HOW MUCH IS A CAR DOWN PAYMENT?
When it comes time to buy or lease a car, it’s recommended that you put money down initially to lower your monthly payments. However, many drivers near North Andover, Peabody, or Danvers may not know how much a car down payment is.
In this informative guide, we’ll explain how much money you should put down for a new or used car. We’ll also go over several benefits of a car down payment. Read through the information below to find out how much a car down payment is, and contact us at Ira Lexus of Danvers if you have any questions.
HOW MUCH TO PUT DOWN ON NEW & USED CARS
How much money you should put down initially depends on whether you buy or lease a car, and whether you’re getting a new or used one.
If you’re buying a new car, you usually want to put down at least 20% of the purchase price. This is to offset the quick depreciation. Whereas if you’re buying a used vehicle, at least 10% of the vehicle’s sale price is the recommended amount.
But if you’re leasing a new car, the initial payment is usually pre-determined. You may want to follow the loan strategy and put down as much money as possible. However, in this case, you’ll want to stick to the required cash due. A lease is to minimize a lessee’s cash out, and paying more initially will counter that purpose.
CAR DOWN PAYMENT BENEFITS
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BETTER CHANCE OF CAR LOAN APPROVAL
If you put a good amount of money down initially, you’ll have a better chance of GETTING APPROVED FOR FINANCING. The down payment can be cash or from a trade-in. Regardless of its source, and no matter your credit history, putting down at least 15% will up your chances for getting a respectable auto loan.
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LOWER INTEREST RATE & MONTHLY PAYMENTS
If you put down a substantial amount right away, it shows to lenders that you’re committed to the car and are a lower-risk borrower. This means that you’ll get a better interest rate, which means you’ll get to pay less interest over the life of a loan.
Not only that, but the more money you put down, the less you’ll have to pay each month. A good way to determine your monthly payments is with an auto loan calculator. By entering in basic information like the vehicle’s price and a trade-in/down payment amount, you can get a good idea on how much you’d be paying per month.
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NOT BEING “UPSIDE DOWN” ON A CAR LOAN
Another good reason for a car down payment is to avoid being “upside down” on your loan. If you make too small a payment initially, you may end up owing more than the vehicle is worth.
When a car is 100% financed, you’re paying more than the vehicle’s value. This is because you’re also including sales tax, interest, and other fees. If you put zero down initially, then the car will already be worth less than the loan you’ve taken out.
This is called being “upside down,” which can be financially dangerous. If you’re in this situation, you may not be able to trade in your car if you ever want to buy a new one. Or, you may have to roll the amount that you owe on your current loan over to another loan for a new car.
By applying a car down payment from the get-go, you’ll avoid being in this predicament.
LEARN MORE ABOUT CAR DOWN PAYMENTS
WHILE PUTTING MONEY DOWN ON A VEHICLE IS GREAT, IT’S IMPORTANT TO FIND THAT SWEET SPOT BETWEEN PAYING TOO MUCH AND NOT PAYING ENOUGH.
IF YOU NEED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CAR DOWN PAYMENTS, THEN CONTACT THE FINANCE EXPERTS AT IRA LEXUS OF DANVERS. AND WHEN YOU’RE READY TO GET A NEW OR USED VEHICLE NEAR NORTH ANDOVER, PEABODY, OR DANVERS, WE’LL HELP YOU GET STARTED RIGHT AWAY.
SO, DON’T WAIT. CONTACT US TODAY!
The Lexus dealership provided Expedited service with great communication Ryan kept me in the loop with stays updates
Mr. John Ponce is friendly and professional. He is patient and skillful. We greatly appreciate the reception that we received.
Great service, very reliable and professional, and a great place to buy a car from
Great service. I have been with Ira of Danvers for 10 plus years. Maria also purchased her Lexus here.
Everyone is very professional and curtious From the time I drove in to the time I picked up my car
Ira Lexus has always treated us the best. They will accommodate even the oddest pickup/drop off requests. Even with having a closer Lexus dealer we still prefer Ira.
I love this place. Today I dealt with Assistant Mgr Tyler Costa. He explained everything. My car was done at the time it was promised, and it was washed and vacuumed. What else could you ask for? Thank you Tyler. You make it so easy.
The service department managed by Rick Chase is very helpful and respectful. Rick walked through the issues and made helpful recommendations
Overall IRA Lexus meets all our needs from sales to service. We will always come back.
Lexus of Danvers is great!Staff is always helpful, especially Jenn Perry and Tyler Castro.
