car loans for used cars

We know everyone’s strapped for cash these days, and all that scrambling to pay the bills on time may have dinged your credit pretty badly. So we’re putting out a several-part series on improving your odds of getting a car loan on that new certified Toyota you’ve been eyeing. We’ll cover how to get a car loan with bad credit, how to improve your credit so you can negotiate a better loan, and why getting a car loan may actually be the best thing you can do for your credit score.

We’re going to kick off our series by talking about #1 thing you can do to improve your credit today: apply for a car loan.

It seems like the ultimate catch-22. In order to get a good deal on your car loan, you need good credit. But in order to get good credit, you need to get a car loan. Never fear: over the next three posts, we’re going to talk about ways to get a car loan with bad credit and how to improve your credit enough to get a good deal on that car loan. Right now, though, let’s talk about why getting a car loan on that new certified Toyota is a smart investment in your credit.

Car loans are one of the biggest credit improvers because they involve a large payment made in steady amounts over a long period of time. Credit bureaus also take into account the fact that you need many different kinds of credit. If you currently have only credit cards, for example, adding in a car loan will diversify the kinds of credit you have and improve your score.

A quick word of caution: you should only get car loans you can actually afford. You may need to negotiate a certain payment scale, and you may need to take a hit on the financing in order to do so. Don’t let the overall price deter you from getting a payment that you’re certain you can make on a monthly basis, though: the only way to improve your credit score through a car loan is by making those payments on time.

That said, there are many options for getting the right monthly payment. We’re going to cover those in the next installments in this series: getting a car loan with bad credit and improving your credit before getting a car loan. Until then, why not head over to your local St. Louis Toyota dealer and chat with one of our agents? They’ll be happy to lay out all your certified Toyota car loan options and figure out the right one for you.