Stretching your loan term to seven or even 10 years is probably too long for an auto loan because of the interest charges that stack up with a higher interest rate. To illustrate, say you take on a $10,000 car loan for seven years with a 13% interest rate (a common rate for bad credit borrowers).
There's really only one benefit of a long-term auto loan that spans six to seven years or even longer. The longer the car loan, the smaller the monthly payment. By taking out financing with an extended loan term, you can potentially buy a more expensive car and still stay within your monthly budget.
Auto loans over 60 months are not the best way to finance a car because, for one thing, they carry higher car loan interest rates. Yet 39% of new-car buyers in the first quarter of 2021 took out loans of 61 to 72 months, according to Experian.
A 72-month car loan can make sense in some cases, but it typically only applies if you have good credit. When you have bad credit, a 72-month auto loan can sound appealing due to the lower monthly payment, but, in reality, you're probably going to pay more than you bargained for.
According to most personal finance experts, the optimal length for a car loan is 48 months, although some are upping this length to 60 months due to the increased cost of vehicles and lower interest rates.
Shorter loans will come with less interest over the term and have higher payments. Longer-term loans will have lower monthly payments, but more interest over the term.
In general, the shorter the loan term, the less you'll pay overall for the car. You also reduce your chances of owing more than the car is worth.
For most borrowers, an 84-month auto loan may not be the best idea due to high interest rates, increased risk and vehicle depreciation. However, an 84-month auto loan can be a good idea for borrowers who need lower monthly payments.
Paying off a car loan early can save you money — provided there aren't added fees and you don't have other debt. Even a few extra payments can go a long way to reducing your costs. Keep your financial situation, monthly goals and the cost of the debt in mind and do your research to determine the best strategy for you.
With a loan amount of $30,000, an interest rate of 8%, and a loan repayment period of 60-months, your monthly payment is around $700. Before you purchase your new vehicle, remember to budget for car maintenance, gas, and car insurance.
They are trying to get a good interest rate and a reasonable monthly payment. But a five-year loan often has a monthly payment that is too high for them, and they end up financing for a longer term even if it costs them more down the line, Zabritski said.
According to experts, a car payment is too high if the car payment is more than 30% of your total income. Remember, the car payment isn't your only car expense! Make sure to consider fuel and maintenance expenses. Make sure your car payment does not exceed 15%-20% of your total income.
(1) You will generally pay less interest on a 36 or 48 month loan than you would on a 60 (assuming that we are not talking about 0% interest deals here). So, while your payments will be higher the shorter the term, your total interest paid will be lower.
When you make a timely payment to your auto loan each month, you'll see a boost in your score at key milestones like six months, one year, and eighteen months. Making your payments on time does the extra chore of paying down your installment debt as well.
Generally speaking, when you pay off a car loan (or lease), your credit score will take a mild hit. In a nutshell, the FICO credit scoring formula, the most commonly used scoring method by lenders, considers an almost-paid-off loan to be a superior credit item as compared with a loan you've already paid off.
Paying off the loan early can put you in a situation where you must pay a prepayment penalty, potentially undoing any money you'd save on interest, and it can also impact your credit history.
An 84-month auto loan can mean lower monthly payments than you'd get with a shorter-term loan. But having as long as seven years to pay off your car isn't necessarily a good idea. You can find a number of lenders that offer auto loans over an 84-month period — and some for even longer.
Paying for a car over 72 months or 84 months typically means you will have lower monthly car payments but will face significantly higher interest charges over the life of the loan. Even if that doesn't sound so bad — after all, you'll stick to your monthly budget — there are additional risks.
A lender sets the auto loan term length for a used car, which varies from company to company. Until recently, used car loans were generally limited to 72 months. However, today borrowers can secure used car loans for 84 months or more due to the rising need for vehicles.
Longer loan terms are considered riskier for the lender, so they carry higher interest rates, which will increase the total cost of buying the car.
A 48-month loan is the optimal car loan length as recommended by personal finance experts. The reason that it's so popular is that it has a great balance between monthly payments and interest paid over the life of the loan.
Longer repayment terms on personal loans will lower your monthly payment and a long-term loan might make you feel as though you're under less pressure to get the loan paid back quickly. However, longer repayment terms on personal loans also make those loans more expensive.
The more on-time payments you make, the greater the postive impact on your credit score. We recommend taking out the longer term loan which provides a lower payment, thus giving you financial flexibility should other unexpected expenses arise.