A down payment between 10 to 20 percent of the vehicle price is the general recommendation. But if you can afford a larger down payment, you can save even more money on interest payments over the life of the loan. By dropping the amount financed, you save some even before you start negotiating the car price.
There isn't one specific score that's required to buy a car because lenders have different standards. However, the vast majority of borrowers have scores of 661 or higher.
In general, you should strive to make a down payment of at least 20% of a new car's purchase price. For used cars, try for at least 10% down. If you can't afford the recommended amount, put down as much as you can without draining your savings or emergency funds.
Example: A six year fixed-rate loan for a $25,000 new car, with 20% down, requires a $20,000 loan. Based on a simple interest rate of 3.4% and a loan fee of $200, this loan would have 72 monthly payments of $310.54 each and an annual percentage rate (APR) of 3.74%.
Every lender sets its own requirements for zero-down-payment deals, if they offer them at all. Generally, the credit score needed to buy a car is at least 661 whether you make a down payment or not. You could still get a car loan if your score is lower than 661, but be prepared to pay higher interest rates.
The credit score required and other eligibility factors for buying a car vary by lender and loan terms. Still, you typically need a good credit score of 661 or higher to qualify for an auto loan. About 69% of retail vehicle financing is for borrowers with credit scores of 661 or higher, according to Experian.
What is the highest credit score possible? To start off: No, it's not possible to have a 900 credit score in the United States. In some countries that use other models, like Canada, people could have a score of 900. The current scoring models in the U.S. have a maximum of 850.
Average monthly car payments for new vehicles jump slightly year over year. The average car payment for a new vehicle is $737 monthly, according to Q3 2024 Experian data — up 0.7% year over year. Used cars have an average monthly payment of $520, down 3.3% over the same period.
Payments would be around $377 per month. According to the results, it will take you 60 months, an interest rate of 5% of $2,645, to fully pay your $20,000 car loan. However, the monthly cost of a $20,000 car loan will depend on your repayment period and the annual percentage rate (APR).
It will take 43 months to pay off $25,000 with payments of $800 per month, assuming the average credit card APR of around 18%. The time it takes to repay a balance depends on how often you make payments, how big your payments are and what the interest rate charged by the lender is.
It's good practice to make a down payment of at least 20% on a new car (10% for used). A larger down payment can also help you nab a better interest rate. But how much a down payment should be for a car isn't black and white. If you can't afford 10% or 20%, the best down payment is the one you can afford.
NerdWallet recommends spending no more than 10% of your take-home pay on your monthly auto loan payment. So if your after-tax pay each month is $3,000, you could afford a $300 car payment. Check if you can really afford the payment by depositing that amount into a savings account for a few months.
An increase in your monthly payment will reduce the amount of interest charges you will pay over the repayment period and may even shorten the number of months it will take to pay off the loan.
Even better, just over 1 in 5 people (21.2%) have an exceptional FICO credit score of 800 or above, all but guaranteeing access to the best products and interest rates.
And when it comes to credit, 850 is the highest the FICO® Score☉ scale goes. For more and more U.S. consumers, practice is making perfect. According to recent Experian data, 1.54% of consumers have a "perfect" FICO® Score of 850. That's up from 1.31% two years earlier.
The average FICO credit score in the US is 717, according to the latest FICO data. The average VantageScore is 701 as of January 2024.
Your FICO score is a representation of your credit worthiness. FICO offers specific products and solutions for car dealers and auto loans. Their product is called Auto Score 8. As you can see here from FICO's promotional materials, Auto Score 8 is meant to help dealers, “Improve accuracy and speed of decision making.
Very good (740 to 799): Very good credit scores reflect frequent positive credit behaviors. Lenders are likely to approve borrowers in this range. Good (670 to 739): Lenders may think twice before offering new credit to individuals in this range.
Automakers such as Ford, Kia, and Hyundai are known for working with borrowers who have lower credit scores. In addition, CarsDirect has a network of dealers that specialize in bad credit car loans whether you're considering a new or used car.
Overall, Credit Karma may produce a different result than one or more of the three major credit bureaus directly. The slight differences in calculations between FICO and VantageScore can lead to significant variances in credit scores, making Credit Karma less accurate than most may appreciate.
Your trade-in works toward your down payment. Once you know your vehicle's value, you can apply that as your down payment. If the value of your vehicle exceeds the cost of your expected down payment, you have a few options to consider: Putting it all down to lower your monthly payments.