The content is accurate at the time of publication and is subject to change.

Before we look into how you would go about buying a car with a fair credit rating, we need to first understand what one means by fair credit. Fair credit is a mix of both good and bad accounts in the same credit record. The bad accounts could include minor blemishes like late payments or medical collections. But it must not have anything major like a loan default or a bankruptcy filing, if so it will become a bad credit record. Even fair credit record holders have quite a task in getting a loan approved.

The lender you go with will make a large difference when you try to get a loan approved with a lower interest rate. Many of the major banks are very strict about credit ratings after the subprime mortgage crisis. They want to make sure that the borrower can repay that loan that he or she has taken in full and on time. But even with a fair credit rating, you can get one of the major banks to approve your loan with reasonable terms and interest rates if you do some convincing and research.

There are a number of ways you can go about searching for an auto loan with a fair credit rating. The best way to do this nowadays is to look online.

There are also many loans that are approved without a credit score rating. These lenders will obviously charge you a premium in terms of interest rate but the good part is that you will not have to spend a lot of time looking for a good loan.

Looking for loans online will save you a lot of time and money. All you have to do is to call them up after checking up their online quotes. But in the good old days, one had to visit each and every bank in order to find out the rates and there would be a lot of haggling as the bank could quote a different interest rate for each person depending on how badly he or she wants the money.

Apart from approaching banks, you can also just go ahead and visit the auto showrooms. The auto companies will most probably make you an offer to provide you with a good auto loan at very low interest rates. Most auto companies in fact have their very own financing wing which caters to customers who would like to buy a car on an EMI. Also do keep in mind that the make, model and year of your car can make a big difference when it comes to deciding interest rates.

Disclaimer: This editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer(s). Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer(s), and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer(s). Reasonable efforts are made to present accurate information, however all information is presented without warranty. Consult a card's issuing bank for the terms & conditions.
All rates and fees, and other terms and conditions of the products mentioned in this article/post are actual as of the last update date but are subject to change. See the current products' Terms & Conditions on the issuing banks' websites.