Autopay is Investopedia’s pick for the best car loan provider for first-time buyers. Autopay only asks for six months of credit history and a credit score of 580, allowing more people who are new to credit to find the financing they ne🎐ed.
Investopedia’s full-time research and editorial teams collected and analyzed over 1,000 data points on 16 auto loan direct lenders from November 2024 into February 2025, and over 500 data points on nine auto loan aggregators in April 2025. Lenders and aggregato𝓰rs were evaluated on a variety of factors, including loan costs, terms, requirements, and customer satisfaction.
Best Car Loans for First-Time Buyers for June 2025
- Best Overall Aggregator: Autopay
- Best for Very Low Credit: CarMax
- Best for Limited Credit Experience: 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询: MyAutoLoan
- Best Overall Direct Lender: Ally
Best Overall Aggregator : Autopay
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AutoPay
- Loan types: New, used, refinance
- Minimum recommended credit score: 580
- APR range: 4.85%–19.00%
Same-day funding for qualified borrowers
Only requires 6 months of credit history
220 partner lenders to help you get approved
Accepts ve♎hicles up to 10 years old with 150,000 miles
Doesn't allow private party purchases
Relatively limited customer support hours
$450 origination fee in some cases
Autopay earned the highest overall score among auto loan aggregators, and it works with borrowers who don’t have the best credit. Its recommended minimum credit score is 580, which is right on the border of fair and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:bad credit. Autopay also requires at least six months of credit history. If your credit score is near 580, you may be able to qualify for a loan from Autopay, depending on a variജety of other fac꧟tors.
Autopaܫy works with 220 partner lenders to help you find a loan that works for your credit and financial situation. You can borrow from $2,500 up to $100,000, and, if approved, you may get the money that same day. Autopay w𝓀ill finance cars up to 10 years old with up to 150,000 miles, which is more lenient than average.
Phone customer🐈 support hours at Autopay are not bad, but not quite 24/7 (and not available on Sunday). And you may pay an origination fee of up to $450, although not all borrowers will have to pay such a fee.
- APR range: 4.85%–19.00%
- Loan amounts: $2,500–$100,000
- Loan terms: 24–96 months
- Minimum recommended credit score: 580
- Minimum credit history: 6 months
- Minimum income requirement: $2,500 per month
- Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 50%
- Loan options: New, used, refinance
- Private party loans: No
- Maximum loan-to-value ratio: 160%
- Maximum accepted mileage: 150,000
- Maximum accepted age: 10 years
Best for Very Low Credit : CarMax
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CarMax
- Loan types: Used
- Minimum recommended credit score: No minimum
- Used APR range: 6.00%–28.00%
Works with all ap🐻plicants; no minimum🤪 credit score required
No maximum mileage restrictions
Find, buy, and finance a car in one place
Must buy a CarMax vehicle
Only provides loans for used cars
Can't negotiate car prices
CarMax can make it relatively ea🌞sy to find, buy, and finance a car—you can do it all from one website. You aren’t able to negotiate car prices, which can be a downside, but it simplifies the process. You can browse cars and see how much your payment would be at different credit levels. CarMax only features used cars, and it only provides used car loans.
CarMax doesn’t set a minimum recommended 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:credit score. Instead, it aims to work with all borrowers regardless of credit level. When you apply for a ꦫloan with CarMax, your information will be sent to seven lenders (if necessary), including CarMax’s own Auto Finance division. You can pre-qualify first to check your rate. Loan terms range from 36 to 72 months. If approved, you may receive the loan funds on the same day.
- Used APR range: 6.00%–28.00%
- Used loan amounts: Not disclosed
- Used loan terms: 36–72 months
- Minimum recommended credit score: No minimum
- Minimum credit history: Not disclosed
- Minimum income requirement: Not disclosed
- Maximum debt-to-income ratio: 50%
- Loan options: Used
- Private party loans: No (must use loan for a CarMax vehicle)
- Maximum loan-to-value ratio: Varies
- Maximum accepted mileage: No maximum
- Maximum accepted age: 11 years
Best for Limited Credit Experience : MyAutoLoan
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MyAutoLoan
- Loan types: New, used, refinance
- Minimum recommended credit score: 600
- APR range: As low as 4.99%
No specific credit history♈ required (age, accounts, 🅷etc.)
$1,500 minimum monthly income requirement
Can fiಌnance cars up to 10 years old with 1𒅌25,000 miles
Offers new, used, and refinance loans
Doesn't allow private party purchases
No warranties available
You can have a decent credit score with just barely enough credit history to generate a score. But many lenders look for some amount of credit expe🍰rience along with a credit score, such as a certain number of accounts or a certain length of account history. So, despite a decent score, you may still find yourself denied for loans.
