Free tool

RV loan calculator

The monthly payment on an RV loan follows one standard formula. What is hard is knowing a realistic rate to enter, so the tool carries the current ranges from Bankrate's lender table, and the result shows what the loan really costs by the end, not just the month.

The answer updates as you type. Nothing is sent anywhere, and nothing here is a loan offer.

The loan

The out-the-door price: the RV plus fees, tax, and anything else financed. The dealer's worksheet lists it.
Optional. Bankrate says 10 to 20 percent down may earn a slightly lower rate. Trade-in equity counts here too.
How to get it: the only honest number is a quote from a lender, because APR depends on your credit. For planning, Bankrate's current table runs from 6.49 percent at excellent credit to 35.99 at the high end, with unsecured loans from just under 7 percent. Credit union members often see the lowest figures.
Unsecured RV loans typically run 5 to 7 years; secured loans on bigger amounts go up to 20 years, and LightStream publishes terms from 24 to 240 months. Longer terms lower the payment and raise the total interest, and the result shows both.

The formula, and the number that matters more

The payment comes from the standard amortization formula: loan amount times the monthly rate times one plus the rate to the power of the number of payments, all divided by that power factor minus one. Investopedia states it exactly that way. The number that matters more than the payment is the total interest, which the result shows: a 20-year term can double the cost of the RV, and the lower monthly payment is how it hides.

Bankrate's own worked example shows the shape of it: a 50,000 dollar loan at 7.99 percent costs about 1,014 a month over 5 years and 10,815 in interest, or 606 a month over 10 years and 22,765 in interest. Same loan, same rate, more than twice the interest for a smaller payment.

What the rate depends on

APR on an RV loan runs a wide range: Bankrate's current table starts at 6.49 percent for excellent credit and reaches 35.99 percent at the high end, and the best rates go to scores in or above the mid-700s. A down payment of 10 to 20 percent can earn a slightly lower rate. The rate you are actually offered is the only one worth entering, and a prequalification from a credit union or an online lender costs nothing to ask for.

Where to go next

The payment is one line of the whole cost of owning. Fuel is the other big one: the fuel cost calculator prices the trips. And if the plan is full-time or long-trip use, the solar sizing calculator prices the off-grid power that keeps the batteries up.

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