Which is the Best Bank for a Car Loan? (Part 2)

In the previous article, we’ve identified seven major Aussie banks that offer vehicle financing for personal and business use. Each of the banks has different criteria and car loan structure that may or may not be ideal for your specific needs and situation. What's best for other borrowers may not be ideal for you.

If you need more car loan options, here are five other major Australians banks that can help you purchase your ideal vehicle at a reasonable rate:

CitiBank

Citibank offers unsecured personal loans for cars at $5,000 to $75,000 at a variable interest rate between 9.99% and 17.99% per annum. The comparison rate is also between 9.99% and 17.99% per annum based on a 5-year unsecured variable rate loan of $30,000.

To be eligible, you must be earning an annual minimum income of $40,000. The amount you can borrow, meanwhile, will depend on your credit rating and Citibank’s credit criteria.

For the loan term, you can choose between 3, 4 or 5 years. The repayment is monthly, but you can pay out early or make extra repayments without a fee. You will also not pay any establishment fee and monthly account service fee if you submit your application from October 2019 to March 2020. However, you may be charged with a late payment fee, dishonour fee and other service charges.

Citibank also lets you reuse the available credit on your car loan up to your approved credit limit at the same variable interest rate. This will require additional monthly repayments on your loan. There will be no end date for your reusable credit facility.

BankWest

BankWest offers secured and unsecured personal car loans at a fixed rate. These are payable for a loan term of three to seven years and flexible repayment frequency of weekly, monthly or fortnightly. To be eligible, you must be a permanent Australian resident with a regular income of over $20,000 a year.

Aside from the interest, there are also additional charges that make up the total cost of the loan. These include an application fee of $299 for the secured loan and $195 for the unsecured and a monthly loan maintenance fee of %15 (secured) or $8 (unsecured).

You can pay more than your minimum repayments but you will be charged an early repayment fee of $250 if you close your loan in the first 12 months or $100 if you close it in 13-24 months.

Secured Car Loan

• The promotional interest rate is 6.99% per annum available on applications that are unconditionally approved between August 26 and 15 November 2019 and a 7.76% comparison rate per annum.
• You can borrow from $10,000 to $100,000 (up to 120% of the value of your security). As security for the loan, the bank accepts cars or motorcycles that are less than seven years old or cars or motorcycles that are valued at least $10,000.

Unsecured Car Loan

• You can loan an amount between $5,000 and $50,000. This is available at a fixed interest rate of 11.99% per annum and a comparison rate of 12.80% per annum based on an unsecured personal loan of $30,000 over 5 years.

Heritage Bank

Rated 9/10 by the Mozo community, Heritage Bank’s car loan is available through secured personal and business loans.

Secured Personal Car Loan

• You can borrow between $5,000 to $100,000 to buy or repurchase a new or used car up to five years old. This is available at a fixed interest rate of 6.99% per annum and a comparison rate of 7.62% based on a loan amount of $30,000 with a 5-year term. Your repayment can be done weekly, fortnightly or monthly for a term of 1 to seven years.
• You will not be penalized for paying out early or making extra repayments on the loan. However, you will need to pay an application fee of $200 and a monthly fee of $5.

Standard Personal Loan

• If you’re buying a car that’s over 5 years old, you can qualify for the Heritage Bank’s standard personal loan. This can be secured or unsecured with a choice of either variable rate of 12.49% per annum or a or fixed interest rate of 10.99% per annum. You can choose a loan term of up to 5 years for a fixed rate and up to 10 years for a variable rate.
• The amount you can borrow varies. The minimum is $5,000 and a maximum of $25,000 for a fixed unsecured loan, $$50,000 for a fixed secured loan, and $100,000 for variable secured loan. The repayment frequency can be weekly, fortnightly or monthly. You can also make additional or lump sum payments or repay your loan in full at any time.
• The total cost of your loan comes with a $200 application Fee and $5 monthly fee.

Secured Business Car Loan

Available for a loan amount between $20,000 and $100,000, you can purchase new vehicles up to six months old and used vehicles up to 5 years old. These cars must have up to 3.5-tonne gross vehicle mass and must be sourced from a licensed dealer/auctioneer.

