<prompt> Human: What does the xx.xx per 1,000 mean? Is that an upfront financing fee?  <response>: I found this interesting article from 2015 about the 0 auto finance. It talks about how the loan offers come around every late summer to help clear out inventory for the new model year. Buried within is a bit about the value difference between cash back or 0. They even provide a calculator to help determine if you should take the rate or the cash. Bonus Cash or Zero-Percent Loan? There are times when the automaker gives consumers a choice between bonus cash or a loan with a very low interest rate. The bonus cash would usually be the way to go, but when it comes to zero-percent loans, the cash would have to be sufficient to offset the finance charges the buyer is saving. For example, lets say you were buying a 25,000 car with a 1,000 down payment and youve qualified for a loan with an interest rate of 3.5 percent. You then have a choice: a bonus cash incentive or a zero-percent loan with no additional discount. It would take an incentive of about 2,500 to beat the zero-percent loan offer. Any amount of bonus cash less than 2,500 makes the zero-percent loan the better option. Use this calculator to input your own scenarios and see what option works best for you. Theres also a third option to consider. Increasingly, consumers are taking the bonus cash and then refinancing the interest-bearing loan at a lower rate later, says Melinda Zabritski, senior director of automotive finance for Experian. 