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BHPH Payment Calculator

On a buy-here-pay-here deal the payment is the product. Structure the note — down, rate, term, and weekly / bi-weekly / monthly — and see the payment, the total interest, and what it collects per month for your book.

The payment is the product — structure it that way

Most BHPH buyers are shopping the number they have to hit each week, not the sticker price. That's why frequency matters as much as rate: a smaller weekly or bi-weekly amount timed to paydays is easier for a subprime buyer to keep current — and a note that stays current is the whole business. The sale is only real if it collects.

Which is the part a calculator can't do: once the note is written, someone has to record every payment against the balance and see who's behind before it becomes a repo. That's the ledger, not the math.

How the BHPH payment is calculated

A buy here pay here note is a standard amortized installment loan. Three steps:

  1. Amount financed = sale price − down payment.
  2. Periodic rate (r) = APR ÷ payments per year (52 weekly, 26 bi-weekly, 12 monthly).
  3. Payment = amount financed × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n), where n is the number of payments.

Worked example: a $9,500 car with $1,500 down leaves $8,000 financed. At 18% APR over 2 years of weekly payments, r = 18% ÷ 52 and n = 104, so the payment is $91.73 a week. The first payment is $27.69 interest and $64.04 principal; the interest share shrinks every week after that. Same deal, three frequencies:

FrequencyPaymentsPaymentTotal interestCollects / month
Weekly104$91.73$1,539.90$397.50
Bi-weekly52$183.72$1,553.58$398.07
Monthly24$399.39$1,585.43$399.39

Illustration only — 18% is an example rate, not a recommendation or your state's cap.

The payment is only half the structure. Size the down first with the BHPH down payment calculator (how much of your cost is still on the street), work backward from a target payment with the deal structuring calculator, and quote an early payoff with the BHPH payoff calculator.

From note to ledger, on the same deal

DealerVLO structures the note right on the deal and keeps the running ledger for you — every payment posted against the balance, due dates and who's behind visible at a glance. The payment schedule this calculator estimates is generated and tracked automatically, included in the flat price.

  • Structure the note (amount financed, APR, term, frequency) on the deal
  • Auto-generated payment schedule + running per-customer ledger
  • See who's current and who's past-due without a spreadsheet
  • OFAC, FTC Red Flags, and Adverse Action stored with the deal
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Common questions

How do you calculate a buy-here-pay-here payment?▾
It's a standard amortized loan: amount financed = sale price − down payment, and the payment is that balance amortized over the number of payments at the periodic rate (annual rate ÷ payments per year — 52 weekly, 26 bi-weekly, 12 monthly).
Should a BHPH note be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly?▾
Many BHPH dealers use weekly or bi-weekly so payments land on paydays — smaller, more frequent amounts are easier for a subprime buyer to keep current, which protects collectability. Monthly is simpler to run. Compare all three above.
What interest rate can a BHPH dealer charge?▾
It's capped by your state's usury and retail-installment laws (they vary widely), plus federal Truth-in-Lending disclosures. This tool does the math for any rate you enter — it does not tell you what's legal. Confirm your allowable rate and disclosures with your state regulator or attorney.
How much does a BHPH note collect per month?▾
Payment × payments-per-year ÷ 12. A $95/week note collects about $412/month. Across your whole book, that's the cash flow that funds your next buys — which is why tracking payments against a running ledger matters as much as writing the note.
Does a weekly BHPH payment cost the buyer less interest than monthly?▾
Slightly, at the same APR and note length, because principal comes down sooner. In the example above, weekly carries $1,539.90 of interest vs. $1,585.43 monthly — $45.53 less. The bigger reason dealers pick weekly is collectability, not the interest.
How is this different from the BHPH down payment calculator?▾
This BHPH payment calculator answers what will the buyer pay, and how often. The down payment calculator answers how much of my cash is still at risk after the down, and when the note pays it back. Size the down first, then structure the payment here.
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