Perfect work on my brake replacement ❤️ I’m so happy for this work on my car
I was stuck at Savers and car would not start. I called AAA and Kevin came out in 30 minutes and jumped the battery and said the battery was fine. I decided to stop by Lexus because dash lights were on. Lexus kept my car, drove me home and called several hours later telling me that the battery was no good . I told them to install a new battery. The dash lights wouldn’t go out so the car was kept overnight. The next morning the lights went out and I was satisfied that the car was operational. A valet brought ... Read More DealerRater - Jul 3, 2026
I usually have great service. This time meh.. they had my car for 2 days. It was supposed to be an oil change and 145,00 mile service. They suggested new tires and I declined at this time. So when I went to pickup the car they only did the oil change. They also never called day 1 to tell me my car wouldn’t be ready. I needed to call them. Luckily I had a loaner car from them.
great staff-so friendly and helpful-especially Ryan Remi Gracia! the waiting area is well desined and stocked.
Very friendly and very helpful! Service was done according scheduled and did wash my car!
I needed service last minute before going on a road trip. Briana was great. The best service advisor I’ve had. She made the repair happen in time, kept in touch with me with updates. I will continue to be a customer even after the warranty is up because of her. And getting a text & video from the technician was great too.
Pleasant and efficient staff always friendly and helpful . Positive experience. Long time satisfied Lexus owner
Staff is personable & friendly. It’s a seamless process. Nice perk having your vehicle washed!
I got my NX300 serviced today. They did an excellent job. I am very happy with the work they did. Fantastic customer service.
Excellent customer service, Jason really did a great job and helped me above and beyond. Everyone was excellent and made the process of buying a car fast and easy and enjoyable.
Ryan was very helpful and knowledgeable. Website is very user friendly and easy to set up an appointment.
Absolutely fantastic service. Kind and efficient. Cannot rave enough about the service department. Even vacuumed my car after the service in addition to washing.
Abraham was helpful, courteous and professional. I was not happy about repair shop not attending to my repair for 2 days because “they got slammed”. Repair shop failed in this instance. All other visits have been a smooth, positive experience.
I had a great experience todayat Ira Lexus, Danvers. I was fortunate to get Remi as my consultant & it couldn’t have been better. Because of Remi i liked my car better now than when i drove in this morning! Thank you Remi
Abraham provided exceptional service today! He was super friendly and helpful. I hadn't booked a loaner car ahead of time, but he kindly offered me one so I didn't have to sit and wait for 3 hours. He made the whole process seamless and is truly wonderful to work with!
Great service at Ira Lexus, Abraham is courteous and the service team is always right on schedule.
My service experience was excellent as usual. Bryanna Bernard was excellent. She processed the service, and also noticed my inspection sticker was coming due, Thanks again Bryanna.
The sales and service staff are awesome. I bought one last year and bring my other two Lexus vehicles here too. They get you in and out quickly, literally minutes, with a nice loaner if needed. Definitely my preferred dealer.
Great service team. Clean facility. Spacious waiting room with refreshments. Reliable repair services. Clean car upon pickup.
Ryan was great with helping gettting my car serviced, nice and cleaned after. Thank you.
Excellent exceptional experienced dedicated Personnel dealership. I keep coming back for all those reasons. I recommend to anyone who will listen !
Everyone we worked with was super friendly and the purchasing process was rather smoothe. We are happy with the GX even if it took forever to get!
Staff is attentive, listen and provide advise with appropriate information. They keep you posted on the status of the work while waiting. Courtesy services are avaliable and location is clean and organized
Happy with my service but a very special shout out to Bryanna!! She is courteous, knowledgeable, efficient and absolute pleasure to work with. My absolute favorite person there. Keep that employee happy. She represent you well
Excellent customer service and was great at reassuring any questions and gave answers that were easy to understand.
Great customer service , always polite, kind and professional the waiting area could use some separate workspaces with healthier snack options
Excellent experience from start to finish. The staff was professional, knowledgeable and respectful of my time. They answered all my questions, made the process smooth and transparent, ensured. I was completely satisfied with my purchase. I would highly recommend this dealership to my friends and family. I would recommend my sale representative Robert Giovannucci. He is very helpful and knowledgeable in the entire process of buying my new RX350H Premium… .
Everything goes smoothly and all the staffs are really knowledgeable and kind Waiting room is very clean and I enjoy free coffee. It was delicious!
The dealership people are terrific from sales people to mechanics to operator. Thank you, Brianna for going above and beyond to help me today. And Alex, thank you for always being available to answer our questions or help put us online.
Service agent was very helpful and accommodating. He got my car in a busy day without an appointment. The techs diagnosed the problem and fixed it quickly.
