How Much Will a Car Loan Drop My Credit Score? | LendingTree (2024)

FAQs

How much will my credit score drop after buying a car? ›

If you qualify for and accept a loan offer, you'll typically see another small score dip. Hard inquiries will reduce your credit score anywhere from 5-10 points for about a year.

Does applying for a car loan hurt your credit score? Shopping around for a car loan can potentially impact your credit score. That's because every time you apply for a loan and have a hard credit check, your score can drop by roughly 1 to 5 points. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid major credit damage.

In the short term, paying off your car loan early will impact your credit score — usually by dropping it a few points. Over the long term, it may rise because you've reduced your debt-to-income ratio. Whether to pay off a car loan early depends on your budget, interest rate and other financial goals.

Hard credit checks temporarily lower your credit score by as much as 10 points. But if you have excellent credit, applying for a loan will most likely make your score drop by five points or less.

The loan could continue to impact this as long as it stays on your credit report, which might be for up to 10 years after you pay off the loan. Credit mix: Having a credit mix of open installment accounts and revolving credit accounts can be good for your credit scores.

Paying off something like your car loan can actually cause your credit score to fall because it means having one less credit account in your name. Having a mix of credit makes up 10% of your FICO credit score because it's important to show that you can manage different types of debt.

One of the biggest rewards you'll reap by paying off your car loan early is the money you'll save in interest. The longer your loan is open, the more interest you'll pay. As a result, those who pay their car loan off using a lump sum will probably see more savings.

It's possible that you could see your credit scores drop after fulfilling your payment obligations on a loan or credit card debt. Paying off debt might lower your credit scores if removing the debt affects certain factors like your credit mix, the length of your credit history or your credit utilization ratio.

Requirements to receive a personal loan

This allows them to look at your history from the past seven years and see whether you've typically made payments on time. For a $30,000 loan, you'll typically need a credit score above 600 just to qualify or above 700 to get a competitive rate.

Does car finance affect credit score? ›

So, does a car loan build credit or have a negative impact? In the short term, applying for any credit agreement (including a car loan) can have a negative impact on your credit rating. However, if you make your payments on time, having a vehicle loan can help you to build your credit score over the long term.

According to FICO, a hard inquiry from a lender will decrease your credit score five points or less. If you have a strong credit history and no other credit issues, you may find that your scores drop even less than that.

Although making on-time monthly payments will eventually lead to a higher credit score, most car buyers will first experience a temporary reduction in their credit score. In short, buying a car can be a good way to build your credit score over the life of the loan, but it's more of a long-term credit building strategy.

Once a late payment hits your credit reports, your credit score can drop as much as 180 points. Consumers with high credit scores may see a bigger drop than those with low scores. Some lenders don't report a payment late until it's 60 days past due, but you shouldn't count on this when planning your payment.

The drop could have occurred for multiple reasons as credit scores are calculated using a variety of factors. People often see their credit scores drop after paying off debt due to a change in the types of credit they have, an increase in their overall utilization or a decrease in the average age of their accounts.

Shopping for the best deal on an auto loan will generally have little to no impact on your credit score(s). The benefit of shopping will far outweigh any impact on your credit. In some cases, applying for multiple loans over a long period of time can impact your credit score(s).