If you need a car and have bad credit, you might think that there aren’t any options except for saving your money and buying something with cash. While this is an option, there are car loans for people with bad credit that you can apply for and secure if you follow a few simple tips. Just because someone else believes that your credit is bad or if you think that there are issues that will prevent you from securing a loan, it might not be true. There are free sites where you can check your credit online, and you can contact most credit companies to get a free report once a year. A bad score might look better to a lender than no score at all, so it’s not a bad idea to go ahead and apply for the loan.
Look at several loan companies before applying for the ones that offer the best interest rates or that seem like they would be the most promising about offering an auto loan. Keep in mind that when you apply for a loan or complete any other application that involves checking your credit, the activity will show on your credit report. Talk to your bank or local credit union first to see if you can secure a loan from them. If you have been banking with the company for several years, then you might stand a better chance of being approved than if you were to go to a finance company. Look for lenders that are known for offering car loans instead of those that are only known for offering money to people with bad credit. There are usually a few strings that these loan companies can pull to get you an auto loan that other companies might not know about because they don’t deal with auto dealers or other types of banks. Try to find someone who can co-sign with you on the loan so that you have more income to show. This person should be someone who has a higher credit score than you and who is willing to go on as a primary applicant if you are unable to complete the application in that manner.