Finance tools
Car Finance Calculator
Estimate your finance in seconds with a soft search that won't affect your credit score.
AA inspectedFinance & car, one teamLoan term
Credit profile
Estimated monthly payment
£313/mo
12.9% representative APR
Representative example
Hire Purchase. Subject to status and affordability. Terms and conditions apply. Hero Car Finance is a credit broker, not a lender.
Soft search only · no impact on your credit score
What the car finance calculator shows you
The car finance calculator takes three inputs, the amount you want to borrow, the deposit you are putting down (if any), and the term in months, and turns them into a monthly repayment figure. Adjust any input and the monthly figure updates instantly, so you can work backwards from the payment you are comfortable with rather than forwards from a car you then have to stretch for. The figures are indicative rather than a quote. Your actual rate depends on your circumstances and credit profile, and the final numbers are confirmed when a lender approves your application. What the calculator settles is the shape of the deal: what borrowing this much, over this long, with this much down, roughly costs per month.
How much you can borrow vs how much you should
The honest answer to how much you can borrow is: whatever amount produces a monthly payment a lender judges affordable against your income and outgoings. That is why the calculator is the right starting point. Instead of asking what the maximum is, set the monthly figure you can sustain comfortably, every month, for the whole term, and let the calculator tell you what that buys. A payment that fits easily gets approved more often, costs less in stress, and leaves room for the unexpected. A payment at the edge of affordability does the opposite on all three.
What changes your monthly repayments
The term
Longer terms mean lower monthly repayments and more total interest, since the balance is outstanding for longer. Hero arranges Hire Purchase terms up to 60 months (5 years) and PCP terms up to 5 years, which is how a payment that looks out of reach at 36 months becomes manageable. Run both through the calculator and compare.
The deposit
Every pound of deposit is a pound not borrowed. A deposit lowers the monthly figure and often improves the rate offered, because the lender is carrying less of the car's value. No deposit is required, and equity in your current car counts via part exchange.
The rate
The rate reflects your credit profile and circumstances. The calculator lets you test the sensitivity: nudge the rate up or down and watch what it does to the monthly figure, so an offer that comes back higher than hoped is a known quantity rather than a shock.
Hire purchase or contract purchase
The structure changes the maths. HP car finance spreads the car's full value across the term, while PCP car finance defers a chunk into an optional final payment, which is why PCP monthly figures run lower on the same car.
The three numbers that matter
The monthly repayment
The headline figure, and the one to test against your real life rather than your best month. The right monthly repayment is one you could cover in a tight month without strain, because the agreement runs through tight months and good ones alike. If the figure only works when everything goes right, lower the borrowing, lengthen the term, or add deposit until it works when things go wrong.
The total payable
Monthly figure multiplied by the term, plus any deposit and fees, gives the total cost of the agreement. Two deals with the same monthly repayment can have very different totals if their terms differ, which is the trap of judging on the monthly figure alone. The calculator puts both numbers in front of you so the trade is visible before it is signed.
The total interest
The difference between what you borrow and what you repay. Interest grows with the rate, the balance, and the time the balance is outstanding, which is why a longer term lowers the monthly repayment while raising the total. Neither direction is wrong. A longer term that makes the payment genuinely comfortable can be worth its extra interest. The point is to choose it knowingly.
Budgeting beyond the monthly payment
The finance payment is the biggest line in the cost of running a car, but it is not the only one. Before settling on a figure in the calculator, leave room in the budget for the rest of the car's real cost:
- Insurance, which varies enormously with the car chosen, your history, and your postcode. Get a quote on the actual car before committing.
- Fuel or charging, based on your real mileage rather than an optimistic one.
- Road tax, servicing, tyres, and the MOT once the car is three years old.
- A margin for the unexpected, because repairs do not schedule themselves around paydays.
- A monthly repayment that fits only when the rest of the running costs are ignored does not really fit. Work out the full monthly cost of the car, then let the calculator find the finance figure that sits inside it.
