Applying for a new car loan? Make sure you’ve got these documents ready

If it’s time for you to upgrade your current ride or you’re buying your very first car ever (congrats!), there’s a high chance you’ll need to put an application in with a lender for a loan.

We won’t go into which kind of loan we think you should go with, because we’ve already done that, but what we did think would be super-helpful for a lot of people would be to list all of the documents you’ll potentially need to successfully apply.

The essential documentation required for any car loan

Unless you’re hitting up the local leather-suited, slick-haired loan shark to get funds for your new car (please don’t), you’ll need documentation. And while it might vary between the lender precisely what you need, here’s a rundown of everything you should collate just in case you are asked.

Identification and residence

More often than not, your current driver’s licence should be enough for this category. Sometimes, though, they’ll ask for additional proof of residence such as a bank statement that’s been snail mailed to you or a utilities bill, so have one on hand to avoid headaches.

Income

When you're borrowing money from a lender, they’ll want to know you have the capacity to actually pay it back.

To cover all the bases here, put together a collection of documents including:

• Your three most recent payslips
• The last two years of tax returns
• Printed or snail mailed bank statement from the account your salary is paid into that covers the last six months

Granted, the chance they’ll need information this far back is low but it’s always better to have it ready than doing a last-minute dash to arrange it all.

Assets/savings and liabilities

In addition to proving you’re able to afford the repayments with your income, you’ll need to also show that you’re not a spending machine who’s left with a couple of bucks and a paperclip a few days after you’re paid.

If you’ve sorted out the bank statements as suggested above, great - now all you need are:

• Bank statements of any savings accounts in your name showing debits and credits for the last six months
• Information about any investments
• Statements from any credit cards you have in your name showing money owing
• Details of any other loan commitments you’ve entered into

Insurance

Depending on the type of loan you’ve decided to go with, the lender might want you to also submit paperwork showing you’ve purchased comprehensive car insurance.

The lender might also request information about the car itself including the registration number and VIN as well as its purchase price.

Speak with us to avoid all the confusion of applying for a car loan

We know it can all be pretty confusing when it comes to the car loan application process. To simplify it all and have a car financing expert with heaps of experience helping you through it all, get in touch with the friendly team at Stratton Finance today.

We’ll not only be there for you to answer any questions you might have, but also have a gigantic network of lenders all over Australia we can tap into so you get the best finance deal out there to suit your needs.

So call us on 1300 787 288 or visit our online enquiry page and send us a message. You’ll be more than glad you did!