Car Loan & Hire Purchase Calculator — Malaysia
Estimate your monthly car-loan installment in MYR using Malaysia's typical auto-finance rates, and see the full interest cost. No signup, no account needed.
Enter a car price, a down payment of 0–90%, a rate between 0% and 100%, and a term above zero (up to 50 years) to see results.
Car finance rates in Malaysia (2026)
Car loans in Malaysia typically run about flat 2–3.5% p.a. (about 4–7% reducing balance). Rates are usually quoted as a flat rate, and Islamic AITAB financing is available via Bank Islam.
These are reference figures for 2026 - always confirm the current rate and the effective (reducing-balance) APR with the lender before you commit.
Where to get a car loan in Malaysia
Commonly used providers include Maybank, CIMB and Public Bank. Rates and terms vary by lender, your credit profile, and whether you are buying new or used - it pays to compare at least two or three offers.
Deposit and loan term
Deposit requirements vary by lender. Loan terms run up to about 9 years new, 7 years used. A bigger deposit and a shorter term both cut the total interest you pay - use the calculator above to see the trade-off for your own numbers.
Worked example
For every RM 60,000 financed at 3.40% over 5 years:
- Monthly installment: RM 1,089
- Total repaid: RM 65,329
- Total interest: RM 5,329
Scale to your financed amount, and remember a bigger deposit and shorter term lower the total interest.
How to pay less interest on your car loan
- Put down a larger deposit - it reduces both the monthly payment and the total interest.
- Pick the shortest term you can comfortably afford; a longer term lowers the monthly cost but raises the total.
- Compare the effective reducing-balance rate, not a headline flat rate - a flat rate looks cheaper than it really is.
- A stronger credit profile usually earns a lower rate, so it is worth checking before you apply.
A named-lender rate check: Maybank's hire purchase (2026)
Malaysian car loans are structured as hire purchase (HP) agreements, and almost every bank quotes its price as a flat rate — interest calculated once on the original loan amount for the full tenure, not on the shrinking balance the way a mortgage or personal loan usually is. Maybank does not publish a headline hire purchase rate on its own site — check your quote on Maybank's site. Its hire purchase page offers financing with tenures up to 9 years and financing margins up to 90%, and its July 2026 product disclosure sheet states that term charges are calculated on a reducing-balance basis. For Public Bank, CIMB, RHB and Hong Leong, check each bank's own site for its current new- and used-car rates.
The flat rate is not the true cost of borrowing. Because interest is charged on the full original principal for every month of the loan, a flat rate of 3.4% p.a. behaves like a much higher rate on a normal, reducing-balance basis. This gap is also why Malaysia's Hire Purchase (Amendment) Act, reported by Malay Mail on 14 November 2025, is phasing out flat-rate and Rule of 78 pricing in favour of reducing-balance calculations and mandatory Effective Interest Rate (EIR) disclosure.
A more realistic example: financing a RM100,000 new national car with a 10% down payment (loan amount RM90,000 ) at an illustrative 3.4% p.a. flat rate over a 9-year (108-month) tenure works out to: total interest = RM90,000 × 3.4% × 9 years = RM27,540; total payable = RM117,540; monthly instalment = about RM1,088/month. Converted to a reducing-balance basis (the method mortgages and personal loans use), that same RM1,088 monthly payment corresponds to a nominal rate of roughly 6.2% p.a. — about double the advertised flat figure, which is the flat-vs-effective gap Malaysian regulators are now moving to close.
Why hire purchase in Malaysia is capped at 9 years
The 9-year maximum for new-car hire purchase you'll see quoted by Malaysian banks is not just a marketing convention — it traces back to Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) responsible financing measures, which set a maximum tenure of 9 years for vehicle financing applications received from 18 November 2011 onward, alongside a requirement that banks assess affordability using a borrower's income after statutory deductions (tax and EPF) and against all existing debt obligations. That regulatory tenure cap is exactly why used-car financing, and any application outside the standard new-car product, tends to be limited to a shorter 5–7 year window: lenders build their products around BNM's ceiling rather than around what a borrower might request. The same responsible-financing measures also required banks to look beyond the car itself when assessing affordability, taking into account a borrower's other outstanding debts and net disposable income, rather than approving a hire purchase application on the vehicle's value alone.
Islamic financing (AITAB): rent first, own at the end
Alongside conventional hire purchase, Malaysian banks offer AITAB (Al-Ijarah Thumma Al-Bai) — a Shariah-compliant structure literally meaning "leasing followed by sale." As Bank Islam's own product page explains, the bank first leases the vehicle to the customer for an agreed tenure, then sells (transfers) ownership to them once the lease concludes, rather than the customer borrowing money to buy the car outright from day one. This two-stage rent-then-own mechanism is what lets AITAB avoid conventional interest, while still pricing competitively against ordinary hire purchase; Bank Islam's AITAB product is typically structured over 2 to 7 years depending on the underlying asset and the customer's credit assessment, alongside the reduced (nominal) stamp duty that hire-purchase-type financing in Malaysia generally enjoys. Because the customer does not legally own the car until the final instalment and transfer take place, an AITAB agreement functions much like conventional hire purchase from a repayment-schedule perspective, which is why this calculator's monthly-instalment maths applies equally whether you are comparing a conventional bank quote or an AITAB quote from an Islamic bank.
