Enter a vehicle price, loan term, and both financing offers — a cash rebate at the standard rate, or a low special rate instead — to compare their total cost.
How to Use the Cash Back or Low Interest Calculator
Enter the vehicle price, loan term, and the standard market rate available alongside the cash rebate — then the rebate amount and the special low rate offered instead of it. The calculator prices out both offers and states plainly which one costs less.
Manufacturers routinely dangle both incentives on the same vehicle and force a choice between them — take the cash and finance at the regular rate, or skip the cash and finance at a subsidized rate instead. They're rarely equivalent, and which one wins depends more on the loan term and the rate gap than on how generous the rebate looks.
Option A (Cash Rebate): Loan = Price − Rebate, financed at the Standard Rate
Option B (Low Interest): Loan = Price, financed at the Low RateBoth loan amounts run through the same fixed-payment formula, over the same term, so the comparison is apples to apples — monthly payment and total cost for each. Total cost is the number that actually settles the argument, since a lower monthly payment on one option can still add up to more paid overall if the term is long enough.
The rate gap and the term interact: a bigger spread between the standard and low rates favors the low-interest option, but a shorter term shrinks how much that lower rate gets to compound in its favor, while a longer term does the opposite. Run the numbers on your actual quote rather than assuming the advertised rebate is the better deal by default — dealers know which one nets them more, and it isn't always the one they lead with.