If you miss a car payment within the 30-day limit before it gets reported to the credit bureaus, there’s the possibility of refinancing your auto loan. Ideally, what you should have done was contact your lender as soon as you realized you couldn’t make the payment on time. At that point, the lender could then decide if refinancing is an option for you or not.
What’s the Best Way to Refinance an Auto Loan?
Typically, when you want to refinance a car loan, you’ll want to look for a new lender to work with. But if something happens (job loss, sickness, reduction in hours, etc.) and it looks like your current monthly payment may be unaffordable and you need to refinance, the best way to go about it is to work with your current lender and discuss how refinancing can help you. Applying with a different lender could be a problem, especially if you missed a payment that your current lender must disclose.
Whether or not you’re approved for refinancing depends on a few factors:
- Your payment history – Have you been consistent with your monthly payment? If not, have you called your lender ahead of time to let them know? Lenders check to see if you’ve had any issues with prior payments.
- How much is left on the loan – Are you only a year into a five-year loan, or are you one year away from paying it off? The longer you’re into the loan term, the better chance you’ll have of getting the loan refinanced.
- The lending institution – Is your current loan through a credit union or a major bank? Smaller credit unions are more likely to work with their borrowers than larger banks, but if you have a solid history with a bank, you might still be able to refinance your loan.
Even though refinancing has specific requirements car owners need to meet, the bottom line is that it’s all situational. It really comes down to the when, where, and why you want to refinance your auto loan, even with a missed payment.
The only way you’ll know if you’re able to refinance is to reach out to your lender, or apply for refinancing with one or more other lenders and see if you can get approved. You can fill out the free refinance request form on our website to view and compare competitive quotes online.
Ready for a Car Loan?
Here at Auto Credit Express, we can help you connect to a local dealer that’s willing to help borrowers with bad credit. Our fast and free service matches consumers dealing with a wide variety of credit situations to local dealerships that are trained in special finance. Get the process started today by filling out our simple and secure auto loan request form online.