• The maximum loan term is six years for new vehicles and 5 years for used vehicles. The interest rates can be variable or fixed. While the variable rate is set at 5.74%, the fixed rate varies depending on the terms of the loan as follows:
  • 1 year - 5.79%
  • 2 years fixed - 5.85%
  • 3 years fixed - 5.85%
  • 4 years fixed - 5.85%
  • 5 years fixed - 5.85%
  • 6 years fixed - 6.19%

You will also need to pay an application fee of $200 but you will not be charged with a monthly administration fee.

St. George

The largest bank in Australia (a division of Westpac) offers car financing through a personal loan, business loan and corporate finance.

Personal Car Loan

The car that you’re buying, which will serve as collateral for the loan, must be:

• Registered in your name once purchased.
• A four-wheel vehicle that has never been extensively damaged or written off
• 12 years old or less at the end of the loan term to qualify for a lower interest rate
• Covered for one year’s full comprehensive car insurance when you access the funds

The associated fees that come with your personal financing include:

• $12 monthly administration fee
• $10 fee per redraw on variable loans
• $195 establishment fee
• $150 early repayment fee if you fully repay the loan within the first 12 months
• $100 early repayment fee after the first 12 months and before the end of the loan term

You have the option to choose between a secured car loan or an unsecured one with fixed or variable interest rate.

• With secured financing, you can borrow between $3,000 and $80,000. This is available at a fixed interest rate of 8.49% per annum for a flexible loan term of 1 to 5 years or a variable rate of 12.74% per annum at a flexible loan term of 1 to 7 years.
• Meanwhile, an unsecured personal loan allows you to borrow between $2,000 to $40,000. The 12.99% interest rate can be fixed for a loan term of up to 5 years or variable for a loan term of up to 7 years.

Business Car Loan

You can borrow a minimum of $15,000 and a maximum of $10,000,000 to buy a vehicle for business use. This is payable for a flexible loan term of 1 to 7 years and repayment frequency of weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

You can choose between:

• Goods Loan
• Hire Purchase
• Finance Lease
• Novated Lease

Suncorp Bank

Suncorp offers a Secured Fixed Rate Car Loan and Unsecured Personal Car Loan. The amount you can borrow is between $5,000 and $79,825.00 before fees. You can choose a flexible loan term of 1 to 7 years and repayment frequency of weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

Associated loan fees include a $175 establishment fee, $5 monthly account keeping fee and a $300 early payout fee if you’ve taken out a loan that’s longer than 1 year and you want to pay it off within 12 months.

Secured Fixed Rate Car Loan

• You can qualify for the secured loan if you’re buying a new or a used car up to 7 years old and valued over $7,500. This has a fixed rate of 5.49% per annum and a comparison rate of 6.09% per annum.

Unsecured Personal Loan

• If you want to buy a car that’s older than 7 years old, its value has considerably depreciated that you can no longer use the vehicle as security for your loan. However, you can still apply for an unsecured personal loan with a fixed or variable rate. The fixed and variable rate starts at 9.49% per annum with a comparison rate of 10.08% per annum.

To qualify for Suncorp’s car loan programs, you must be at least 18 years old, a permanent resident of Australia and employed or receiving regular income. You must also have a good credit record for the last 5 years, not or never been bankrupt or insolvent and do not have a past, present or pending judgements or claims against you.

Whichever bank you choose to get your car loan, make sure that its vehicle financing programs fit your goals, financial circumstance and capacity for repayment.

While you can personally make your car loan inquiries from one bank to another, it is time-consuming. A smart alternative is to get a car loan pre-approval from a finance broking company that teams up with different banks and lenders to find the right financing for you.

Positive Lending Solutions is an award-winning finance broking company that operates Australia wide. We maintain a good business relationship with various lenders across the country, including all the established banks mentioned above. We can quickly and efficiently match you up with the correct lender and car loan structure.

Give us a call at 1300 722 210 or request a Car Loan Pre-Approval now!

See also:

Which is the Best Bank for a Car Loan? (Part 1)

The Cheapest Ways to Get an Auto Loan

Taking a 7-Year Car Loan May Not Be a Good Idea