How to pay off a car loan in 2 years? (2024)

How to pay off a car loan in 2 years?

By changing how often you make payments, you could make one extra payment a year. There are 52 weeks in a year, and not every month has four weeks. So if you pay 50% of your car payment every two weeks, you'll end up effectively making one extra payment over the course of the year.

Yes, you can pay off a 72- or 84-month auto loan early. Since these are long repayment terms, you could save considerable money by covering the interest related to a shorter period of time.

Your car payment won't go down if you pay extra, but you'll pay the loan off faster. Paying extra can also save you money on interest depending on how soon you pay the loan off and how high your interest rate is.

Paying off a car loan early can save you money in interest in the long term. When you pay off a car loan early, you also reduce the total amount of money that you owe, which may boost your credit score. Some lenders charge prepayment penalties that can offset what you would save in interest.

One of the biggest rewards you'll reap by paying off your car loan early is the money you'll save in interest. The longer your loan is open, the more interest you'll pay. As a result, those who pay their car loan off using a lump sum will probably see more savings.

Splitting the payment in half and paying twice a month (semi-monthly) saves money. Why? On an auto loan, interest compounds daily. By paying half your payment early, you actually cut down the principal faster, thereby reducing the corresponding compounding interest you'll pay over the life of the loan.

In the short term, paying off your car loan early will impact your credit score — usually by dropping it a few points. Over the long term, it may rise because you've reduced your debt-to-income ratio. Whether to pay off a car loan early depends on your budget, interest rate and other financial goals.

Ideally, you want your extra payments to go towards the principal amount. However, many lenders will apply the extra payments to any interest accrued since your last payment and then apply anything left over to the principal amount. Other times, lenders may apply extra funds to next month's payment.

What are the disadvantages of paying off a car loan early?

Repaying a loan early usually means you won't pay any more interest, but there could be an early prepayment fee. The cost of those fees may be more than the interest you'll pay over the rest of the loan.

Because the interest amount for each month is calculated based on the loan principal balance, you will pay the most interest early in the loan's life span. Paying off your car loan earlier in the term will save you the most interest, but paying it off at any point can save you a lot.

Provided the down payment is $5,000, the interest rate is 10%, and the loan length is five years, the monthly payment will be $531.18/month. With a $1,000 down payment and an interest rate of 20% with a five year loan, your monthly payment will be $768.32/month.

According to our research, you shouldn't spend more than 10% to 15% of your net monthly income on car payments. Your total vehicle costs, including loan payments and insurance, should total no more than 20%. You can use a car loan calculator to calculate a monthly payment within your budget.

Whenever you make a major change to your credit history—including paying off a loan—your credit score may drop slightly. If you don't have any negative issues in your credit history, this drop should be temporary; your credit scores will rise again in a few months.

Your credit mix might be less diverse

If you repay the car loan and close the account, your credit mix now has reduced variety since it only contains credit cards. This could cause your credit score to temporarily drop.

Disadvantages of a Larger Down Payment

The two biggest cons of making a down payment that's around 50 percent are: More money down doesn't lower your interest rate – Bad credit car buyers get higher than average interest rates, and it's extremely rare that a larger down payment can lower it.

What is a good interest rate for a 72-month car loan? An interest rate under 5% is a great rate for a 72-month auto loan.

72 months equals 6 years, and 84 months equals 7 years. Why a Long Term Vehicle Loan Means TroubleYou may ask “why should I be concerned about signing a 60 or 72 month car loan if I can afford the payment?” The answer, in a word, is “depreciation.”Cars and trucks are depreciating assets.

Credit utilization — the portion of your credit limits that you are currently using — is a significant factor in credit scores. It is one reason your credit score could drop a little after you pay off debt, particularly if you close the account.

Can I pay off a car loan with a credit card?

If your car loan lender allows it, you can make a car payment with a credit card. However, credit card purchases impose fees on the merchant, so many loan servicers accept only cash-backed payment methods, like a debit card, check, money order or a direct transfer from a checking or savings account.

Round up your payments

If you do it consistently, you can cut months off the life of the loan. If you borrow $25,000 at a 6% APR for 72 months, the monthly payment is $414.32 per month. If you add $50 per month, you'll shorten the loan term by 9 months and save $633.42 in interest.

An affordable car payment would be one that doesn't exceed $600 a month, based on the rule of thumb that your car payment shouldn't be more than 15% of your take-home pay. If you take out a 60-month car loan at 8% APR, you should aim to take out a car loan of less than $30,000.

One of the best ways to pay off a car loan faster is to make biweekly payments instead of monthly payments. To do so, split your current payment amount in two, and pay that amount every two weeks.

A score of 850 can only be achieved with 10+ years of credit, excellent on-time payment history, low credit utilization, and no recent hard inquiries, which is a tall ask.