Title Loan Cost Calculator
The loan, the fee, and how long it runs
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Fill in the fields on the left and this updates as you type.
Know what this estimate is based on
- Jurisdiction
- General mathematical model
- Scope and limitations
- Educational estimate only. Confirm the assumptions, current rules, fees, and rounding that apply to your situation before making a decision.
- Source links checked
- Jul 30, 2026
Built and regression-tested by Smart Tools Lab. It has not been individually reviewed by a licensed financial, tax, or legal professional.
How to use
- 01
Enter the amount you would borrow and the monthly fee the lender quotes, as a percentage of the amount. Title lenders often quote a fee a month rather than an APR.
- 02
Add any processing, document or add-on charges from the loan papers, such as a roadside service plan.
- 03
Enter how many times you might roll the loan over. Each rollover pays the fee again and leaves the whole amount still owed.
- 04
Enter what your car is worth. It is the collateral, and the lender can repossess it if you do not repay.
- 05
Read the total fees and the APR, then the month-by-month table, then the cost of a credit union payday alternative loan for the same amount.
Formula
Monthly fee = amount × monthly fee %. APR = monthly fee % × 12, the conversion the FTC uses. First-month APR with other charges = (fee + other charges) ÷ amount × 12. Months = rollovers + 1. Total fees = fee × months + other charges, and total repaid = amount + total fees. The month the fees pass the amount borrowed = 100 ÷ monthly fee %, rounded up. The alternative is a payday alternative loan amortized at the NCUA maximum of 28% APR over six months, plus the $20 application fee.
Example
Borrowing $1,000 at a 25% monthly fee with $50 of other charges costs $250 a month, a 300% APR, or 360% in the first month counting the charges. Rolled over three times, the loan runs four months: $1,050 of fees, 105% of the amount borrowed, and $2,050 paid back in all, with the fees passing the amount borrowed in month 4. The car securing it is worth $7,000, seven times the loan. A federal credit union payday alternative loan for the same $1,000 at 28% over six months costs $181 a month and about $103 in all, including the $20 application fee: $947 less.
Definitions
- Title loan
- A short-term loan secured by the title to a vehicle you own outright. The lender can repossess the vehicle if the loan is not repaid.
- Rollover
- Paying only the fee when a title or payday loan comes due and taking out the same loan again. It costs a full fee and leaves the whole amount owed.
- Repossession
- The lender taking the vehicle that secures a loan after the borrower fails to repay. One in five title loan borrowers in the CFPB's 2016 study had the vehicle seized.
- Payday alternative loan (PAL)
- A small-dollar loan from a federal credit union under NCUA rules, capped at 28% APR with an application fee of no more than $20.
- Monthly finance fee
- The charge a title lender quotes for each month of borrowing, as a percentage of the amount. Twelve times it is the APR.
Good to know
How a title loan is built
A car title loan lets someone who owns a car outright borrow against it. The lender holds the title, and in exchange lends a sum for a short period, often 30 days, to be repaid in one payment with a finance fee. The borrower keeps driving the car, but the lender can repossess it if the loan is not repaid. The fee is usually quoted by the month rather than as an annual rate, and that is where most of the misunderstanding starts. The Federal Trade Commission's consumer guidance says title loans often carry monthly fees as high as 25%, which works out to an APR of about 300%. Its own example is plain: borrowing $1,000 for 30 days at a 25% fee means paying back $1,250. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's 2016 study of single-payment auto title loans found the same order of magnitude, with a typical APR of about 300% on loans averaging around $700. The monthly fee is rarely the only charge. The FTC notes that title lenders often add processing, document and origination fees, and may require add-ons such as a roadside service plan. On a small loan, those charges change the effective rate a great deal. On the default figures, $50 of other charges on a $1,000 loan lifts the first month from a 300% annual rate to 360%. Because the quoted fee sounds modest and the APR does not, federal law requires lenders to disclose the APR and the finance charge before you sign. Reading that disclosure, and adding up every fee listed, is the single most useful thing a borrower can do. This page converts the monthly fee the same way the FTC does, by multiplying by twelve, and adds the other charges you enter.
The rollover, where cost grows and debt does not shrink
A single-payment loan has one due date. On that date the borrower owes everything: the amount borrowed plus the fee. Many borrowers cannot pay the whole sum a month after needing the money in the first place, and lenders commonly offer an alternative, which is to pay the fee alone and roll the loan into a new one. That feels like progress, because a payment was made. It is not. The rollover pays for another month of borrowing and leaves every dollar of the original amount still owed. On the default loan, each rollover costs $250, and after three of them the borrower has paid $1,050 in fees over four months and still owes the full $1,000 until the final payment. By the fourth month, the fees have passed the amount borrowed. At 25% a month, that crossover arrives in month four whatever the loan size. The CFPB's study shows how common this is. Across nearly 3.5 million single-payment title loans made from 2010 to 2013, more than four in five were renewed on the day they came due rather than repaid. In more than half of cases borrowers took out four or more loans in a row, and more than two-thirds of title loan business came from borrowers who reborrowed six or more times. Only about 12% of borrowers managed to repay in a single payment without borrowing again soon after. In other words, a loan marketed as a 30-day bridge is, for most borrowers, a multi-month debt, and the business depends on it. Before signing, it is worth asking a direct question: if the money to repay in full is not there in 30 days, where will it come from in 60?
