Applying for a car loan can be stressful. You may wonder whether you’ll be accepted and, if you are, what sort of interest and loan duration you’ll be offered.
Car loan eligibility takes some of the guesswork out of this process, as it shows how likely you are to be approved for the loan you want by matching up your information with the lender’s criteria.
This means you can have a good idea of whether you’ll be accepted for a car loan before you even apply.
If you’re considering taking out a car loan, read our guide to help you understand more about how a lender may assess your eligibility, as well as what you can do to make your eligibility rating better.
Your eligibility rating for a car loan is calculated by taking the information that is known about you and seeing if it matches the lender’s criteria.
Almost all of your information for an eligibility check will be taken from your credit report. This will include:
The closer match your information is to what the lender is looking for, the better your chances of being accepted for a car loan.
Every lender has a different set of criteria that a potential customer has to meet in order for them to approve their car loan.
There could be a number of different eligibility checks, but some remain the same regardless of the lender. These include:
For example, your date of birth and residency status (homeowner, living with parents etc.).
A regular income may give you a better chance of being approved for a car loan.
Your credit score and how you manage your other credit accounts is usually a big factor for lenders, as it gives them idea of how much of a risk you are to lend to. They’ll look out for whether you’ve applied for credit recently, missed any payments and whether you have a history of managing your finances well.
Lenders use a few sources of information to see if you could be eligible for a car loan. The main ones are:
In the past, you may have had to simply bite the bullet and apply for a car loan to find out if you were eligible.
The problem with this is, when you apply for credit a lender will run a check on your credit report called a ‘hard credit search’ to find out your history of borrowing.
Searching this way, leaves a mark on your credit file that’s visible to lenders. Too many of them and it can actually lower your credit score and ironically reduce your chances of getting credit.
This is the main reason Hippo Motor Finance will only ever use a ‘soft credit search’ to find out if you’re eligible for a car loan.
A soft search gives enough information about you to match it to the lenders’ criteria and see if you’ll be accepted for car finance, but it won’t ever leave a footprint on your credit report for other lenders to see or damage your credit score.
Try our soft credit search here for free and check your car loan eligibility.
Your eligibility rating shows how likely the lender is to accept your application for a car loan. The higher your rating is, the better your chances are of being accepted.
Although your eligibility rating is never a 100% guarantee of your approval, it can give you a good idea of the deals you’re more likely to be eligible for, so you can feel more confident when you apply for car finance.
One thing that is almost certain to hurt your credit score is multiple applications for credit.
Every time you submit an application for a car loan, it’ll leave a mark on your credit report, and more marks may lead to lenders questioning why you’re applying for so much credit over a short period of time.
By using our soft credit check to find out your eligibility for a car loan, you can protect your credit score, as well as your chances of being accepted in the future for credit.
Check your eligibility without affecting your credit score.
One sure-fire way of improving your eligibility rating is to take the time to improve your credit score.
Although even with a lower credit score you can be eligible for some car loans, increasing your score will widen your options and improve your eligibility for better deals.
There are several ways you can do this:
Find out more about how to improve your credit score
Ready to find out your car loan eligibility? Try our soft credit search for free and we’ll search the best deals for you without it impacting on your credit score.
We expect more than 51% of our customers to achieve this rate.
| Loan Amount | Total Cost of Credit | Representative APR | 60 Monthly Payments | Deposit Amount | Loan Term | Total Amount Payable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £7,500 | £3831 | 19.1% APR | £188.85 | £0 | 60 Months | £11,331 |
All offers are subject to change at any time, you must be 18 or over and finance is subject to status, vehicle availability and terms and conditions apply. We can introduce you to a limited number of finance companies, a commission may be received. Failure to maintain payments may result in termination of your agreement and the vehicle being returned, this could affect your credit rating and make it more difficult to obtain credit in the future. All prices correct at time of publication.
We purchase a wide variety of vehicles from all over the country to ensure the best quality and value for our customers, all of our cars go through a thorough inspection process and if they do not meet our standards we do not sell them. We endeavour to inform our customers (where possible) the provenance of the vehicle they are buying and as such we will always inform you if the vehicle has previously been either an ex fleet or hire car. Should your vehicle be an ex hire/fleet car please do not be concerned as we would never value this vehicle differently when you come to part exchange it and there is no difference to the CAP valuation either.
You should try and estimate the distance you will travel as accurately as possible to try and avoid excess mileage charges at the end of your contract.
All pictures and/or photos and car descriptions on this site are for illustration and reference purposes only and are not necessarily the vehicle on offer. All offers are subject to change at any time and are subject to finance approval and vehicle availability. All prices correct at time of publication. E & OE.
Hippo Vehicle Solutions t/a ‘Hippo Motor Finance’ is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FRN 658076. We are a Credit Broker not a Lender and can introduce you to a limited number of lenders. We typically receive a fixed commission calculated by reference to the vehicle model, product or amount you borrow, for introducing you to a lender but this does not affect the interest charged on the agreement, all of which are set by the lender. All offers are subject to change at any time and are subject to finance approval.
We endeavour to ensure that all information including the specifications and finance availability are accurate. Whilst we make every effort to display correct information we are aware that errors may occur occasionally. We are not able, therefore, to guarantee the accuracy of all information especially when given to us by third parties. If you do require clarification of some information you have seen on our website, please email us at info@hippomotorgroup.com . This does not affect your statutory rights.
We are a broker not a lender and our registered office is Unit 26 Trident Park, Trident Way, Blackburn, BB13NU.
