How much can I borrow with a car loan?
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If you’re thinking of buying a new or second-hand car and you need a car loan, it’s important to know how much you can borrow. Read on to find out how much you could be able to borrow to help you buy your car.
How much car loan can I get?
The maximum amount that you can borrow for a car loan depends on a range of factors, including:
- Your income (as you need to be able to afford your regular loan repayments).
- Whether you want to make weekly or monthly car loan repayments.
- The term of your loan (standard car loan terms range from 1 to 7 years).
- Whether or not you include a balloon payment in your loan (a single larger repayment at the end).
- The interest rate on your loan.
- Whether you take out a secured or unsecured car loan. A secured loan requires you to provide your car as security for loan approval. This means that the lender will be able to sell your car to repay your loan if you don’t make your repayments. You will be able to borrow more if you take out a secured loan, and you will also get a lower interest rate.
- The lender’s policies. Some lenders will require a deposit, some won’t.
You can use our car loan calculator to work out how much you can afford to borrow.
Tips to increase the amount you can borrow
Besides increasing your income (which may not be an immediate option), two ways that you can increase the amount you can borrow are:
- Increasing your loan term(for example, from 5 years to 7 years).
This will make your regular repayments lower and more affordable. - Including a balloon payment at the end.
The larger this amount, the lower your regular regular repayments will be and the more you will be able to afford to borrow. You just need to make sure that you have a plan in place for your balloon payment at the end. For example, you might want to sell your vehicle and use part of the money to make your balloon payment. You could then upgrade and take out a loan for a new car.
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Can I get a car loan pre-approval?
Yes, and it’s a great idea to do it. It can help you to negotiate a great deal with a car seller.
But if you’ve already chosen the car you want, you can still get an approval if you meet a lender’s approval criteria, usually within 24 hours.
Either way, it’s handy to use the services of a finance broker who can match you with a lender who will be the most likely to approve your application. You can apply online and one of our team will match you with one of our panel of more than 30 lenders.
Importantly, we work for car buyers not lenders, so here at National Loans, we’ll do our best to find you a great car loan deal.
