Under the right circumstances, borrowers with less than perfect credit can get approved for a car loan even with a part-time job.
Bad Credit Auto Loans and Part-Time Wages
Here at Auto Credit Express, we've spent the past two decades helping car buyers with bad credit locate dealers who are able to help them obtain financing for a new or used car.
During that time, we've answered thousands of questions from applicants, many of them having to do with the income requirements for a subprime car loan. One income question we frequently get asked is, "Can I get approved for a car loan if I have a part-time job and my credit is lousy?"
How Car Loan Approvals Work with a Part-Time Job
The answer to that question is that, under the right circumstances, an applicant with poor credit and a part-time job can qualify for a car loan. In these situations, subprime lenders are looking for qualifying income, not the hours it takes to generate that income.
In other words, as long as the income from the part-time job is at or above the lender's minimum income requirements, they will consider the loan application. So, if a lender's minimum monthly income requirement is $1,500, the loan application will be considered as long as the applicant's income from the part-time job is $1,500 or more.
But most lenders also have rules regarding part-time jobs, including situations in which an applicant has multiple part-time jobs. In these cases, only one job is used to determine the minimum income requirement.
Here's how it works:
In the first example, applicant A has two part-time jobs. The first job generates $1,700 in income per month, while the second pays $300 per month for a total monthly income of $2,000.
In the second example, applicant B also has two part-time jobs. The first job pays $1,200 per month, while the second pays $800 per for month for a total monthly income of $2,000.
In this situation, if the lender's minimum monthly income requirement is $1,500, applicant A's income would qualify, while the income for applicant B would not. Even though both applicant's total income is the same, only applicant A's income would qualify since the income from A's highest-paying part-time job meets or exceeds the lender's requirement. If you're still confused, be sure to check our car loan qualification calculator.
The Bottom Line
Most subprime lenders will consider income from a part-time job, as long as it meets their minimum income requirement. However, borrowers with poor credit should keep in mind that no matter how many part-time jobs they have, the qualifying income must come from just one of those jobs.
This doesn't mean that second job serves no purpose when applying for an auto loan, however. That extra income can be key when it comes to meeting the debt to income ratio requirement of your auto loan.
One more tip: Auto Credit Express specializes in helping people with less than perfect credit find car loans. We're teamed up with a nationwide network of dealerships that can give them realistic opportunities for auto loan approvals.
So, if you're ready to get connected to a local dealer, you can begin now by filling out our free and easy auto loan request form.
