Maine Auto Loan Calculator (with Maine Sales Tax & Fees)

Maine is one of the few states where the sales tax on a car is genuinely a single number. The rate is 5.5% under 36 M.R.S. section 1811, there is no local option sales tax anywhere in the state, and the figure does not change between Portland, Bangor, Presque Isle, or anywhere else. If you have been burned by a calculator that quoted a state rate and left out a county add-on, that failure mode does not exist here.

Two Maine specifics do matter, and both are easy to miss.

The first is the trade-in rule. Maine grants a full trade-in credit under 36 M.R.S. section 1765, but only when the traded item is in the same category as the item you are buying. A vehicle traded toward a vehicle qualifies. Trading a boat, a camper, or a piece of equipment toward a car does not, and the credit disappears entirely rather than being prorated. The credit also requires a sale by a registered retailer, so a private-party purchase produces no reduction.

The second is the annual municipal excise tax, and it is the larger of the two by dollar value over the life of the vehicle. Maine towns levy an excise tax under 36 M.R.S. section 1482 that is calculated on the manufacturer's list price, not on what you actually paid. It is charged every year, on a declining mill schedule, and it must be paid to your municipality before the town will register the vehicle. It is not part of the loan and it is not modeled here, but it is a real recurring cost that a purchase-price calculator cannot capture.

The APR columns below are national averages, not Maine figures. No primary source publishes average auto loan APR by state: Experian's report has no geographic cut, the CFPB publishes state origination volume but no rates, and the New York Fed publishes state delinquency only. The payment column is the part that is specific to Maine, because it runs this calculator's own Maine tax and fee rules at each tier's rate.

Payment assumptions: $35,000 vehicle price, $0 trade-in, $5,000 cash down, $499 dealer documentation fee, 60-month term, new-vehicle APR applied to the Maine delivered price including tax and statutory fees. At the 6.39% overall new-car average the same purchase costs $634.61 a month.

The score bands are VantageScore 4.0, not FICO. The same borrower can land in a different tier under each model, so a FICO score pulled from a card issuer will not always match the band here. Source: Experian, State of the Automotive Finance Market, Q1 2026, slide 45.

Each row changes one input and leaves the rest at the baseline below. The dollar effects are this calculator's own output for Maine, not a rule of thumb.

Baseline: $35,000 vehicle price, $0 trade-in, $5,000 cash down, $499 documentation fee, 60 months at 7.25% APR, giving a $647.77 payment and $6,346.51 of total interest.

Maine taxes the dealer documentation fee along with the car, then subtracts the trade-in, at a single statewide 5.5%. Five steps.

1. Net taxable base. Maine's definition of sale price in 36 M.R.S. section 1752(14) includes the dealer documentation fee, so the fee is taxed along with the vehicle. The section 1765 trade-in credit is then subtracted, leaving tax due only on the difference.

2. Sales tax. One rate, statewide.

3. Title and registration. A fixed $68.00, being the $33 certificate of title fee under 29-A M.R.S. section 663 and the $35 annual registration fee for a private passenger automobile under 29-A M.R.S. section 501. Most municipal agents add a $6 agent fee, which is not included here because it is not charged everywhere.

4. Amount financed. The trade-in works twice: it lowered the tax base in step one, and it reduces the balance you borrow.

5. Amortization. The financed amount amortizes as a fixed-rate installment loan:

where $P$ is the financed amount, $i$ is the monthly rate (APR divided by 12), and $n$ is the term in months. Each period's interest is the outstanding balance times $i$, the remainder reduces principal, and the schedule reconciles to zero at maturity.

There is no local rate control on this calculator because Maine has nothing for it to control.

Maine grants the trade-in credit under 36 M.R.S. 1765 only when the traded item is in the same category as the item bought. Vehicle for vehicle qualifies, which is the case run below.

