Suppose that you have recently purchased a new car on loan, and you find out that you are paying a much higher interest rate than you should. Or you find it difficult to pay the monthly payments. What do you do now? Well, you may consider refinancing your auto loan to get a lower interest rate or monthly payments. But how long after buying a car should you refinance?
Well, let’s find out!
How Long After Buying a Car Should You Refinance?
People usually opt for car refinancing when they want to get the interest rates revised to a lower rate or when they are looking to get lower monthly payments by extending their loan term. Whatever the case, you can apply to refinance your car loan even if you have recently taken out your auto loan.
However, refinancing your auto loan only makes sense in the following situations:
- You have a better credit score
- You didn’t get a good deal on your new car loan.
- You are unable to afford your car loan payments.
- The interest rates in your state have gone down.
Most lenders ask for 6-12 months of timely payments before you can apply for auto loan refinancing. So if it has been more than six months since you took out the loan, you can apply for refinancing.
How to Refinance Your Auto Loan Early?
If you want to refinance your car loan early, you should take the following measures first:
- Figure out your current loan by calculating how much you have paid so far and how much you still owe. Also, check if your credit score has seen an improvement, as it would help you get a good deal.
- Find out if you qualify for refinancing by checking whether you meet the lender’s requirements. For instance, most lenders require your car to be a newer model in order to be eligible for refinancing.
- Calculate your savings with the help of an auto refinance calculator to determine out how much you would save. You will need to know the monthly payments, interest rate, and the remaining loan balance for your current loan to do the math.
- Finally, fill out the application to find out if you qualify to refinance your auto loan.
Conclusion
Most auto lenders require you to pay timely monthly payments for at least 3-6 months after taking out the loan before you can apply to refinance. Now that you know how long after buying a car should you refinance, you may qualify to refinance if it has been six or more months since you have been paying your monthly payments on time.