Strive for progress, not perfection, a popular student motivational quote argues. When it comes to car loans, even that is hard to attain for many.
As most experts will agree, student loans are widely considered among the most difficult financing options. If you’re affected, that is certainly unpleasant. But there is a twisted logic behind all of this. Understanding it can contribute significantly towards improving your chances of getting a loan after all.
This article has two parts. First, we’ll deal with the reasons why student loans are so hard to come by. Then, we’ll show you how to build a better case for your car finance deal.
As you’ll soon find out, things may not be ideal when it comes to student car loans. But they’re anything but hopeless.
On paper, student life sounds like a lot of fun: You get to learn more about the things you love. You get to party all night and get up pretty much whenever you feel like it. You get all the fun without any responsibility.
In reality, things are a lot less carefree than that. Most students spend hours each day in the library. They need to find a job on the side to pay for tuition, rent and food. And most colleges these days run on strict schedules which hardly allow for the kind of excessive lifestyle you t about.
As if that weren’t enough, students are typically not taken for full with most banks. Getting a loan as a student is doubly hard and sometimes outright impossible.
No income
Life as a student is contradictory in a way. You’re working hard every single day, often more than forty hours per week. On top of that, there are constant tests and examinations, which put you under significant stress. And yet, you’re not earning any money with all of our work.
So, in effect, your college years are a payday loans no checking account Hutchinson KS time of investment. For a bank, this poses a problem. Already for someone who’s employed, there’s always a fair risk they’ll default on their loan. For a student, this risk is considerably higher still.
Many students don’t have a job. And even if they do, they can just barely afford their accommodation. They usually haven’t had the time to amass any big savings yet. So, from a bank’s perspective, there is simply too much to loose and not enough to gain.
No track record
Theoretically, even a low income need not be an issue when it comes to loans. If you’re applying for a loan, most banks will also check your credit rating. This gives them an impression how reliably you’ve met your financial obligations in the past. If your score is reasonable, you may get credit even with fairly low savings.
We’ve written a lot about credit ratings in our blog. Your rating is mostly based on missed payments in the past and outstanding debt. It is an anything but an ideal tool. By combining it with other tools, however, it can be useful in giving the lender a quick impression of your financial trustworthiness.
It is easy to see why a bad credit rating might be an obstacle for getting a loan.
What’s even worse, though, is not having a credit rating at all. Without a credit score, banks can not assess your creditworthiness. They will have to base their entire decision on your current income and assets. That’s not a lot to go by.
To get a rating, you will need to have taken out a loan in the past. At the very least, you need to have bought things and paid for them using credit. This is usually not the case with students. Which is why students often don’t have a credit rating and why it’s so hard for them to get finance.