I have been a long customer of Ira Lexus. Each time I have service done on my vehicle. I am greeted with the valet who always make you feel like you’re their most important Especially Larry, Tom, and Steve, who was in the drop off and pick up area.( he’s uncle Steve to my dog Gio) Although, Dennis Pellegrino, isn’t at Lexus- he’s at Toyota, he was still there for me to make my appointment when I reached out to him. The work is always done perfectly, the coffee is delish! All of the service employees ... Read More DealerRater - Jun 5, 2026
Great experience at IRA Lexus today - service advisor was very professional and helpful - thank you!
Service staff were friendly and very accommodating. They weren’t grouchy when I had to reschedule twice and just before the actual scheduled appointment.
There was no pressure to upgrade the service needed to a premium package that provides extra preventative care but naturally cost more.
They were mindful of my having a comfortable experience by frequently offering complimentary snacks and beverages and apologizing when they ran out of a few items.
They were respectful of my time by staying within the estimated time of completion. Since the final cost of the service visit was a little more than the ... Read More DealerRater - Jun 4, 2026
Pleasant. Not high pressure. Easy to work with. Process was efficient. Sales and Finance were excellent.
Delivered services in a timely manner and at the price quoted and with a loaner to bot!
My wife and I just purchased our third Lexus from IRA. Kal, our salesman was great through the entire process, and the folks who prepped the vehicle did a fantastic job.
Ira Lexus of Danvers was a great buying experience. Friendly, efficient and respectful of your buying decision.
Happy that salesman suggested the hybrid. In 2021 I purchased an NX because the RX was too much vehicle for my needs. I traded the 2021 NX because the 2026 NX hybrid is much better in exterior, exterior, and exterior color, not to mention mpg rating. It’s really nice vehicle., The salesman was good in showing me a lot of the new features.
My sales person was amazing. Very knowledgeable, and the right level of engagement. The wait for finance was too long. Took two hours after we had agreed on a price on the vehicle. I almost walked out.
Good service, good people, will be back. Remi was very helpful, polite.. I wish all services was like there
Brought car in for a recall and an oil change came out7 days later spending $400+. Your thoughts!
We just bought an Rx350 from John and he was so great to work with. We’re thrilled with our experience.
The pricing and service were both relatively stress free. Only knock is the online offer for my trade was a bate and switch. As the final price was 25% less than original
Excellent service department . Top notch work. I would definitely recommend Abraham as a advisor and Danny as a technician
The service at this dealership is fantastic from the moment you drive in! They are all so personable and do a terrific job! Elias is so wonderful with updates and information. He went the extra mile to be as helpful as possible and to make it a seamless and great overall experience! I left feeling like i had not only a great experience but like I have new friends!
Had an appointment and waited over 3 hours for just an oil change. Absolutely insane
I have appreciate the service department and the service manager and assistants who have helped me.
Ira Lexus of Danvers provided excellent customer service. They performed the service incredibly quickly as well.
I had an excellent experience with Jason in sales and IRA Lexus overall. I highly recommend
They have the best service, Remi was so helpful. The.valet service was the best
Very friendly and my service manager Jennifer Perry is the best! The service is great
Service department was very helpful. Was assisted immediately and all repair recommendations were reviewed with me so I could make informed decision on how to move forward.
Very professional and great commitment to service. My only comment, after just having a significant amount of work done, is that it would have been nice to have the car detailed. It would improve already great customer service.
Bryanna in Service is Wonderful and Awesome. Very Friendly, attentive and most importantly very Professional. Keep up the Greatl work Service Team @Lexus.
Jake Williams made the experience less stressful and I got the pre-owned Lexus NX 350 AWD vehicle I wanted..
Excellent, friendly customer service! The team member that helped me went above and beyond to work with me.
Very attentive to everyone's needs. Jennifer was very helpful and explained everything in a very professional manner.
Excellent Service and Excellent People. I’ve always been happy with Ira Lexus for over 32 years.
Took car in without appointment to replace battery i picked up next morning. Service writer Abraham excellent to deal with.
Always have a great experience at Ira Lexus. Have been purchasing cars from them since 1991. My cars are always meticulously serviced and returned to me beautifully detailed. I look forward to working with David in the future
Always receive excellent service! Great staff to work with. Like seeing the technician tour of work completed and recommendations with rationale.
This is my 2nd Lexus car and the first one I got it from Lexus Watertown, thinking to change to new dealer expecting to get a better service, yet it turned to be a disappointed. When I had my car serviced in Watertown for both 5000 and 10000 miles, they filled up my tank for both times. And interior, they cleaned it very nicely. Not to say Lexus changes their policy not to fill up clients tank, but for the cleaning part, IRA did it for me yesterday very carelessly
Very good service and kind and helpful all who I was dealing with, the possible future upgrades were reviewed. All questions were answered. Highly recommended this team to anyone.
