Having bad credit can make purchasing things much more difficult. The perfect answer to bad credit problems would be to make sure that your credit never gets bad to begin with. But in a less than perfect world things often happen that are outside of your control and can put a black mark on your credit. One of the things that may be more difficult to do with bad credit is to get a car loan. If your credit is not so good try not to despair, because bad credit car loans can still be secured in many cases.
Know What Your Credit Rating Is
The first thing you need to do if you want to get a car loan with bad credit is to get a copy of your current credit report. You will need to look over the report to make sure that it is accurate. If there are any issues that you can take care of and rectify it would be a good idea to do so. Sometimes you can call creditors and ask for a payoff amount to have the debt removed from your credit report. Do whatever you can to improve your credit rating before you start looking for a used car to ensure better loan terms and conditions.
Know the Terms
If you are getting a car loan from a used car dealer and you have bad credit be sure that you understand the terms of the loan. Ideally you would like to have an interest rate that is as low as possible but if your credit score is bad you often will not have any control over this. Have the dealer go through all of the terms of the loan including the payoff amount, if there are any pre-payment penalties, the length of the loan and the consequences of missing any payments before you sign any papers
Bring Money to the Table
Sometimes when a person has bad credit car loans will be approved if they bring a significant amount of money for a down payment. Saving up enough money for a down payment may be difficult but if you need to get a used car it can make a big difference on getting approved or not. Car dealerships are more likely to negotiate with you if you are able to show that you are committed to paying for the car by bringing a good sized down payment with you.
