Can you afford a Car with Bad Credit? That was a question I asked myself when I needed a car but could not get a loan from my bank or other lenders due to my debt.

I knew that I would have to pay a much higher interest than someone with good credit but I wasn’t sure whether or not I could afford the repayment.

Perhaps I should have asked myself, can I afford to take on extra debt when I am already in debt? I didn’t so here I am today writing about it.

Purchasing my Car

I did purchase a car in the end and I managed to get the finance through a company called MoneyBarn. They specialise in people like myself who might not be able to get credit from a mainstream lender.

I was unsure at first whether I would be approved and even if I was, whether or not the monthly repayment amount would be too high.

Thinking about it now, I perhaps should not have taken on more debt when I was already in a lot of debt. However I can afford the monthly repayments along with repaying my debt.

MoneyBarn did require a deposit which for me was six months of car loan payments. This resulted in two things, I needed to borrow less money and it also made the monthly loan payment cheaper.

If I had to borrow the full amount then I imagine it would be a stretch to afford the car in the first place. I could also repay the loan over 48 months which reduced the cost but it did increase the total amount of interest I pay.

Other Car Buying Options

I did consider buying a second-hand car using the deposit. In fact I did buy a car using the deposit but the car I bought had so many faults I ended up rejecting it under the sales of goods act. Once I got my money back I then proceeded with the finance application. I should have just waited and maybe got someone who knew more about cars to come along with me.

Oddly, it is just over one year ago since I purchased my car with Moneybarn so I am not sure if that is what has prompted me to write this. I have not missed any payments and having a newer car has resulted in lower running costs. So far so good.

I am certainly happy that I managed to get a car, but also still think I should have been a little more patient. If I had of been I would have a bit more money to throw at my debts and also be in less debt.

Other Bad Credit Car Finance Providers

There were a lot of other Bad Credit lenders out there willing to loan me the money, but their interest rates were a lot higher than what MoneyBarn offered me.

A lot of the other lenders also sold their own cars which would have restricted my choice. The repayments would most likely have been unaffordable as well. There would have been no point in taking on a car loan I couldn’t afford.

In Conclusion

The bottom line is that any lender who lends you money when you have bad credit will make sure that you can afford the monthly repayments. So long as you are also happy with the repayments then you shouldn’t have any problems. Unless something unexpected happens.

Another thing to note is that if you are in debt, you may be better trying to purchase an older car outright, assuming you aren’t as unlucky as I was. I certainly think I would be in a better position today had I not taken on more debt.

Really think about it before jumping in head first. Yes you may well be approved but what about your other debts? This is what I should have asked myself at the time I got my loan but I didn’t so that was that. You live and learn!

I am one year in my four-year repayment schedule and if this last year is anything to go by, the time will fly by and the car will be paid off.

After that I can hopefully start making a much bigger impact on my existing debt, although paying off the car will be a big help by itself anyway.