MyAutoLoan could be what you need. Its minimum recommended credit score is 600, near the bottom of the fair range, and it has no minimum credit history requirement. That doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed approval as long as your score is good enough—it just means myAutoLoan doesn’t set a specific restriction for amount of credit experience. MyAutoLoan is a marketplace, not a lender itself; it🎃’ll send your loan details to up to 23 partner lenders.
You’ll need to borrow at least $8,ꦓ00💞0 for new and used car loans, which is quite a bit more than most finance companies, and at least $5,000 when refinancing.
- APR range: As low as 4.99%
- Loan amounts: $5,000–$125,000
- Loan terms: 36–84 months
- Minimum recommended credit score: 600
- Minimum credit history: None
- Minimum income requirement: $1,500 per month
- Maximum debt-to-income ratio: Not disclosed
- Loan options: New, used, refinance
- Private party loans: Yes
- Maximum loan-to-value ratio: Not disclosed
- Maximum accepted mileage: 125,000
- Maximum accepted age: 10 years
Best Overall Direct Lender : Ally
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Ally
- Loan types: New, used, refinance
- Minimum recommended credit score: 520
- APR range: Not disclosed
Highest overall score among൲ diꦦrect lenders for bad credit
$2,000 minimum monthly income
Repayment terms as short as 12 months
Loan-to-value ratio up to 140%
Can only use Ally loans at certain dealerships
Doesn't allow private party vehicle purchases
Must borrow at least $5,000
There aren’t many direct lenders (banks and credit unions) willing to work with borrowers with bad credit, based on Investopedia’s research. But Ally’s recommended credit score is just 520, giving more people a chance to get financing for a vehicle without resorting to “澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:buy here, pay here” dealerships. Ally also loo🌠ks for at least $2,000 in monthly income.
The catch is that, although Ally provid൲es new, used, and refinance loans, you can only use Ally auto loans to buy cars from certain dealerships. You can’t pre-qualify online and then shop around; instead, you must visit one of Ally’s partner dealerships to apply (you can search for partner dealerships on the bank’s website).
That doesn’t apply to refinance loans. You can pre-qualify for auto refinance loans online, and there are no dealership limita💫tions. Cash-out refinance loans and lease buyout loans are available as well.
- APR range: Not disclosed for new and used; 5.49%–23.49% for refinance
- Loan amounts: Starting at $5,000 for new and used; $7,500–$99,999 for refinance
- Loan terms: 12–84 months for new and used; 36–84 for refinance
- Minimum recommended credit score: 520
- Minimum credit history: Not disclosed
- Minimum income requirement: $2,000 per month
- Maximum debt-to-income ratio: Not disclosed
- Loan options: New, used, refinance
- Private party loans: No
- Maximum loan-to-value ratio: 140%
- Maximum accepted mileage: 121,000
- Maximum accepted age: Not disclosed
Why You Can Trust Us
Investopedia was founded in 1999 and has been helping readers find the best car loans for first-time buyers 💙since 2023. Investopedia’s research and editorial teams conducted independent, unbiased research into the auto loan industry, collecting over 1,000 data points on 16 auto loan direct lenders and over 500 data points on nine auto loan aggregators. That research included information on interest rates, loan terms, borrower and vehicle requirements (including credit requirements), and customer satisfaction. Each len🅘der and aggregator was objectively scored and ranked to determine the best picks above.
How We Find the Best Car Loan𝓰s for♏ First-Time Buyers
Investopedia’s full-time r♈esearch and editorial teams conducted independent, comprehensive research into auto loan direct lenders from November 2024 into February 2025. We included 16 popular auto loan lenders and evaluated each one on 63 criteria. Another round of research into nine auto loan aggregators was conducted in April 2025. Information was collected from company websites, customer support, and media representatives. Each company was scored and ranked objectively. Information not used for scoring was collected for background.
Evaluation criteria for direc📖t lenders were broken down into the following categories and given the accompanying weigh🍌ts:
- Cost of Loans: 34.0%
- Loan Terms: 28.0%
- Borrowing Requirements: 22.0%
- Customer Satisfaction: 10.0%
- Additional Features: 6.0%
Evaluation criteria for aggregators were broken dಞown into the following categories and given the accompanying weights:
- Loan Terms: 29.0%
- Borrowing Requirements: 24.0%
- Cost of Loans: 22.0%
- Customer Satisfaction: 19.0%
- Additional Features: 6.0%
Investopedia’s full-time comꦺpliance team maintains the accuracy of information on this page to ens🔜ure our recommendations remain the best choices for their respective categories.
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澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dejan Marjanovic / Getty Images
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