Running scenarios: the calculator as planning tool
The fastest way to understand your options is to run the same loan through the calculator several ways and watch what moves:
- Same amount, 36 months against 60 months. The monthly repayments fall as the term stretches, the total interest climbs. Somewhere between the two is the term that fits.
- Same car, no deposit against a part exchange deposit. Watch how much monthly difference your current car's equity makes before deciding it is not worth the trouble.
- Same monthly budget, different loan sizes. Work backwards: fix the payment you want, then find the borrowing that produces it. That number sets your realistic car budget before you ever browse the stock.
- Same deal, a rate higher than you hope for. If the payment still works at a cautious rate, an imperfect credit file stops being a reason to wait.
- Used this way it is less a loan calculator than a decision tool: every question about affordability becomes a thirty-second experiment instead of a guess.
APR, explained in one minute
The rate field in the calculator is an APR, the Annual Percentage Rate, and it is worth knowing what that includes. APR is the yearly cost of the borrowing expressed as a percentage, taking in the interest and any mandatory fees, which is what makes it the fair way to compare one agreement against another. A deal with a lower headline interest rate but heavy fees can carry a higher APR than a clean deal at a slightly higher rate, and the APR exposes that. Two more things worth knowing. The APR a lender advertises is a representative figure, meaning it is the rate offered to most successful applicants, and your personal rate can differ with your circumstances. And APR measures the cost of the borrowing, not the cost of the car: a low APR on too much car is still too much car. The calculator handles the first problem by letting you test any rate, and the budgeting section above handles the second.
Where you will find the calculator on this site
The calculator is not only on this page. It is embedded across the commercial pages, on bad credit, no deposit, HP, PCP, negative equity, and the circumstance pages, so wherever you are reading about your own situation, the numbers are right there in context. You can run the figures on the page you are reading and move straight to the eligibility check without losing your place.
From calculator to keys
- Settle on a monthly figure that fits, using the calculator above.
- See what you can afford next. It uses a soft search, so there is no impact on your credit score.
- Apply, and Hero searches its panel of lenders for the agreement that fits.
- Approved in principle? Choose your car from hundreds in stock at Oakwood Motor Company group, with the monthly payment shown against the cars as you browse.
- Go ahead, sign, and drive. Finance and car from one place.
Run your numbers, then find out where you stand
The calculator settles the budget. The eligibility check settles the question, with a soft search and no impact on your credit score. Between the two, you can walk into an application knowing both the payment and your chances.
See what you can affordCalculator questions
It depends on your income, credit profile, and affordability. Our calculator gives an estimate based on representative APR — a soft search will show your actual options without affecting your credit score.
No. Using this calculator won't affect your credit score. When you apply, we use a soft search first — it won't leave a visible mark on your credit file.
Many customers with imperfect credit are approved through our lender panel. We consider your full circumstances, not just a score. Check your eligibility with a soft search to see your options.
Deposits vary by lender and vehicle. Some customers qualify with little or no deposit. Use What Can I Afford to see how a deposit changes the cars in your budget.
Hire Purchase (HP) spreads the full cost into fixed monthly payments — you own the car at the end. PCP typically has lower monthly payments with a balloon payment if you want to keep the car. Hero primarily offers HP with clear, fixed payments.
No. It is an estimating tool. The figures show what a loan of a given size, term, and rate costs per month. Your personal rate is confirmed when a lender approves your application, and the final figures are fixed once your car is chosen.
Because PCP defers part of the car's value into an optional final payment at the end of the agreement, your monthly repayments only cover the difference. HP spreads the full value across the term, so the monthly figure is higher but the car is yours at the end with nothing left to pay.
The shortest term that produces a monthly payment you can sustain comfortably. Longer terms cost more in total interest, so the sweet spot is where the monthly figure fits your budget without stretching the agreement further than it needs to go. The calculator makes finding it a thirty-second job.