How to Find a Used Car Loan

January 26, 2012

Finding a used car loan is fast and simple when you use the internet as a starting point. You will easily be able to find a used car loan if you prepare your personal information and then take a few hours to do some online research.

Steps to Finding a Used Car Loan

First, gather all of your personal information before starting. This includes your social security number, your banking information, your credit score and copies of your last pay check and any current utility bills that are in your name.
Next, determine the monthly car payment you can afford. When calculating your monthly car budget, make sure you factor in used car insurance premiums, fuel, and potential repair costs. You can find information on insurance costs at Geico.com, Intellichoice.com or Insweb.com, to name a few.
Once you know the monthly car payment that fits your budget you can use calculators at CarsDirect or CUNA to determine what size of loan your monthly budget can support.
If your credit score is lower than 600 it will be very difficult to obtain a loan and you should consider either delaying your purchase or finding a co-signer for your used car loan.
You can now start shopping for a used car after you’ve determined your budget and loan type. Check-out the Used Cars for sale on CarsDirect.
Buying a used car is a little tricky because the car already has a history and may be past the factory warranty. You can visit NADAGuides.com to obtain an accurate value of a used car before signing a used car loan contract.
When you’ve identified a specific vehicle you are interested in purchasing you should visit AutoCheck to get a vehicle history report to check for accidents or excessive repairs.

Once you know the size of the loan you can afford as well as the vehicle you want, you should get multiple loan quotes. In addition to contacting your local bank or credit union, visit sites like LendingTree and CarsDirect where you can receive multiple quotes by submitting only one form. When you have the multiple used car loan quotes in hand, compare the terms and then select the one that provides the best deal, which is usually the loan that has the lowest Annual Percentage Rate.

Following the above steps will give you more bargaining power to negotiate a better used car loan.