What this calculator does
Find out what an RV will cost you each month, and what each night away really costs. RV here means a motorhome, camper or travel trailer. Enter the price, your down payment, any trade-in, the sales tax, the interest rate and the loan length. You'll see your monthly payment, how much you're borrowing, the total interest and the total cost.
An RV is partly a vehicle and partly a vacation plan, so the loan doesn't tell the whole story. You also pay to camp, to store it and to insure it. This calculator takes your own figures for those. Then it divides the full yearly cost by the nights you expect to spend away. It's a helpful way to see whether the plan fits how you'd really use it.
Where it's used
Why this math matters outside the classroom:
- Monthly RV payment. A buyer financing $68,300 at 8.25% for 15 years finds a payment of about $662.61 a month.
- Family trip planning. A family spending 40 nights away at $45 a night budgets $1,800 a year in campground fees.
- Cost per night. An owner divides a $12,451.27 yearly cost by 40 nights to find that each night away costs about $311.28.
- Storage decisions. A household compares $125 a month for storage, or $1,500 a year, with the cost of a parking pad at home.
- Classroom finance. Students use the geometric series formula to find the equal payment that clears a loan over 180 months.
Grade level and standards: Grades 11–12; Common Core State Standards for Mathematics HSA.SSE.B.4. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.
How to use it
- Enter the RV's price, your down payment and any trade-in value.
- Enter your sales tax rate. Choose what it's charged on, and whether it goes into the loan or gets paid up front.
- Enter the APR and the loan length in years or months. You can go up to 20 years.
- Enter your nights away each year, the campground fee, your monthly storage cost and your yearly insurance. Then read the payment, the full yearly cost and the cost per night.
What the inputs mean
- Trade-in value
- What you'd get for your current RV or vehicle, after paying off any loan on it. Leave it at 0 if you aren't trading one in.
- Sales tax rate
- Your combined state and local rate. Rules differ from place to place, so check where you'll register the RV.
- Sales tax is charged on
- Some places tax the price minus your trade-in. Others tax the full price. Pick the one that matches where you live.
- Interest rate (APR)
- The loan's yearly interest rate (APR stands for annual percentage rate). Use the rate you've actually been quoted.
- Loan term
- Up to 20 years.
- Nights camping per year
- Be honest here. The cost per night depends on this number more than any other. Enter 0 to leave the cost per night out.
- Campground fee per night
- An average across your trips. Free camping nights count too, because they bring the average down.
- Storage per month
- What you'd pay to park the RV when you aren't using it. Enter 0 if you can keep it at home.
Formula and method
sales tax = tax rate × (price, or price − trade-in) amount financed = price − down payment − trade-in (+ tax if rolled in) i = APR ÷ 12; payment = P × i ÷ (1 − (1 + i)^(−n)) total cost = price + sales tax + (payment × n − P) yearly costs = nights × fee per night + storage × 12 + insurance full yearly cost = payment × 12 + yearly costs cost per night = full yearly cost ÷ nights
In the formulas, P is the amount financed (what you borrow), i is the monthly interest rate and n is the number of monthly payments. The payment formula is the same one used for car loans and mortgages. It finds the one monthly amount that pays off the loan, with interest, in exactly n months. At 0% APR, the payment is P ÷ n.
The full yearly cost adds twelve loan payments to your camping, storage and insurance. On a loan shorter than a year, only the payments you actually make are counted.
Cost per night takes that whole year and divides it by the nights you're away. Most of the bill stays the same however often you go. So each extra trip lowers the cost of every night.
Worked example
A $90,000 RV with $18,000 down and a $10,000 trade-in. Sales tax is 7% on the full price, rolled into the loan, at 8.25% APR for 15 years. You camp 40 nights a year at $45 a night, pay $125 a month for storage and $1,200 a year for insurance.
- Sales tax: $90,000 × 7% = $6,300.
- Amount financed: $90,000 − $18,000 − $10,000 + $6,300 = $68,300.
- Monthly rate: 0.0825 ÷ 12 = 0.006875, with 180 monthly payments.
- Payment: $68,300 × 0.006875 ÷ (1 − 1.006875^(−180)) ≈ $662.61.
- Total interest: $662.61 × 180 − $68,300 ≈ $50,969.06.
- Yearly costs: 40 × $45 + $125 × 12 + $1,200 = $1,800 + $1,500 + $1,200 = $4,500.
- Full yearly cost: $662.61 × 12 + $4,500 ≈ $12,451.27.
- Cost per night: $12,451.27 ÷ 40 ≈ $311.28.
Result: The loan payment is about $662.61 a month. The RV costs about $12,451.27 a year in all, or about $311.28 for each of your 40 nights away. Price, tax and interest together come to about $147,269.06.
Understanding the result
The cost per night is the number to weigh up. Compare it with what you'd happily pay for a night away on the same kind of trip. In the example, 60 nights a year instead of 40 cuts it to about $222.52 once the extra campground fees are in.
A longer loan lowers the payment but raises the total interest. At 20 years instead of 15, the example's payment falls to about $581.96. But the interest grows by about $20,401.55.
Check the balance in the yearly table against what the RV might sell for. If you want to sell in a few years, a long loan may leave you owing more than you'd get.
Assumptions and limitations
- The APR stays the same for the whole loan, and you make equal payments at the end of each month.
- Your camping, storage and insurance costs stay the same each year.
- In a short final year, the table counts only that part of the year's costs.
- Sales tax uses the one rate you enter. Payments aren't rounded to the cent, so a lender's final payment may differ by a few cents.
- This doesn't include fuel, tires, repairs, registration or a tow vehicle, unless you add them to one of the yearly inputs.
- It doesn't estimate what the RV will be worth later, so resale value isn't taken off the cost.
- Rates and terms depend on you, the lender and the RV. The results are estimates, not a loan offer.
Frequently asked questions
Does this work for travel trailers and campers?
Yes. The math is the same for a motorhome, a camper or a trailer you tow. If you'd also need a bigger vehicle to tow it, work that loan out on its own and add the payment to your budget.
How long can an RV loan be?
This calculator goes up to 20 years. What you can actually get depends on the lender, the RV and your credit. Ask what's available, and use the table to see how the balance falls over that time.
Why is the cost per night so high?
Because most of the yearly bill stays the same however little you travel. The loan, storage and insurance are due either way. Enter more nights to see how the figure drops as you use the RV more.
Does my trade-in lower the sales tax?
In some places it does, because tax is charged on the price minus the trade-in. In others, tax is charged on the full price. Choose the option that matches where you'll register the RV, and check with your local tax office.
Should I put the sales tax in the loan?
Rolling it in means less cash at the start. But you pay interest on the tax for the whole loan. Switch the option above to see the difference in your payment and total interest.
How this calculator is checked
Method: Standard level-payment amortization formula with monthly rate = APR ÷ 12; amount financed from price, down payment, trade-in and optional sales tax; yearly costs and cost per night by adding and dividing the user's own figures. The calculation is covered by automated tests with known reference values and edge cases. Last updated 2026-10-31. Found a problem? Tell us.
Embed this calculator
Put this RV Loan Calculator on your own website or blog for free. Paste this code where you want it to appear: