5 Easy Steps To A Car Loan with Bad Credit 
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Need A Car Loan With Low Credit Score? – 5 Easy Steps to Qualify
What’s On This Page:
- Need A Car Loan With Low Credit Score? – 5 Easy Steps to Qualify
- Credit Scores and Getting Approved
- 5 Simple Steps to Buy a Car With Bad Credit and Get the Auto Loan You Want!
- How To Improve Your Bad Credit Fast
- Additional Methods for increasing your FICO Score.
- STEP 2 – Meet These Simple Criteria for Minimum Credit Scores
- STEP 3 – Choose the best loan offer to buy a Car with Below Average Credit
- STEP 4 – Shop Around at Auto Dealers and Private Car Sellers
- STEP 5 – Negotiate The Best Price and Avoid Financing Ripoffs
- Getting Car Loans With Bad or Below Average Credit Is Easy
Do you need a car loan but your credit score is below average?
If you have a below-average credit rating and need a car loan with a good APR, here are five easy steps you can take to improve your chances of landing a good deal on bad credit car loans.
Even with bad credit and little income, you can get a lower interest loan rate for auto financing. Valley Auto Loans is one of the few brokers that can help anyone find an auto loan, refinance or lease with bad credit.
Continue reading to learn more!
When it comes to a low FICO credit scores, finding a company to finance your car purchase can be a challenge. With one easy application, we can search our lending pool to find you the best car loan for your credit rating.
Don’t settle for high interest, low credit car loans the car dealer offers you!
Valley Auto Loans Offers Easy Smartphone Applications, Fast Loan Approvals, and Good Rates.
How To Get A Bad Credit Loan With A Low APR
We make getting an easy loan for bad credit seriously, and below we will explain these five ways to get the best car financing and a great car deal with a low credit score.
- Check your credit score yourself – Check your score online, correct mistakes, know your credit category and your budget.
- Meet these simple application criteria – All the needed information for a complete, quick loan application.
- Choose the best loan offer and lender to qualify successfully – Too late to fix your credit score? You can still qualify for a conventional car loan!
- Shop around at auto dealers and private car sellers – You may not have a large down payment, so that makes finding a lower selling price even more relevant.
- Negotiate the best car deal – A big part of a great car is the amount you paid for it. Learn how to get the best price available to buy a car with bad credit.
Credit Scores and Getting Approved
Your FICO Credit Score is important for several reasons – The fact is that your credit rating sets the stage for most great auto loans and auto financing with low APR and low monthly payments.
But if the credit bureaus report you to have slow credit or bad credit, you are not alone. If you need a car loan but your credit score is below average you are certainly not the exception.
Experian Automotive‘s recent report findings show that 28% of new car buyers and 54% of people that bought used cars had a credit rating that was below 660.
Typically these car buyers are categorized as having less than perfect credit and lenders will consider them a higher financial risk.
A 600 credit score auto loan usually means high interest and paying more for the car financing than you need too.
There are easy loans to get with bad credit if you plan carefully.
What kind of credit score to buy a car do I need?
If you have a FICO score between 620 and 600, your credit is less than perfect but not bad, and you certainly don’t have to settle for a bad car loan from the car dealer.
You are considered to have below-average credit if your score is between 600 and 550.
A credit score between 550 and 450 will earn you a bad credit rating, and at that point; you will need a special financing auto loan to qualify for most car loans.
On average 10% of new vehicles and 32% of the used cars financed are for people with subprime or bad credit scores reported by the credit bureau.
This means that buying a car with a low credit score or no credit at all, the car buyer received an interest rate between 15 and 19 percent.
This is an average loan rate for people struggling with below-average credit.
However, some lenders see this as an unacceptable credit rating and can charge interest rates as high as 26%. This is most commonly seen with unsecured personal loans or high risk car loans.
Let’s look at five steps that will help you improve your chances of qualifying for a lower interest rate and land the best deal to buy a car with bad credit.
