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The whole story, as text
“No payments for 90 days.” What does the wait cost?
“No payments for 90 days.” On a $22,000 loan at 8.9%, interest runs from the day you sign: $5.36 a day. Nothing is paid against it for three months. What has been added to your loan by the time the first payment is due?
The answer
$482. Most lenders add it to the balance or stretch the term. Either way you pay it, and interest on it, for the rest of the loan.
Why
A payment holiday is not an interest holiday. $482 interest added, $22,000 the loan. Ninety days of $5.36 a day, on the full balance, with nothing coming off it. Ask before you sign: Is the 90 days' interest added to my balance, and does my term or payment change because of it?
One move
Make the first payment at day 30 anyway. Wait 90 days: $482 interest added, $22,482 balance on day 90. Start at day 30: $161 interest added, $22,161 balance on day 30. Sixty fewer days of interest: $322 that never lands on your loan. Promotions differ, and a few do pause interest. The contract line about the deferred first payment says which kind you have.
Deferred-payment offers are common at year end and on new-car promotions. The interest is real even when the payment is not.
Written and reviewed by Riverbend Crossroads Digital LLC, Friday, October 2, 2026. Figures from the Show Real Cost engine, computed exactly and shown to the cent. Educational, not advice; your lender's disclosures are the authoritative figures. How we calculate · Corrections.