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

Ohio's trade-in tax credit does not apply to used cars. O.R.C. § 5739.01(H)(2) grants the reduction only "in the case of a sale of any new motor vehicle by a new motor vehicle dealer," using the definition in § 4517.01. Trade a car in against a used vehicle and you pay tax on the full purchase price, with no reduction at all. Almost every generic auto loan calculator gets this wrong, because in most states the credit is unconditional.

The dollars involved are not small. On a $35,000 purchase in Cuyahoga County with a $10,000 trade-in, buying new means $2,000.00 of tax and buying used means $2,800.00. That $800 gap exists because of the buyer's answer to one question that has nothing to do with price. This calculator asks it up front for that reason.

The rest of Ohio is more conventional. Cars are taxed at the ordinary combined rate, 5.75% state plus a county permissive rate and, in most metros, a transit authority rate. There is no separate automotive rate. The sale is sourced to the county where you register the vehicle, which is effectively where you live, so buying in a lower-rate county does not lower your bill.

One thing Ohio does in the buyer's favor: Ohio excludes the documentary service charge from the definition of "sales price" under O.R.C. 5739.01(H). The doc fee is not taxed. It is still financed, so it still costs you, but it does not carry the 8% multiplier.

The APR columns below are national averages, not Ohio 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 Ohio, because it runs this calculator's own Ohio tax and fee rules at each tier's rate.

Payment assumptions: $35,000 vehicle price, $0 trade-in, $5,000 cash down, $398 dealer documentation fee, 60-month term, new-vehicle APR applied to the Ohio delivered price including tax and statutory fees. At the 6.39% overall new-car average the same purchase costs $648.80 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 Ohio, not a rule of thumb.

Baseline: $35,000 vehicle price, $0 trade-in, $5,000 cash down, $398 documentation fee, 60 months at 7.25% APR, giving a $662.26 payment and $6,488.54 of total interest.

Ohio grants the trade-in credit only on a new vehicle bought from a licensed new car dealer. Five steps.

1. Net taxable price. The doc fee sits outside the base by statute. The trade-in comes out of the base only on a new-vehicle purchase from a licensed new car dealer.

On a new purchase the allowance is capped at the price of the vehicle you are buying, so a large trade can drive the base to zero but not below it.

2. Sales tax. The combined rate is 5.75% state plus the county permissive rate plus any transit authority rate at your registration address.

3. Title and registration. A fixed $49.00, being the $18 certificate of title under O.R.C. § 4505.09 and the $31 annual state passenger registration fee.

4. Amount financed. The trade-in always reduces what you borrow, whether or not it earned a tax credit. Those are two separate effects.

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

where $P$ is the financed amount, $i$ is the monthly rate (APR ÷ 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.

These are Ohio Department of Taxation county totals effective October 2025. The local column is what you enter in the calculator.

Transit rates are district-based rather than always countywide, and Franklin County is the clearest example. The 1.00% COTA levy applies only inside the COTA transit district; a Franklin County address outside it is 7.00%, not 8.00%. Cuyahoga's 1.00% GCRTA levy is countywide, so the 8.00% figure holds across the county. If you are near a district boundary, look your address up rather than using the county line.

The October 2025 map is the most recent official publication located. Check for 2026 county changes before you sign.

Ohio's trade-in credit reaches new vehicles sold by a licensed new motor vehicle dealer and nothing else. The condition field on this calculator is therefore not cosmetic, and the second run below shows exactly what it is worth.

• Vehicle price: $35,000
• Condition: new, from a licensed new car dealer
• Trade-in allowance: $0
• Cash down: $5,000
• Dealer doc fee: $398
• Local rate: 2.25% (Cuyahoga, for 8.0% combined)
• Term: 60 months at 7.25% APR

Step 1 -- The taxable price. Price less a qualifying trade-in, with the capped doc fee excluded: $35,000 - $0 = $35,000.00

Step 2 -- Combined state and county rate. 5.75% state + 2.25% Cuyahoga = 8.0%

Step 3 -- The sales tax. $35,000.00 x 8.0% = $2,800.00

Step 4 -- Title and state registration, outside the base. $18.00 title + $31.00 registration = $49.00

Step 5 -- Total delivered price. $35,000 + $398.00 doc fee + $2,800.00 + $49.00 = $38,247.00

Step 6 -- Amount financed. $38,247.00 - $0 trade-in - $5,000 cash down = $33,247.00

Step 7 -- The monthly payment. $33,247.00 at 7.25% over 60 months = $662.26

Step 8 -- Month 1. $33,247.00 x (7.25% / 12) = $200.87 interest, $461.39 principal, balance $32,785.61

Step 9 -- Month 2. $32,785.61 x (7.25% / 12) = $198.08 interest, $464.18 principal, balance $32,321.43. Cumulative interest: $398.95

Step 10 -- The accumulation. Interest through month 12 is $2,222.68, balance $27,522.56. Over the full term, $6,488.54

Now add a $10,000 trade-in, still buying new. The taxable price drops to $25,000, tax falls to $2,000.00, and the payment drops to $447.13. The trade-in saved $800 in tax.