5 Simple Steps to Buy a Car With Bad Credit and Get the Auto Loan You Want!
STEP 1 – Check Your FICO Credit Scores and Credit Reports.
The first step to qualifying for a better car loan with a lower APR is to check your credit score that the credit bureaus are reporting on your credit history.
Even with excellent credit, it is important to find where you stand with your credit rating and credit problems that show up on these reports.
You can do this online for free. TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian offer credit reports that make up the credit rating that lenders use to set you Annual Percentage Rate or APR.
Our resource page provides a link where you can get free credit score evaluations in seconds. You also have the ability to get monthly updates if you choose to sign up for this option as well.
It also includes this essential reading: How To Fix A Stuck Car Window
Knowing your present FICO credit score will allow you to use tools like online auto loan payment calculators to estimate what your monthly car loan payments would with different down payment amounts at various interest rates.
It will also help you know what type of auto loan lender you should apply with to be approved for your vehicle loan or car lease (Recommended Reading for Leasing: What Is An Auto Lease Capitalized Cost Reduction?).
If you use car dealership financing, it can also help you to know if the finance agent is offering you a fair interest rate or if they are taking advantage of you with an overpriced auto loan.
Many car dealers do not intentionally offer you bad rates. They just cannot provide lower rates for customers with low credit scores.
This credit rating chart can help you understand how you fit into the loan category rating system.
- Decent | 625 – 600
- Average | 600 – 575
- Below Average | 575 – 550
- Semi-Poor | 550 – 525
- Poor | 525 – 500
- Bad | 500 – 450
- Awful | 450 – 425
- Terrible | 425 – 400
You should understand that there are ways to rebuild your credit even after a bankruptcy, but they take time and planning.
How To Improve Your Bad Credit Fast
One fast way to raise your credit score is to increase your credit limit on any revolving credit accounts you have.
For instance, many young people start out with one or two credit cards and eventually come close to their credit limit with charges.
Now if you are trying to get a conventional loan for a car or needed cash for debt with maxed credit limits on your cards, you will not qualify for a substantial loan.
The problem is that your charged debt is too close to your credit limit.
Now if you have never requested to have your credit limit raised on those cards, now is a good time to do so. By simply calling your credit card company and requesting a higher credit limit you will increase your available credit.
This will automatically raise your FICO credit score.
Additional Methods for increasing your FICO Score.
There are other fast ways to increase your credit rating as well, like paying down a card balance or consolidating your debt.
Anything that raises your credit limit will also help your credit point score.
If you think you have mistakes on your credit report, by all means, contact the credit agency and have them corrected as soon as possible, before you apply for your car loan.
If you need a car loan now and are satisfied that your credit report is accurate and you cannot raise your credit limits, then you will have to work with the score you have for now.
Remember that any conventional car loan can help with credit repair. Your damaged credit score can be turned around with a special financing car loan.
The next thing to do is review your personal budget and make a simple plan for what you can afford and monthly payments.
Again, an online auto loan calculator is a helpful tool in estimating what you can afford.
You will need to have your credit score and the down payment amount you are planning to use along with an average APR you would qualify for to get the most accurate estimate.
STEP 2 – Meet These Simple Criteria for Minimum Credit Scores
So you have your credit score, you know what car price range you can afford and what your monthly payment estimate will be.
The next step is to make sure you will be able to meet the auto lenders’ requirements for a bad credit loan approval application.
- You will need to show a monthly income of $1,500 or more per month that can be documented with a tax document.
- You need to be a legal resident of the United States and have a Social Security number.
- Do you have a continuous full time or part-time employment or a fixed income that can be documented?
- Can you give an actual street address where you live and not just a PO box number?
- Do you have a working phone number where you can be contacted?
- Can you give a business phone number where your employer can be reached?
- Do you have the vehicle information if you are purchasing a vehicle from a private seller such as make, model, mileage, and loan amount?
If you are applying for a new car auto loan or pre-approval car loan, you will not need the vehicle info to get pre-approved for your loan, but you will need vehicle information later to achieve the complete auto loan.