Insurance and takaful are compulsory, and separate from the loan
Whichever financing structure you choose, Malaysian law requires every registered vehicle to carry at least third-party liability insurance before it can be driven — what the industry calls "Act cover," per the Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (PIAM), the national general insurance association. For AITAB and other Islamic hire-purchase products, the equivalent cover is usually taken as motor takaful rather than conventional insurance, so that the whole financing package (including protection against loss of the financed vehicle) stays Shariah-compliant. Either way, this premium sits on top of the monthly instalment the calculator above estimates, not inside it, so it needs to be budgeted separately when comparing conventional and Islamic quotes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the typical car loan rate in Malaysia?
As a 2026 reference, car finance in Malaysia runs about flat 2–3.5% p.a. (about 4–7% reducing balance). Your actual rate depends on the lender, your credit profile, and whether the car is new or used.
How much deposit do I need for a car loan in Malaysia?
Deposit requirements vary by lender. A larger deposit lowers both your monthly payment and the total interest you pay.
Which lenders offer car loans in Malaysia?
Commonly used providers include Maybank, CIMB and Public Bank. It pays to compare two or three offers, since rates and terms vary by lender and by your credit profile.
How is the car loan installment calculated?
Using the reducing-balance formula P × r × (1+r)ⁿ ÷ ((1+r)ⁿ − 1) on the financed amount. Dealers may quote a lower-looking flat rate; convert to the effective rate to compare.
Is car financing regulated in Malaysia?
Car financing, including Islamic hire-purchase, is regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia.
Is Maybank's car loan rate a flat rate or a reducing/effective rate?
Maybank's July 2026 hire purchase product disclosure sheet states that term charges are calculated on a reducing-balance basis. Maybank does not publish a single headline rate on its own site, so check your quoted rate with Maybank. Older hire purchase quotes in Malaysia were often given as flat rates; on a RM90,000 loan over 9 years, a 3.4% flat rate is equivalent to roughly 6.2%–6.4% p.a. on a reducing-balance basis.
Why is Malaysia changing how car loan interest is calculated?
The Hire Purchase (Amendment) Act, covered by Malay Mail on 14 November 2025, phases out the flat-rate and Rule of 78 methods that Malaysian hire purchase agreements have used for decades, replacing them with reducing-balance interest and mandatory Effective Interest Rate (EIR) disclosure — the same approach already used in Australia and the UK.
How much does a Maybank hire purchase loan actually cost per month?
Using an illustrative 3.4% p.a. flat rate on a RM90,000 loan (e.g. a RM100,000 car with a 10% down payment) over a 9-year (108-month) term: total interest is RM27,540, total repayment is RM117,540, and the monthly instalment is about RM1,088. Your actual approved rate depends on the car, loan amount, tenure and your credit profile.
Why do Malaysian banks cap new-car hire purchase at 9 years?
It follows Bank Negara Malaysia's responsible financing measures, which set a maximum tenure of 9 years for vehicle financing applications received from 18 November 2011 onward, alongside affordability checks based on income after tax and EPF deductions. Used-car financing tends to run shorter (5-7 years) because lenders build their products around that same regulatory ceiling.
How does AITAB Islamic car financing actually work?
AITAB (Al-Ijarah Thumma Al-Bai) means 'leasing followed by sale.' The bank leases the car to you for an agreed tenure (commonly 2-7 years), and ownership transfers to you only once the lease period ends, rather than you borrowing money to buy the car outright upfront - the structure Bank Islam and other Malaysian Islamic banks use to keep vehicle financing interest-free.
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Sources
Rates are compiled from each country's central-bank publications and the typical offerings of its major commercial banks, reviewed for 2026 and subject to change — always confirm the current rate with a lender before deciding. See our methodology and editorial policy for how we source and update this data.
Additional sources for this page
Maybank, Car Loans – Hire Purchase (accessed 15 October 2026). Maybank, Hire Purchase Product Disclosure Sheet (V2.0, 07/2026) (accessed 15 October 2026). Malay Mail on the Hire Purchase Act reform and flat-rate vs. reducing-balance calculation (14 November 2025): Malay Mail – Hire Purchase Act reforms. See our methodology and editorial policy for how we source and update this data.
- Bank Negara Malaysia — Measures to Promote Responsible Financing Practices (9-year vehicle financing tenure cap, effective 18 Nov 2011) (accessed 26 September 2026)
- Bank Islam — AITAB (Al-Ijarah Thumma Al-Bai) product page (accessed 26 September 2026)
- Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (PIAM) — Motor Insurance Types & Coverage (accessed 26 September 2026)