Aug 23, 2022

2020 Toyota Corolla XSE in Celestite | Toyota Direct in Columbus, OH

Car shopping can be a struggle. Not only is it a major financial decision, but you also have to worry about qualifying for auto financing. With this being said, if you have poor credit, you may find it tough to qualify for an auto loan, and you may be struggling to find somewhere with easy financing. Fortunately, bad credit car lots are one of the many options where car financing is made easy. Besides dealerships that offer auto loans for bad credit, there are a few other options for easy auto financing. Thus, to help you understand all of your options, we at Toyota Direct have assembled a list below.

  1. Normal Car Dealerships

As mentioned above, it might be difficult to qualify for auto loans with bad credit at typical car dealerships. The reason for this difficulty is that normal car dealerships use credit scores to determine loan eligibility. Hence, having little to no credit may make it nearly impossible to qualify for auto loans at most used car dealerships near you.

  1. Credit Tiers

In determining loan eligibility at normal dealerships, specific credit tiers are used in deciding loan terms and how much money someone qualifies for with an auto loan. Whether you want to buy a new or used car near Columbus, Ohio, or anywhere else, these credit tiers are universal across every dealership that uses credit for loan eligibility. The better your credit, the better the loan terms and interest rates. If you take a look at the list below, you can see every credit tier, the scores that define them, and the loan interest rates associated with each one, according to Experian:

  • Superprime (781-850): 3.61%
  • Prime (661-780): 5.38%
  • Nonprime (601-660): 9.8%
  • Subprime (501-600): 15.96%
  • Deeper Subprime (300-500): 19.87%
  1. Bad Credit Car Dealers

If you are in the subprime credit tier or lower, you will likely find it challenging to qualify for auto financing. Fortunately, bad credit car lots cater directly to buyers with bad credit. In order to help bad credit buyers, these dealerships use factors other than credit when determining eligibility for auto loans with bad credit. Typically, all it takes is a few questions from these dealerships to understand your loan eligibility. The most common factors that these dealers will ask about can be seen in the following list:

  • Income-to-debt ratio
  • Employment status
  • Living situation
  1. Other Lenders

Aside from bad credit car lots, there are many other options for vehicle financing. Some of them even accommodate buyers with bad credit, meaning that there are multiple resources for those trying to qualify for a loan with bad credit. For example, there are countless online vendors that offer auto loans for bad credit. Although, with online lenders, you should always stay weary of scams and predatory lenders, avoiding anything that looks unreliable or too good to be true. 

  1. Watch For Deals On Auto Financing

The final piece of advice for anyone trying to easily qualify for auto financing is to take advantage of any deals or specials being offered. Many dealerships offer special interest rates on loans or trade-in incentives during the holidays or at the end of the year. Therefore, you should always stay on the lookout for deals, especially during significant times of the year. These deals can help to save an exponential amount on auto financing while also affording many people the opportunity to qualify for loans for which they would otherwise be denied. Regarding these deals, you should note that we at Toyota Direct’s bad credit car dealer near Columbus, Ohio set ourselves apart from typical dealers, always offering active deals on our expansive inventory of new and used cars.