Change one field, condition from new to used, and hold everything else. The taxable price goes back to $35,000 and the tax back to $2,800.00. The trade-in still cuts the balance borrowed, so the payment lands at $463.07 rather than $447.13. That $15.94 a month is the entire cost of the section 5739.01(H)(2) restriction, and it is the number to keep in mind when a used car and a new car are close on price.

For comparison across counties, the same new $35,000 car with no trade generates $2,730.00 of tax in Hamilton County and $2,362.50 in Summit County, against $2,800.00 in Cuyahoga.

• The $8 deputy registrar service fee, charged at nearly every registration transaction and not included in the $49.
• Local permissive registration tax. Under O.R.C. Ch. 4504, taxing districts may stack $5 layers up to $30 per vehicle per year, and roughly $20 is typical in urban counties. A typical urban Ohio renewal therefore lands closer to $59 to $69 than to $31. It is a recurring annual cost, not part of the purchase.
• The $23 title fee variant. O.R.C. § 4505.09 sets $18 per certificate of title, or $23 where the county commissioners adopted a resolution raising it. The $18 base is used here. Noting a lien adds $15, and applying for title more than 30 days after purchase adds a $5 late fee.
• Transit district boundaries inside a county. The Franklin and COTA case above is the main one. County-level rates are an approximation of an address-level answer.
• The 2026 doc fee cap figure. O.R.C. § 4517.261 caps the documentary service charge at the lesser of a CPI-indexed statutory amount, published by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles on the last day of September, or 10% of the amount the buyer must pay excluding tax, title, and registration. SB 94, effective 24 October 2024, replaced the old flat $250 with the indexed amount. The $398 default is the widely reported 2026 figure and has not been confirmed against the Registrar's published notice. On a $35,000 car the 10% alternative cap is not the binding one.
• Vehicles bought from an out-of-state dealer or an individual, where you pay use tax at the clerk of courts rather than sales tax to a dealer.
• GAP insurance, extended warranties, and aftermarket add-ons, unless you fold them into the vehicle price yourself.

• Assuming your trade-in cuts the tax on a used car. It does not. Section 5739.01(H)(2) restricts the credit to new vehicles sold by licensed new motor vehicle dealers. This is the single most expensive Ohio-specific mistake, worth $800 on the example above.
• Buying in a low-rate county to save tax. Ohio sources a motor vehicle sale to the county where you register the vehicle. A dealer in Summit County cannot give a Cuyahoga resident the 6.75% rate.
• Using a county rate when your address is outside the transit district. In Franklin County that is the difference between 8.00% and 7.00%, which is $350 on a $35,000 car, in your favor.
• Expecting the doc fee to be taxed. It is not, since HB 66. If a dealer's worksheet shows tax computed on the price plus the doc fee, question it.
• Rolling negative equity forward. If you owe more than the trade is worth, the shortfall is added to the new loan. It raises the principal and the total interest, and on a new purchase it does not increase your tax credit, which follows the allowance rather than your equity.
• Judging a loan by the payment alone. Stretching this $33,247.00 balance from 60 to 72 months drops the payment to $570.83 and raises total finance charges to $7,852.55, an extra $1,364.04 in interest.

• O.R.C. § 4517.261 and Ohio SB 94, effective 24 October 2024 (CPI-indexed cap on the documentary service charge) bls.gov/cpi
• 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: O.R.C. § 5739.02 (state sales tax rate) and §§ 5739.021, 5739.023 (county permissive and transit authority levies); O.R.C. § 5739.01(H)(2) (trade-in reduction limited to new motor vehicles sold by a new motor vehicle dealer) and § 4517.01 (definition of new motor vehicle dealer); Ohio HB 66, effective 1 May 2023 (documentary service charge removed from "sales price"); O.R.C. § 4505.09 (certificate of title fee, $18 or $23 by county resolution; lien notation and late fees); O.R.C. §§ 4503.04, 4503.038 and Ch. 4504 (state registration fee and local permissive registration tax); Ohio Department of Taxation, Sales and Use Tax Rates by County map, effective October 2025; 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).