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No one likes to waste time, especially not when you’re trying to get a new car loan. Luckily, there are a number of ways you can speed up the process of getting a loan for your new car.

Regardless of your credit score or credit history, here are some tips you can use to save time:

1) Organize your paperwork. You’ll need to prove your income with your most recent paystub, and residence with a recent phone, electric or cable bill. If you have credit problems from collections, bankruptcies or a messy divorce, make sure you have the paperwork documenting that as well. Bring everything with you when you visit your lender, so you don’t have to make any extra trips for forgotten documents.

2) Get references. You’ll probably need to give your lender the names, addresses and phone numbers of at least three friends or family members not in your household. Finding this information ahead of time will save you time when you’re completing your application, and you won’t have to stress to figure it all out on the spot.

3) Talk to your boss, office manager, or human resources department. When you apply for an auto loan, most lenders will call and verify your employment. Let the person in charge of employment verification know that you’re expecting an auto lender to call about you - that way they’ll be ready to provide what the bank needs quickly and accurately.

4) Find out exactly what your payoff is if you have a trade-in. Don’t make the common mistake of estimating what your trade-off will be - the bank might take that figure as the exact value. If your payoff ends up being higher from what you estimated, you’ll lose time as your loan may need to be reapproved for a higher amount. If it’s lower, your interest rate might be higher than what you actually merit. Find out the exact payoff for your trade-in before you go to complete your application, and save yourself some time and money in the process.

5) Make sure you’re as truthful and accurate as possible. When you complete your credit application, you may need to list former residences, former employers, etc. If you list all this information accurately, your application will be processed quickly. Also, if you lie about some aspect of your credit, there’s a good chance the auto lender will find out. At best, this will slow down your application considerably as the lender checks every aspect of your credit. At worst, your application will be turned down.

Filed under: Vehicles