Boat loan calculator NZ

Boat loan calculator

Boat price$Deposit$Interest rate a year%Term

5 years

1234567Establishment fee added to loan$Account fee a month$

Weekly–Fortnightly–Monthly–Total interest–

Borrowing – costs – in repayments and fees, so the boat costs – with your deposit.

An estimate only. Repayments include the monthly account fee. The default rate is an example inside the range banks advertised for personal loans on 23 October 2026, not a quote; lenders set your rate by your credit history and the boat.

What owning it costs a year

Insurance a year$Mooring, berth or storage a year$Servicing and repairs a year$Trailer rego and WoF a year$Fuel and launching a year$

Running costs – a year. With the loan, that's – a week while you're paying it off.

Put in your own figures. The insurance example is Mariner's own price indication for a $50,000 trailer boat (September 2026), not a quote. We don't fill in servicing, trailer or fuel costs because they vary too much from boat to boat.

How the calculator works

It uses the standard formula for a loan repaid in equal instalments, worked out separately for weekly, fortnightly and monthly repayments, so each figure matches how lenders quote. The establishment fee is added to the loan, so you pay interest on it too. The monthly account fee is added to each repayment.

For example, a $45,000 boat with a $10,000 deposit, borrowed over 5 years at 13.9% with a $250 establishment fee and a $2 monthly fee, costs about $820 a month, or $189 a week. Over the 5 years you'd pay about $13,850 in interest.

The running costs panel adds the costs of owning the boat, so you can see the weekly figure the boat really costs while you're paying it off.

How boat loans work in NZ

There are two kinds of boat loan:

• Secured loans use the boat as security. The lender registers its interest on the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR), usually for a fee of about $10, and can repossess the boat if you stop paying. Because the lender carries less risk, the rate is often lower. Finance companies such as MTF Finance, UDC Finance and AA Money lend this way.
• Unsecured loans are personal loans that don’t depend on the boat. Banks and online lenders such as Harmoney lend this way. There’s no lien on the boat and no survey, but the rate is set by your credit history, and the range is wide.

ASB no longer offers secured personal loans to new customers, so most bank lending for boats is unsecured. Terms usually run from 1 to 5 years, and up to 7 years with some lenders. We didn’t find any NZ lender offering balloon or residual payments on boats.

Work out what the boat costs a week, not just the loan. Insurance, the trailer, servicing and fuel all keep coming after you’ve signed, and they’re what decides whether the boat gets used or sits in the driveway.

Where to get a boat loan

These are the advertised rates and fees we found on 23 October 2026. They’re ranges: the rate you’re offered depends on your credit history, the loan amount and the boat. Grouped by lender type and in alphabetical order, not ranked.

Terms and other fees

Lender	Term	Other fees
ASB	6 months to 7 years	No early repayment fee
BNZ	3 months to 5 years	No monthly or early repayment fees
Co-operative Bank	6 months to 5 years	No extra or early repayment fees
Kiwibank (Latitude)	1 to 7 years	No early repayment fee
Westpac	6 months to 5 years	No early repayment fee
AA Money	1 to 5 years	PPSR $10.35; $2 a month
Finance Now	6 to 60 months	$2.50 a month
MTF Finance	Up to 5 years	PPSR $10.35; monthly fee
UDC Finance	1 to 5 years	PPSR $10.35; $2 a month
Harmoney	3, 5 or 7 years	No monthly or early repayment fees

Dealer finance comes and goes with promotions. Yamaha and Sea-Doo have both run low-rate offers on new boats and outboards through UDC and Yamaha Motor Finance, but none was running when we checked. If a dealer offers finance, compare its total cost (rate, fees and term) with the table above.

Loans for older boats

None of the lenders we checked publishes a maximum boat age. A secured lender may want a valuation or marine survey on an older boat, and may lend less against it, because the boat is its security. An unsecured personal loan doesn’t depend on the boat’s age at all. With an older boat, budget more for repairs: a cheap boat with a tired outboard can cost more to keep running than the loan.

What it really costs to own a boat

The loan is often the smaller part of the cost. Before you commit, add up:

• Insurance. Mariner’s own indication for a $50,000 trailer boat is $500 to $600 a year. Compare policies on our boat insurance page. A secured lender will usually require insurance.
• Trailer. Light trailers (up to 3,500 kg loaded) need a licence (rego) and a warrant of fitness. WoF frequency for light vehicles, trailers included, changes from 1 November 2026.
• Mooring, berth or storage, if the boat isn’t kept at home:
  • Auckland swing mooring licence (site fee only): $373 a year (2026/27)
  • Auckland pile mooring licence: $1,174 a year (2026/27)
  • Kaiapoi pontoon berth up to 10 m: $2,620 a year (2026/27)
  • Nelson Marina trailer park licence, including launching: $1,578.60 a year (July 2025)
• Servicing: an annual outboard service, antifouling for boats kept in the water, and parts.
• Fuel, bait and launching fees.
• Safety gear: lifejackets for everyone on board, which must be worn on boats 6 metres or shorter. See our life jackets guide.
• Jet skis: jet skis used in Auckland, Northland, Bay of Plenty and Waikato must be registered: a one-off $69 with Auckland Transport.

Recreational boats don’t need to be registered in New Zealand unless they’re going overseas, so there’s no annual boat registration fee.

How much should you borrow?

MoneyHub’s rule of thumb is to spend no more than 5 to 10% of your monthly pre-tax income on boat repayments, leaving room for the running costs above. Lenders must check that you can afford the repayments without substantial hardship before they approve a loan. If a lender doesn’t ask about your income and expenses, treat that as a warning sign.

How we checked

We read each lender’s website and fee schedule on 23 October 2026. Rates change often, so confirm the rate, fees and terms with the lender before you apply. We don’t take payment from any lender, and none of the links on this page earns us money. We review this page every quarter.

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