Car Loans

New, used, dealer or private — all of it works

Most people assume finance means walking into a dealership and taking whatever the desk offers. It doesn't have to.

What it costs, honestly

The rate you're offered depends on four things:

If the bank already said no

A decline from one bank is one lender's credit policy, not a verdict on you. Common reasons that are entirely fixable by going elsewhere:

• Self-employed with an ABN under two years
• Last tax return doesn't reflect what the business actually earns now
• Recently changed jobs, even sideways or up
• A default from years back that's still sitting on the file
• Casual or contract income

Finance for ABN holders →

What you'll need

Straightforward for most people: driver's licence; last two payslips, or for self-employed, bank statements, BAS or an accountant's letter; and a rough idea of what you're buying — a link to the listing is plenty.

If you don't have all of it, ring anyway. There's usually another way to evidence it.

From listing to keys: how the purchase actually runs

Here's the whole sequence, start to finish, so nothing surprises you. Most of it happens in the background while you get on with choosing the car.

• You apply. About two minutes online, or ring and do it over the phone.
• We run a credit check that won't affect your credit score, then price you across 60+ lenders.
• Conditional approval comes back, usually inside 24 to 48 hours. Now you know your number.
• You find the car. Send us the listing — dealer or private, either works.
• We verify the vehicle: registration details, money owing, and the lender's valuation where one's needed.
• You sign the loan documents electronically. No printing, no branch visit.
• We pay the dealer or the private seller directly. You pick up the keys.

New or used: the finance side of the decision

A new car buys you a full warranty, capped-price servicing and the widest choice of lenders. What you pay for that is depreciation — a new car loses more value in its first three years than it will in the next seven, and the first owner wears all of it.

A used car two to four years old is often the sweet spot. Someone else has paid the steep part of the depreciation, the car is still young enough for near-new finance terms, and there's usually factory warranty left on the clock.

Don't overlook demonstrators either. A demo has a few thousand kilometres on it, a plate-year already registered, and a price cut for both — but it finances as a near-new car with the balance of the factory warranty. For buyers who want new-car condition without the first hit of depreciation, it's the quiet bargain of the yard.

Either way, match the loan term to how long you'll actually keep the car. Signing up for seven years on a car you plan to replace in three means selling with a chunk still owing. A shorter term with a slightly higher repayment usually leaves you in a better spot at trade-in time.

What the car costs after you drive it home

The repayment is one line in the budget. These are the others, and it pays to add them up before you settle on the purchase price.

Five car finance mistakes we see every week

After settlement: what happens with your loan

Once the car's paid for, the lender registers its interest over the vehicle — that's the same encumbrance we check for when you buy. You get the contract, the repayment schedule and the direct debit dates. Then it just runs.

If something changes mid-loan — you want to sell, payments need moving, you're paying it out early — you ring your broker. The same person who set the loan up, not a call centre queue. Selling before the end of the term is straightforward: the lender issues a payout figure, the sale clears it, and the registration over the car is released.

Worth knowing mid-loan: many loans let you make extra repayments, which shortens the term and cuts the total interest. Whether yours does, and whether an early full payout carries a fee, is set out in the contract — and it's one of the things we check for you before you sign, not after.

When the final payment goes through, the lender's interest comes off the register and the car is yours outright, clean for the next buyer's check. And behind every loan we write sits AFCA membership — a free, independent complaints body — though the plan is you'll never need to know that.

Refinancing the car you already have

Plenty of people are paying off a loan they signed at a dealer desk two years ago and haven't looked at since. If your credit file has improved, your income has settled, or you simply never compared in the first place, it's worth twenty minutes.

We compare 60+ lenders and will beat your current offer.

What it takes: a recent statement on the existing loan and a payout figure, which we can help you request. We check the exit costs on your current loan against the saving on the new one — if the switch doesn't leave you in front, we'll say so and you stay put.

What customers say

Questions we get asked