STEP 3 – Choose the best loan offer to buy a Car with Below Average Credit
Step 3 involves your credit rating and is simple.
If you want to qualify for an acceptable car loan with slow credit, then use a lender that will accept your FICO score for what it is and is willing to offer low-interest rates to get your business. No credit check dealers will not help you repair your credit.
Shop different subprime auto lenders or low-income auto loan lenders and look for a fair interest rate. You can do this in one of two ways.
You can apply to a lot of different lenders yourself, or you can use an auto loan broker like Valley Auto Loans to find the best deals for you.
Applying for financing yourself is time-consuming and puts lots of hits on your credit report.
Using a broker lets several credit lenders review your loan application, so you get the best deals from a pool of lenders without several different credit checks.
Shopping for auto financing this way creates competition between lenders and causes lower APR rates for low credit score borrowers.
STEP 4 – Shop Around at Auto Dealers and Private Car Sellers
Step 4 includes shopping around for a car and doing some price comparing on the internet.
If you have slow credit, your biggest challenge is finding financing for a good quality car with low monthly payments.
If you have low FICO scores, you may not be able to do much with the interest rate, but you can still achieve a lower monthly payment by being careful about the car you select.
With a high-interest rate loan, applying a large down payment is the easiest way to get a lower monthly payment.
However, most folks do not have much cash for a hefty down payment, so the next best thing is to get a low price for the car you purchase.
Shop Around Before You Commit
Shopping around, not taking the first deal that comes along and using the information found in the New Car and Used Car Buyers Guides can help you turn a good car purchase price into a great car deal.
You will need to use the negotiating skills you learned in our “New Car Buying Guide” to land that fair car price.
Good credit or bad, the more you save on the actual sticker price of the car automatically gives you a lower monthly payment and or shorter loan terms.
That is why it is important to have the vehicle information with you when you shop.
Know the trade-in value of the car you are buying and the resale value before dealer markup. Search car specs for the cars you are interested in and know what the options are and how they affect the selling prices.
Compare vehicles of the same quality between different dealers to get an idea of what the market value truly is.
STEP 5 – Negotiate The Best Price and Avoid Financing Ripoffs
OK, for step 5 you will need to take a few minutes and sit down with a notepad and do some online reading to update yourself on car dealer financing scams and car loan tricks.
Almost any car dealership you visit, you will find car dealers that are trained to use negotiating tactics on you.
Take note of any car financing scams or dealer tricks that you may feel vulnerable with and need to try and avoid.
Valley Auto Loans can help you with all of this with our Avoiding Car Dealer Scams and Pitfalls page.
You will be surprised how many people think they are getting a good deal on a car. only to find out that the dealer overcharges them on everything from the price of the car to the financing they used to get the vehicle loan.
If you don’t feel confident negotiating car sales offers then find a friend or a friend of a friend who is knowledgeable in car pricing to go with you and help you buy a car with confidence.
Tip: The 19 Best Times of To Buy A Car
Getting Car Loans With Bad or Below Average Credit Is Easy
Getting an easy loan for bad credit or a car loan with below-average credit scores can be made simple.
With planning and taking the proper steps for your car loan, you can do it. You will be able to easily apply for a fast response from the auto financing lenders.
You can qualify for the best interest rate auto loan regardless of your low credit score.
It is also always possible to negotiate the best car deals like a pro. Use the guides above to gain the upper hand.
Applying for a car loan with Valley Auto Loans gives you many advantages over individual auto loan providers.
There is no application cost and no obligation to accept the loans offered to you.
You will have the satisfaction of knowing you were able to get the best car and auto financing with the best APR available for your credit history at this time.
If it is not the interest rate you were hoping for you can refinance the loan after you allow your new car loan to build some good credit history.
You do not have to keep the loan for the entire term of the car loan if you need to lower your monthly payments.
With auto refinance, your low credit score loan can be used as a stepping stone to getting a really great car and better credit down the road.