Excellent Customer Service! Everyone’s so very helpful and nice. And very efficient, from the text to schedule my visit to the ride to mall while I was waiting. Only negative- you ran out of Chezet Snacks …(just teasing…I had to settle for Ritz Crackers …but they were delicious) Thanks … keep it up
I don’t usually leave reviews, but my experience with IRA Lexus of Danvers was so unacceptable that I feel obligated to warn others.
I brought my vehicle in on December 10 for one clear, limited issue: repairing injector wires that caused my AWD to disengage. That was the only service I authorized. Instead of addressing that, I was contacted and aggressively pushed to approve a $2,900 water pump replacement—something I clearly declined multiple times.
What happened next was completely unacceptable. I was told outright that unless I approved the water pump repair, they would refuse to complete the injector wire ... Read More DealerRater - Apr 25, 2026
Great experience. Easy purchase. Car was like new. Hopefully next few years are trouble free.
Very nice guy. I felt like I was taken cared of and was able to explain what was going on with my car
Great service. I have been with them for over 360,000 miles and going strong.
John Luna could not have been nicer- when I arrived without an appointment as I hit a nasty manhole cover and ripped my tire. He was very caring about this and asked several times what he could do for me- as I was there awhile. He saw that my brakes needed replacement and I said yes as I was there. Very thorough and kept me informed. I expect exceptional service and got it today!
Comfortable and friendly. Qualified technician and communicate effectively. The advisors are always nice and on top of updating the customers.
Very customer service oriented. Rent was extremely respectful and responsive to my needs and requests.
I was very impressed by the dealership because they give you a list of the important things that your car might need for service in the near future, and they gave my car an interior and exterior wash, which was an added, plus
Courteous and efficient staff. Comfortable waiting area with plenty of space and amenities. On schedule as planned.
Everyone at this dealership’s goes over and above to please their customers. The are the very best. They welcome you always with a smile and make it comfortable if you are waiting for your vehicle. They keep you informed of what’s going on with your service until it’s complete. People at that dealership are an asset to Lexus. Thanks to all
Rob was really helpful and not pushy like most car sales. My wife and I felt comfortable with the deal we ended up getting.
My advisor Abraham was helpful and kept me updated on the service. The waiting area makes it possible to work while you wait.
I’ve been a customer for over 20 years. Love the cars and love the service. First time dealing with Ryan, he took the time to make sure all my issues were resolved.
Was very pleased with the Lexus dealership. I wandered in the late afternoon looking at all the cars in the parking lot. Olti Gjimsra came running out to ask me if he could help me. I explained that I was thinking of buying a new or used car depending on the price. My intentions were to look at the Toyotas, the Subarus and the Lexus. I owned a Lexus many years ago, and was serviced by John Ponce. Olti invited me into the dealership and proceeded to show me his inventory on the computer I went from intending to buy ... Read More DealerRater - Apr 8, 2026
Bryanna was absolutely wonderful, her kindness and friendliness are top notch! Mint customer service and pleasant experience overall!
Polite clean comfortable non threat environment enjoyed the experience. Even the coffee was drinkable. Thanks
The service at this dealership is always excellent I have been coming here for over 10 years Will not go anywhere else
I was there for my 20k service and waited for the car and it was delivered in the time they had said.
You always receive a timely service representative and diagnosis from your mechanic. It will provide you with analysis of your car’s condition and an estimate for the repair costs. This allows you the opportunity to make an informed decision about how best to proceed with your vehicle.
Excellent service and repair. Employees are personable and professional. They listen and react to the problem at hand. Thank you all for a wonderful experience.
Lexus has always been number one in the service department for us. That’s why we returned after trying other dealers. Keep up the great work!!
Always have a great experience when i bring my car to Ira Lexus Danvers. Greg is the best and is honest about work needed for my car.
Always welcomed, knowledgeable staff. Very helpful answering questions. Neat and clean annd well kept environment.
Jason at IRA Lexus was kind and straightforward. From the test drive to selecting the car and completing the sale it was the smoothest process I have experienced in 40 years. The dealership is calm, quiet and well appointed.
Excellent service from arrival to departure as it is always everybody was very very helpful.
Me gustó que me atendieron apelar que llague un poco tarde. De igual manera la disponibilidad para responder todas mis preguntas y ayudarme con una sonrisa y deseo de servirme. Las meriendas disponibles mientras uno espera por su vehículo es un plus para nosotros como clientes.
