Limited Job Time Affecting Auto Loan Approval

by Scott
(West Virginia)

Question: I was told by a dealer that was referred to me through this site that my lack of time on job is not letting me get approved for an auto loan. Any other suggestions?


Answer: Hi Scott,

There are other factors here that I'm not aware that would be important to know to give you the best answer possible, so I'll give you a couple of suggestions and hopefully one or more will work for you.

There are lenders out there (Credit Acceptance Corp, Drive Financial, etc.) that don't care too much about time on job and will still approve you for auto loans pretty much whatever your situation is.

Unfortunately, neither lend direct to the customer and you need to arrange your loan through a contracted dealership.

My guess is the dealer either doesn't work with these lenders and/or they do and could get you approved, but weren't able to put a deal together for reasons like:

• lack of down payment
  
• very limited credit
  
• they didn't have a car that would work
  or
  
• additional factors (monthly income, major derogatory credit after bk, etc)...
  

...that may have also made it difficult to get you approved.

If you are only working with a small down payment ($500, $1000, or even $1500), then you may need to save up some more money to put a deal together. Big down payment is not always necessary, but it helps.

If you need to and it's possible, see if a family member or friend can loan you some money to get to where you need to be.

In addition, if it is limited credit holding you back, then you may want to see if there is someone you know (preferably a family member) that can cosign with you.

The more things you have stacked against you (credit, time on job, negative equity, etc.), typically translates to the more money down you'll need. That's not always the case and depends on how good the dealership is and what lenders they work with though.

There is almost always a way for a good dealership to get any auto loan approved! As mentioned above, that could be with more money down, a cosigner, buying a different vehicle, etc.

I'd call this dealer back and ask them specifically what it takes to get your deal approved. If they tell you $3,000 down or with a cosigner, at least that gives you an idea of where you stand.

You may also want to reread my bad credit auto loans page, as there are 4 questions you'll want to ask the dealer up front to know if they really do specialize in no credit and bad credit auto loans.

I'd suggest looking for another dealer and/or working with a Buy Here Pay Here dealership. A Buy Here Pay Here is both the lender and the dealer and they are designed to help give car loans when traditional lenders might say no.

Only bad thing with Buy Here Pay Here dealers is their rates are usually high and they only finance for short terms. If you are looking to establish a positive credit history, then it is sometimes what you need to do to get going.

Check out JD Byrider, they have locations in West Virginia. I don't personally have any experience with them, but they have over 100 locations nationwide and have been in business for a long time. I'd think they'd be able to help you get an auto loan with limited job time.

If you are near Virginia, you could also try DriveTime - The used car dealership for those with bad credit. Apply online.

They are also a huge Buy Here Pay Here and I do have experience with them. In fact, they used to offer terms that I couldn't compete with and we lost quite a few customers to them when I worked in TX.

Hope this helps,
Justin