Online Auto Loans

Consumers who use the internet for auto research prefer online auto loans.

Like shopping for autos online? You’re not alone. Over 75% of U.S. consumers now use the internet to research car purchases. While the numbers for new car shoppers are higher, just over 50% of used car shoppers use the net to search for auto information… an increase of 35% since 2000. Online auto loans are no different. Over 20% of consumers who use the internet to gather automotive information actually prefer shopping for auto loans online to shopping through banks, credit unions and dealerships. Likely reasons include:

• Anonymity. Most people don’t take out loans everyday. As a result, they don’t know their credit scores or the likelihood of being accepted or rejected. Shopping for auto loans online reduces the potential embarrassment of a rejection as most of the credit application submission and processing process is handled electronically. This is particularly true if you are looking for an auto loan with bad credit.

• Ease. Ease and selection go hand in hand. Consumers are increasingly finding that sites such as SmartCarCredit can bring them auto loan quotes from a variety of lenders. Further, through partnerships with auto lending platforms such as CreditSmarts, SmartCarCredit is able to electronically compare aspects of a consumer’s application to an online auto lender or dealer’s criteria doing in seconds what used to take hours. Click here to get started!

• Speed. The internet speeds loan application processing and decision making dramatically. Having said that, manage your expectations. Have you seen ads for an instant auto loan? Even in the dealership with a professional F&I expert preparing and submitting loan documents the average loan takes over 30 minutes to approve. View sites claiming to offer instant auto loans with skepticism.

Online shoppers often have higher scores.

So, how do online auto loan shoppers compare to their offline counterparts? If you shop for an auto loan online there is a 20% chance that you have a higher credit score. Auto lenders have responded moving customer acquisition and servicing activities online. Fully 80% of lenders were using the internet for advertising in 2000. By 2004, many of these lenders had begun providing indirect (dealership) approvals online through applications such as CreditSmarts. Still others were using the internet to service the loans that they originated online and off.

Good or bad credit, SmartCarCredit is a great way to get your online auto loan. Click here for more about auto loans through SmartCarCredit.

Disclosure: We developed the content for SmartCarCredit™ while working with automotive industry clients. We hope you find it helpful in making informed decisions. While we believe the information to be accurate, we do not guarantee its accuracy.