As per capita income increased in India, people started spending more on cars. If you are planning to take a loan to buy a new car, then you need to approach the lending market for a suitable car loan. By now you should know that lenders only fund up to 80% of the cost of your car. If the remaining 20% of the cost of your car is not readily available with you, you can consider taking a personal loan instead of a car loan. The answer to the question of whether to take a car loan or a personal loan to buy a car depends on a lot of factors.Let us understand them:
Collateral
Car loans are secured as the collateral will be your car. If you default on your loan, the lenders will confiscate your car. On the other hand, personal loans are not given against collateral and hence if you buy a car and are unable to pay the loan, the lender will not be able to seize your car. Of course, they will initiate other actions to try and recover the loan amount.
Interest Rates and Loan Amount
Personal loansgenerally have higher interest rates than car
loans. The reason for this is obviously that unsecured loans such as
personal loans do not have collateral to back them, unlike car loans.
The loan
interest rate you will serve on a personal or car loan depends
on your credit score and credit rating. When buying a car, you will
want to get it with a low-interest rate.
Thus, with a good
credit rating and a personal loan, you will have two advantages – you
will be able to get the full cost of your desired car in the form of a
loan, that too at a competitive interest rate. People with good credit
ratings are also eligible
for higher Personal Loan amounts, hence the cost of your car is
covered under the personal loan umbrella.
Car loans fall
under the category of low-risk loans as they are secured loans whereas
it is not the case with personal loans. So, if your credit score is
slightly lower and you want to buy a car, a car loan will do the trick
for you as it is a secured loan. Also, a person with a low credit
score can get up to 80% of the cost of the car as a loan amount
through a car loan, but not through a personal loan, as the lender
does not risk giving large loan amounts to those people. Persons with
a low credit score may get a Personal Loan from a lender but at a much
higher interest rate.
Down-Payment
As mentioned above, if you are taking a car loan, you will get only 80% of the cost of your car as the loan amount. However, a personal loan might cover the entire cost of your car. Also, if you do not have the funds to pay 20% of the cost of your car readily available with you, you can go for a personal loan instead of a car loan.
Purpose
The money you borrow through a car loan can only be used to buy a car, while money borrowed through a personal loan can be spent on numerous other things, apart from a car.
Ease of Availing
As mentioned above, personal loans are unsecured. Lenders are
very careful while giving a personal loan. If you apply for a personal loan when you have a
bad credit score, you will be intimidated by market-high interest
rates, or your application will be rejected because your risk-to-value
is too high.
The lender will approve your car loan relatively
easily. The process of applying for personal and car loans has been
made extremely easy by banks and NBFCs and you can always visit the
website of the lender to find out more. The lending requirements of
personal loans are more stringentas it is unsecured, however, the
collateral of the car loan makes the lending requirements easier for
its borrowers.
Many times, you can do an on-the-spot deal of
a car loan at a car dealer location as car dealers have tie-ups with
many top banks and NBFCs. However, personal loans involve some degree
of documentation and background checks. Your loan application is
thoroughly scrutinized and only if there are no red flags does the
lender approve the loan.
Loan Tenure
Personal loans and car loans have different tenure ranges. Personal loans are usually of 1-5 years while car loans are usually of 3-8 years. Longer tenure means lower EMI amount and higher interest payments for the borrower. On the other hand, shorter loan tenure means a higher EMI amount and lower interest payments for the borrower.
Title
Since the car loan is secured, the car will not be bought or
transferred in your name until you have paid the last instalment.
Also, you will have to make a down payment at the beginning of the car
loan as your car is not 100% financed through a car loan. However,
these days, there are also 100% financing car loans in the market, but
their interest rate or tenure is higher than the regular ones.
On the other hand, if you finance your car through a personal
loan, you will get the ownership of your car instantly and no
down-payment is required on your part if you secure the desired loan amount.
To Conclude
To decide between a car loan and a personal loan for buying a car, you must compare interest rates, tenure, loan amount, EMI, etc. in both cases and from multiple lenders. Generally, a loan specially meant for a purpose serves better for that purpose. However, in case you have a slightly lower credit score and are ready to bear a higher interest rate, you may opt for Personal Loan. Whichever loan type you opt for, regular repayment and disciplined spending habits are key to keeping you in good financial health.
