tell me why I have paid over $6000.00 on a car, making more than the monthly payment and have only paid $2000.00 on my whole loan. I have a lawyer on this case, but im pretty sure the finance company isn't following the armortized schedule and more. I cant figure out where they have applied the money towards.

[Jamarra]

Refinance and lower your interest rate.

[Fireflies102120]

Can you share the spreadsheet with me. I am not really familiar with excel, but am very interested. I do have the software on my computer, just never used it. 

[Critter]

Read the contract carefully ... there may have been other fine print or nuances that have come into play ... like you were late on just one payment  or  that the loan is being computed at a higher rate however if you make all your payments on time during the loan period then the unpaid balance is forgiven making the overall rate the lower expected amount.  

[rodven]

Another helpful trick, interest is accrued daily, so paying your note 2-3 weeks in advance will reduce the overall interest your paying on the bill monthly and the daily accrued amount will only start after that bill cycle is past (i.e. Car Note due on Feb 28th , make the payment on Feb 14th, you save on 14 days of interest and the interest doesn't start adding back up until Feb. 29th (since its a leap year)) 😉