Many dealers quote car payments bi-weekly, and you’ll often hear that paying bi-weekly saves you money. Whether that’s true depends on how the bi-weekly payment is calculated.
Regular bi-weekly payments
A regular bi-weekly payment is simply the monthly payment spread over 26 payments a year instead of 12, over the same term. On a $25,000 loan at 7.99% over 84 months:
- Monthly: $390 × 84 payments — total interest about $7,721
- Bi-weekly: $180 × 182 payments — total interest about $7,677
The saving is small — about $44 over seven years. You’re paying slightly sooner, so a little less interest builds up, but the payoff date doesn’t change.
Accelerated bi-weekly payments
An accelerated bi-weekly payment is half your monthly payment, paid every two weeks. Because there are 26 bi-weekly periods in a year, you end up making the equivalent of 13 monthly payments instead of 12.
On the same loan, paying $195 every two weeks (half of $390):
- The loan is paid off in about 6 years and 4 months instead of 7 years.
- Total interest falls to about $6,942 — roughly $780 less than paying monthly.
Which should you choose?
- Paid every two weeks? Matching your loan payments to your paycheques makes budgeting easier.
- Want to save interest? Choose accelerated bi-weekly, or make extra payments when you can — check that your loan allows prepayment without a penalty.
- Tight budget? A regular bi-weekly or monthly payment keeps the amount lower.
The bigger levers
Payment frequency matters far less than your interest rate, your term and your down payment. On that same $25,000, going from a 96-month to a 60-month term saves about $3,500 in interest.
Every vehicle page on our site has a payment calculator — pick a vehicle and try different terms and down payments, or get pre-approved to see your real rate.
Examples are estimates for illustration only, at 7.99% APR with $0 down, on approved credit. Taxes and fees extra.