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Westpac issues car loans for both new and used cars. Loans can be up to $100,000 for terms of up to seven years. Weekly, fortnightly and monthly repayments are available. Fees may apply if you repay your car loan early. Westpac also offers bank accounts, home loans, credit cards, personal loans, insurance, superannuation, financial planning and investment services. Westpac is Australia’s first and oldest bank, having begun life in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales. In 1982, it changed its name to Westpac Banking Corporation following the acquisition of the Commercial Bank of Australia.
Westpac is one of Australia’s leading banks, offering a diverse array of financial services to customers and clients, not only under its own name, but through the St.George, Bank of Melbourne, BankSA and RAMS brands.
Car loans and personal loans are among Westpac’s services, along with transaction and savings accounts, credit cards and home loans. The low fixed interest rate means you can be confident that your car loan repayments will remain consistent and affordable for the full length of the loan term.
Westpac operates branches across Australia, and can also be contacted online via internet banking, or by phone. Additional car loan offers are also available from the other brands in the Westpac Group.
A Westpac car loan offers you a choice of repayment frequency options, depending on whether it would be simpler and easier for you to make payments towards your car loan weekly, fortnightly or monthly. You can borrow between $10,000 and $100,000 to buy a new or used car, and pay it off over a term of 1 to 7 years.
The option is also available to make extra repayments and get your car loan paid off early, with early exit fees only applying if a car loan with a term greater than two years is paid off in less than two years.
By securing your Westpac car loan against the value of your vehicle, you get to enjoy an interest rate that’s below the market average. However, the establishment fee is higher than average, and there are also ongoing monthly charges to consider.
The option to adjust the frequency of your repayments can make budgeting simpler, as you can match your car loan repayments to your employer’s payday schedule.
The option to make extra repayments and to pay off your car loan ahead of schedule with minimal penalties can mean saving a significant sum in interest charges. Even if you’re charged Westpac’s early exit fee for finishing a longer-term car loan in less than two years, this is a fixed fee, rather than being based on the remaining interest payments, so it’s possible you may come out still ahead financially.
To apply for a Westpac car loan, you’ll need:
You can apply online, over the phone, or at your nearest Westpac branch.
Total interest paid
$8,245
Total amount to pay
$38,245
Product | Advertised Rate | Comparison Rate | Monthly repayment | Upfront Fee | Loan amount | Total repayments | Go to site | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8.49% Fixed | 9.67% | $615 | $250 | $10k to $100k | $36,921 | More details | ||
12.99% Fixed | 14.15% | $682 | $250 | $4k to $50k | $40,946 | More details |
An unsecured car loan is a loan that is not connected to a form of security, or collateral. Not all lenders provide unsecured car loans – and if they do, they generally charge higher interest rates for their unsecured car loans than their secured car loans.
Poor credit doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to get finance for your car purchase, though your options aren’t likely to be the same as someone with good credit.
In fact, a number of specialist lenders exist offering car finance for customers with poor credit, able to provide access to bad credit car loans.
However having a history of poor credit will likely mark you as a potential risk to lenders, so your car financing needs could see higher fees and interest rates. Alternatively, consider a secured car loan, which is a type of loan that uses the car you purchase as collateral, reducing the risk.
Other options include getting someone close to act as a guarantor for your car loan, or to talk to a broker about a personalised rate specific to your circumstances.
Lenders that provide bad credit car loans tend to be smaller challenger lenders rather than the bigger banks.
Bad credit car loans are a niche product. The bigger banks tend to focus on mainstream car loan finance for borrowers with better credit histories. That’s why smaller lenders tend to be the ones that provide bad credit car loans.
Bad credit car loans can have high interest rates and fees, so it’s important to compare options before submitting an application.
Being a student is tough enough, and while you might find the odd student discount on movies and technology, the same can’t be said about car loans, as you can’t really get a discounted student car loan.
Lenders make money on the interest and fees that they charge with loans, and the lowest interest and fees are given to the most reliable credit holders: people with excellent credit history.
As a student, you are unlikely to have enough on your credit report to warrant an excellent history. There are however, ways of getting a lower interest car loan if you can’t get an interest-free loan from the bank of mum and dad. One way of doing this may be through getting a guarantor car loan, which can get you a secured car loan by setting your parents up as guarantors.
You may be able to get a no credit check car loan in certain circumstances, although it’s important to weigh up your options before doing so.
Most lenders refuse to provide no credit check car loans, because they don’t want to give loans to borrowers without first confirming that they have a track record of repaying debts. So any lenders that do provide no credit check car loans would take measures to protect themselves against the risk of default.
That’s why no credit check car loans have higher interest rates than other car loans. Also, borrowers often have to provide security and put down a larger deposit.
A bad credit car loan is a car loan for borrowers who have ‘bad credit’ or a bad credit history.
Some lenders refuse to offer bad credit car loans, because they believe there is an excessive risk that bad credit borrowers will not repay their loans. However, other lenders are willing to provide bad credit car loans.
Generally, these lenders charge higher interest rates for bad credit car loans than ‘prime’ car loans, reflecting the higher level of risk. Bad credit car loans may also have higher fees than prime car loans.
However, the big advantage of a bad credit car loan is that it allows borrowers with bad credit to access finance. Another advantage is that it could help bad credit borrowers improve their credit rating, assuming they make all their repayments on time.
Student car loans are not a necessarily a product in and of themselves, but what you may be looking for is a guarantor car loan.
A guarantor car loan has a third-party act as a form of guarantee for your loan application, telling the bank or lender that if you default on your loan, someone will pay the loan repayments.
Going guarantor on a car loan is no new thing, and before internet-based credit scores, guarantor car loan applicants would apply for loans with a guarantor or property owner who could vouch for the person borrowing the loan.
To get a guarantor car loan, you’ll need someone willing to act as a guarantor for your car loan.
Yes, some banks will be willing to provide guarantor loans, including Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac and ANZ, though the terms for signing up to a banker-issued guarantor car loan may not necessarily be as good as another lender.
You should keep in mind though that these larger banks, because of their monopoly of the market, tend to have higher interest rates than the smaller lenders.
In comparison, smaller loan companies and credit unions tend to be more competitive in their battle for your business. There are plenty of lenders willing to lend to people with bad credit or no credit history who have willing guarantors.
Yes, you can get a car loan with bad credit, although you’ll probably find the process trickier and dearer than that experienced by people who have good credit histories.
You can find a number of lenders that specialise in bad credit car loans. However, make sure you compare bad credit car loans before you sign on the dotted line, because not all car loans are alike and having bad credit may mean you are more likely to be hit with higher fees and interest rates.
If you have bad credit, it’s important not to take out a car loan unless you can afford the repayments because a default could further damage your credit rating. Conversely, if you make all the repayments and repay the loan successfully, your credit rating might improve.
