At CarMax, we pride ourselves on transparency throughout the car buying process, including the financing process. To this end, we've gathered information to help you understand how creditors make decisions to give you a car financing offer. These decisions are based on four main factors:
- Vehicle selection: cost, age, and mileage
- Application information: employment, residence, and income information
- Credit history: information contained in your credit file
- Down payment: total of cash and trade equity
To get the best car financing offer, you should select a vehicle that fits your budget and provide as much down payment as possible. These two factors alone may increase your likelihood of approval, could improve your offer, and will reduce your monthly payment.
Factors affecting your monthly payment
Your monthly payment is determined by three major factors listed below in order of impact:
- Amount financed
- Term or length of contract
- Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
The following illustrates the impact of each
Amount Financed: $17,500
APR: 10.00%
Term: 60 months
|
Amount financed
|
Term in months
|
APR
|
Monthly payment
|
Comments
|
|
$17,500
|
60
|
10.00%
|
$372
|
Base example
|
|
$15,750
|
60
|
10.00%
|
$335
|
Lowering the amount financed by 10% = 10% payment decrease
|
|
$17,500
|
66
|
10.00%
|
$346
|
A 10% longer term = 7% payment decrease
|
|
$17,500
|
60
|
9.00%
|
$363
|
A 10% lower APR = 3% payment decrease
|