The rate a lender will offer on a car loan is influences by a number of factors including your credit score, the loan amount, the length of the loan term and the type of vehicle you’re buying and age of the vehicle.

We have access to lenders who work across all sorts of circumstances to help you find the most competitive loan for you.

Typically a car loan can be taken over between 3 and 7 years. The vehicle you’r purchasing can influence the loan term a lender will accommodate. For older vehicles they may want a shorter term.

If you want a longer loan term than lenders are happy with because of the age of the vehicle, for example for older classic cars, you may be able to take out an unsecured personal loan and still use the funds to buy the vehicle.

Because the loan is unsecured, the rate may be slightly higher, but this may accommodate your cashflow better by allowing you a little more time to pay it off.

There are options for securing car finance is you’ve just started a new job. In most cases your first payslip may be an approval condition, and the lender is likely to want to know more about your employment history that they usually would.

A balloon payment on a car loan is a lump sum of money you pay to your lender, generally at the end of your car loan. Its unusual name comes from the fact that a balloon payment can be noticeably large or ‘inflated’ compared to the rest of your loan repayments.

A balloon repayment can allow you to reduce your monthly payments during the course of the loan.

It can however make it costlier to pay off your car in the long run, because it will increase the amount of interest you pay over the course of the loan. You will also need to either have the balloon payment saved in time, look to refinance the balloon period to pay it off (depending on the age of the vehicle) or possibly sell the vehicle to clear the balloon payment.

A balloon payment on your loan may work in your favour in some instances, but it requires careful planning and doesn’t suit everyone.

A personal loan can be used for a variety of purposes including minor renovations or repairs, debt consolidation, purchasing a car, or other vehicle that doesn’t meet car loan criteria, medical expenses etc.

Because a personal loan is unsecured, they are typically at a higher rate than car loans. If you already own your car outright and need to borrow funds for another purpose, there are some lenders that may be able to take security over your car and offer you a better rate.

If you’ve had some issues in the past and as a result, have a low credit score, there are still some lenders who may be willing to approve a car loan. Lenders will look at a range of factors, your credit record being one of them. If the rest of the information on your application meets the lender’s criteria, they might still lend money to you.

If you have a low credit score, it may be more difficult to get approved, and it’s worth understanding that you will likely be paying higher rates.