Finance & Marketing

If you’re like most people, you don’t have a lot of time to futz around with getting a car loan. Luckily, there are quite a few things you can do to decrease the amount of time you’ll spend getting the loan you need.

Regardless of your credit score or credit history, here are some tips you can use to save time:

1) Get your paperwork together. To prove your income, you’ll need your most recent paystub. To prove your residence, you’ll need your most recent phone, electric, or cable bill. Finally, if you have any credit problems like collections, bankruptcy, or leftovers from a messy divorce, get that paperwork together too. Put everything in an envelope and bring it with you when you go to see your lender - that way you’ll only have to make one trip.

2) Most loan applications ask for three or more personal references, friends or relatives that do not live with you. Don’t be one of those people who scrambles around looking for the name, addresses, and phone numbers of their personal references while they are filling out their application. Write down their information beforehand, and you will save a lot of time when you complete your loan application.

3) Talk to your boss, office manager, or human resources department. When you apply for an auto loan, most lenders will call and verify your employment. Let the person in charge of employment verification know that you’re expecting an auto lender to call about you - that way they’ll be ready to provide what the bank needs quickly and accurately.

4) You should find out the exact amount of your payoff if you have a trade-in. If you estimate your payoff and your new lender uses this estimate as an exact value, a couple different problems may arise. If it turns out that your payoff is significantly higher than what you estimated, your loan might have to be re-approved for the actual (higher) amount. If it turns out that your payoff is significantly lower than what you estimated, you may have been eligible for a lower interest rate than the one you got that was based on your estimated payoff. If you find out your exact payoff before applying for a new car loan, you will save everyone time and may save yourself money.

5) Make sure you’re as truthful and accurate as possible. When you complete your credit application, you may need to list former residences, former employers, etc. If you accurately list all this information, your application will be processed quickly. Also, if you lie about some aspect of your credit, there’s a good chance the auto lender will find out. At best, this will slow down your application considerably as the lender checks every aspect of your credit. At worst, your application will be turned-down.

Follow these five tips and your next car loan application will be processed quickly and efficiently, and you’ll get your loan as fast as possible!