How to find out how much finance is left on my car
Keeping up to date on how much car finance you have left to pay is important when tracking your finances, and planning for your next new car
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Check how much finance is left on my car
If you currently have a car on finance and would like to know how much you still owe, you can get in touch with your lender and it’ll be able to give you the details. Alternatively, there are loan balance calculators online that can also be helpful, especially if you don’t have much time and need a rough estimate.
If you’re buying a car and are worried that there might be finance left to clear, you can check for outstanding finance using a Hire Purchase Investigation (HPI) checker. This will give you the full history of the car, including any outstanding finance, or if the car has been reported as stolen or written off.
You should never purchase a car that has outstanding finance – it's a recipe for disaster.
Learn more about Hire Purchase and Personal Contract Purchase car finance
How can I find out how much I owe on my car?
The best way to find out how much you owe on your car finance is to get in touch with your lender. Your car finance provider will have all the details and will be able to let you know how much you have left to pay, what you’ve already paid, and how long you have left on your finance agreement.
If you know your overall loan amount, the interest rate of your car finance, and your loan period, you’ll also be able to use a loan balance calculator and do the calculations yourself.
If you want to make sure the figure is completely accurate, it’s always best to contact your lender to get this information.
Can you HPI check a car for free?
An HPI check is a great way to view the history of a car before you purchase it. These checks will flag up any outstanding car finance that could get you into hot water in the long run, and will also show if the car has been reported stolen or written off.
You’ll usually have to pay a small fee for an HPI check and can easily do this online. Some services offer a basic check for free, but a full HPI check is usually a paid service. Be wary that sites offering free HPI checks could be scams, so do your research before going ahead.
While it might be annoying to have to pay for the initial HPI check, purchasing a car with outstanding finance could leave you heavily out of pocket in the long run.
What is outstanding car finance?
Outstanding car finance means that the full loan balance has not been repaid to the lender, so the car finance company still owns the car. This happens when the previous owner of the car sells it on without clearing the full balance.
Can I sell a car that has finance left to pay?
You shouldn’t sell a car you don’t fully own as you must have legal title to the item you’re selling. In this case, you don’t own the car until the finance is paid off, so it’s the property of the finance company up until this point.
Before you can sell your financed car, you’ll need to clear the balance. You can usually arrange to do this early if you want to sell the car before the end of your contract term.
The only time you might be able to sell a car with outstanding finance is if you used a personal loan to pay for the car. That’s because this loan isn’t secured against the vehicle, and you’ll just need to keep repaying your bank until the loan is paid.
Settling your car finance early
If you still have finance to pay for your car but want to get it settled early, you can usually arrange this with your lender. It’ll give you an early settlement fee that will need to be paid off. In some cases, you may be able to sell the car and pay off the finance with the profits of the sale, although you should contact your lender to find it whether this is an option for you.
If you don’t want to continue with your Hire Purchase (HP) or Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) car finance and want to hand the car back, you can usually do so if you’ve paid at least half of the balance on your loan.
You’ll usually be given the option to pay any extra to reach the 50% mark, but remember this just means you can give the car back to the lender and end your finance early. This is known as voluntary termination, and does not mean you can keep the car or sell it.