• Vehicle price: $35,000
• Trade-in allowance: $0
• Cash down: $5,000
• Dealer doc fee: $499
• Term: 60 months at 7.25% APR

Step 1 -- The taxable base. Sale price with the doc fee inside it, less a same-category trade-in: $35,000 + $499 - $0 = $35,499.00

Step 2 -- Maine sales tax at 5.5%. $35,499.00 x 5.5% = $1,952.45

Step 3 -- Title and registration, outside the base. $33.00 title + $35.00 registration = $68.00

Step 4 -- Total delivered price. $35,000 + $499.00 + $1,952.45 + $68.00 = $37,519.45

Step 5 -- Amount financed. $37,519.45 - $0 trade-in - $5,000 cash down = $32,519.45

Step 6 -- The monthly payment. $32,519.45 at 7.25% over 60 months = $647.77

Step 7 -- Month 1. $32,519.45 x (7.25% / 12) = $196.47 interest, $451.30 principal, balance $32,068.15

Step 8 -- Month 2. $32,068.15 x (7.25% / 12) = $193.75 interest, $454.02 principal, balance $31,614.13. Cumulative interest: $390.22

Step 9 -- The accumulation. By month 12, $2,174.03 paid in interest and $26,920.24 still owed. Over the full 60 months, $6,346.51

Add a $10,000 trade-in that qualifies under section 1765 and the taxable base drops to $25,499, tax falls to $1,402.45, and the payment drops to $437.62. The trade-in saved $550.00 in tax on top of the $10,000 it took off the loan.

Negotiate the doc fee to zero instead and the base drops to $35,000, tax to $1,925.00, and the payment to $637.28. The $499 fee costs $526.45 all in once its own tax is counted, so it is worth arguing about.

• The annual municipal excise tax. Under 36 M.R.S. section 1482, your town assesses excise on the maker's list price at 24 mills in year one, then 17.5, 13.5, 10, 6.5, and 4 mills from year six onward, with a $5 minimum. Because it uses MSRP rather than what you paid, a well-negotiated purchase or a used car bought below book gets no relief from it, and a calculator keyed to purchase price will misstate it badly. Pay it to your municipality before you register.
• The $6 municipal agent fee, charged at most town offices but not universally.
• Trade-ins outside the same category. Section 1765 grants no credit when the traded item is in a different category from what you buy. This calculator applies a vehicle-for-vehicle credit and does not model the ineligible case, so leave the field at zero if your trade is not a vehicle.
• Private-party purchases, which are not sales by a registered retailer and produce no trade-in credit.
• Registration variations. The $35 figure is the standard private passenger rate. Other plate classes and vehicle types differ.
• GAP insurance, service contracts, and aftermarket add-ons, unless you fold them into the vehicle price yourself.

• Confusing the 5.5% sales tax with the excise tax. They are separate obligations with separate bases. Sales tax is once, on what you paid. Excise is annual, on MSRP. Paying one does not reduce the other, and you cannot register until the excise is settled.
• Estimating excise from the purchase price. A car bought for $18,000 that listed at $42,000 is assessed on the $42,000. This is the most common way Maine ownership costs get underestimated.
• Assuming any trade-in earns the credit. Section 1765's same-category restriction is real. A trailer or a boat traded toward a car earns nothing.
• Forgetting the doc fee is taxable. Maine caps nothing, and the fee is inside the sale price definition, so a $499 fee carries $27.45 of tax with it.
• Rolling negative equity forward. If you owe more than the trade is worth, the shortfall is added to the new loan. It raises principal and total interest, and it does not raise your tax credit, which is based on the allowance rather than your equity.
• Judging a loan by the monthly payment alone. Stretching this $32,519.45 balance from 60 to 72 months drops the payment to $558.34 and raises total finance charges from $6,346.51 to $7,680.68.

• Maine Revenue Services, Instructional Bulletin No. 24, Vehicle Dealers. maine.gov/revenue
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z, 12 CFR 1026.22) disclosure requirements for installment credit. ecfr.gov/current/title-12/chapter-X/part-1026

Also consulted: 36 M.R.S. section 1811 (general 5.5% sales tax rate, applied to vehicles); 36 M.R.S. sections 1951-A and 1952-A (dealer collection at sale); 36 M.R.S. section 1765 (trade-in credit, same-category restriction); 36 M.R.S. section 1752(14) (definition of sale price, doc fee included); 36 M.R.S. section 1482 (annual municipal motor vehicle excise tax and mill schedule); 29-A M.R.S. section 663 (certificate of title fee); 29-A M.R.S. section 501 (registration fee for private passenger automobiles); Experian, State of the Automotive Finance Market, Q1 2026, slide 45 (average new and used auto loan APR by VantageScore 4.0 credit tier; national, no state level cut published).