A car is one of those things that everyone dreams to buy. It’s a wonderful feeling to have a car that you can call your own, one that you can use anytime, anywhere and bring you to all the places you want to go. But a car is expensive and for most people, buying car is something that can be bought just on a whim. In fact, not many people can even afford to buy a car in cash. More often than not, they will have to take out a loan to get a car. This means going to a bank and applying for a car loan. But there are many requirements that need to be met before a car loan is approved. One of the most important requirements is having good credit. But what if you don’t have any credit yet? This is a situation that some people are in – for example, new graduates. How can you get a car loan without credit?
Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to get a car loan even if you don’t have any credit. Here’s what you should do if you don’t have any credit history and you want to apply for a car loan:
Get a copy of your credit report
If you have low credit make sure you get a copy of your credit report. Go through the document and look for any errors or omissions. Reporting errors or omissions and having it corrected could help in improving your credit. You should also try to remember if you have received any notices on your Social Security number and on your personal information in various documents. These are things that will be looked into by lending institutions. Prepare your credit report and make sure it’s in proper order before you even apply for the loan.
Start saving
Prepare for the loan way before you apply for it by saving money. Plan your financial resources so that you can save regularly. Banks will be more willing to approve your loan if they see that you already have the available funds to put a downpayment on the car. Showing them that you can already make a big downpayment towards getting the car will make them more open to approving your loan.
Look at your finances
Buying a car means going through your finances with a fine-toothed comb. Look at the total price of the car you want to buy. Then look at your finances and calculate your budget for the car. You can use a tried and tested formula of calculating all of your transportation expenses, which includes your fuel costs, tolls, car maintenance, and other car payments. Add all of these up. The accumulated cost should not be higher than 10 percent of your annual profit.
Talk to your bank
If you still don’t have a bank account apply for one. If you do have one then go to your bank and talk to the bank manager to discuss your credit line. He can then decide if you can be eligible for a car loan. Talk about your assets, your income, savings and credit history. These are the factors that will help determine if you get approval for your car loan.
Go to a car dealer
Your bank is the best chance for you to get a car loan, especially since they will probably offer better rates compared to a car dealer. But in the event that your loan is not approved, you can go to a car dealer and negotiate with them different payment plans in order to get a car loan from the dealership. Remember though that applying for a car loan is your first step towards building credit so you better think things through and make sure that you follow through by taking responsibility in making regular payments.
Picture from Subtech2004