What is at stake when the car is the collateral
A payday loan that goes unpaid leads to collection calls and fees. A title loan that goes unpaid can end with the car being taken. The CFPB's 2016 study found that one in five single-payment title loan borrowers had their vehicle seized by the lender. For many of those households the car was not a luxury but the way to reach work, school, a doctor or a grocery store, so the loss created a second financial problem on top of the first. The imbalance between what is borrowed and what is put at risk is striking. Title loans are typically a fraction of a car's value. On the default figures, a car worth $7,000 secures a $1,000 loan, seven times the amount borrowed. A lender that repossesses and sells the car is exposed to very little; the borrower can lose a vehicle worth several thousand dollars over a debt of one thousand and the fees piled on it. Repossession also carries its own costs, and state laws differ on how a repossessed car must be sold and on what happens to any money left over or any shortfall after the sale. Two practical protections follow. First, keep repayment, not rollover, as the plan from the day the loan is signed, and borrow the smallest amount that solves the problem rather than the largest amount the car supports. Second, if repayment starts to look impossible, contact the lender before the due date to ask about an extended payment plan; a lender may prefer steady payments to the cost of a repossession. Title lending is regulated state by state, so knowing your state's rules before signing is part of pricing the loan.
Cheaper places to borrow a small amount
The most direct alternative to a title loan is a payday alternative loan from a federal credit union. The National Credit Union Administration allows federal credit unions to charge up to 1,000 basis points above the general interest rate ceiling it sets for them. The Board has kept that ceiling at 18%, extended in February 2026 through September 10, 2027, so these loans can carry an APR of no more than 28%, plus an application fee of no more than $20. The rules are designed to prevent the rollover cycle. A PAL I loan runs from $200 to $1,000, over one to six months, for a borrower who has been a member for at least a month. A PAL II loan can be up to $2,000, over one to twelve months. Each loan must be repaid in installments that fully pay it off, a credit union may not roll one over, may not make more than one at a time to the same borrower, and may not make more than three in a rolling six-month period. On the default figures, $1,000 repaid over six months at 28% costs $181 a month and about $103 in all, including the application fee, against $1,050 in fees for the title loan rolled over three times. Joining a credit union takes some time, which is exactly why it is worth doing before an emergency rather than during one. Other options are worth asking about too. Whoever sent the bill, whether a hospital, a utility or a landlord, may accept a payment plan. Local assistance programs sometimes cover rent, utilities or car repairs. And a small emergency fund, built afterward, is what keeps the next shortfall from becoming a loan at all.
Frequently asked questions
How does a car title loan work?
You give the lender the title to a car you own, borrow against it for a short term, often 30 days, and repay the loan plus a fee. If you cannot repay, the lender may let you roll the loan over by paying the fee again, or may repossess the car. The FTC says monthly fees run as high as 25%.
What APR is a 25% monthly fee?
About 300%. A 25% fee for one month, times twelve months, is 300% a year, which is the figure the FTC gives: $250 to borrow $1,000 for 30 days. Add $50 of other charges, as the default example does, and the first month runs at 360%.
How much does rolling over a title loan cost?
Each rollover costs another full fee and does not reduce what you owe. On the default $1,000 loan at 25%, three rollovers mean four months of $250 fees plus $50 of charges: $1,050 of fees and $2,050 paid back in all. By month 4 the fees have passed the amount borrowed.
How often do borrowers lose their car?
In the CFPB's 2016 study of nearly 3.5 million single-payment auto title loans made from 2010 to 2013, one in five borrowers had the vehicle seized. More than four in five loans were renewed on the day they came due, and only about 12% of borrowers repaid in a single payment without borrowing again soon after.
What is a credit union payday alternative loan?
A small loan federal credit unions may offer under NCUA rules, at no more than 28% APR with an application fee of no more than $20. PAL I loans run from $200 to $1,000 over one to six months and require at least a month of membership; PAL II loans go up to $2,000 over up to twelve months. Neither can be rolled over. The default $1,000 over six months costs about $103 in all.
What else can I do instead of a title loan?
Ask a credit union about a payday alternative loan or a small personal loan, ask whoever sent the bill for a payment plan, and check whether a local assistance program covers the expense. If you do take a title loan, borrow the smallest amount, read every fee in the contract, and plan to repay it without rolling it over.