<prompt> Human: Hello rpersonalfinance, I few months ago I needed to get a new used car. I bought a Honda element from a lot for 7k. I put 3k down with a 4k loan. My credit is pretty bad due to losing my job a few years ago and letting some credit cards go unpaid. Im trying to turn that around.After getting denied a few times for the load I was finally accepted. This was my first loan and I was a little overwhelmed by the process. So after making payments for a few months I notice the balance on the loan is hardly moving down. I call them and they tell me interest is set at 29.9 which works out to about 3 a day. I was under the impression it was going to be more like a credit card where there is a principle and as long as I paid on time there wouldnt be any additional charges.Is this normal for car loans? The minimum is 220 per month, but if theyre adding 90 per month in interest, Im going to end up paying way more than I thought. My plan is to pay this thing off as fast as possible. Im going to put 1.1k towards it per month for the next 3 months and just get it over with. Is this the best option? Here is what my finances look like.Income 2.5kRentUtilities 450Food 300-400  <response>: I was under the impression it was going to be more like a credit card where there is a principle and as long as I paid on time there wouldnt be any additional charges.Credit cards have a grace period where if you pay off the entire balance in a month, then you dont pay additional interest. If you carry a balance over into the next month, then interest is applied. Since youre paying for the car over a few years, interest is charged on top of the principal loan. Is this normal for car loans? No, thats an extremely high interest rate for a car, but because of your past credit, the lender would only take the risk of lending you the money if you agreed to pay them that rate.Look through your financing paperwork and see if there is any kind of early payment penalty. That would be the only reason not to pay this off quickly if you can. 