I need wheels!
The official definition of low income states that these are households that bring in less than R15 000 a month. With many South Africans falling into this category and many sorely in need of mobility, it stands to reason that many of these individuals would be looking for vehicle finance and needing to know if they qualify.
Related: What is the minimum income for car finance?
The simple answer here is YES you can get vehicle finance with a low income. The long answer though is a little bit more complicated.
Affordability
The general rule of thumb here is your repayment amount should not exceed 25% of your monthly income. You can use our finance calculator here to see how much this amount would be according to a purchase price. If the amount you need to repay is too great, the agreement will be deemed unaffordable and rejected. It is also important to do an affordability check to see how the repayment will affect your household budget.
AutoTrader now offers a pre-qualification tool on site that will help you work out if you can afford the vehicle you are interested in. In just a few steps you can do a check that will apply to all further enquires that you make, making it even easier to get that car you're after.
Credit score
This is a big hurdle to clear as the credit score attached to your name is heavily weighted in the finance house's decision to grant finance. Make sure your credit score is healthy, at a minimum above 600 before attempting to apply for finance.
By making use of the new pre-qualifying tool on-site you are able to not only get pre-qualified for a purchasing value but the wizard will also do a credit check for you and apply that to all future enquiries you do.
So yes, you can get finance with a low income as long as your repayment amount is affordable and you have a good credit score, just don't expect a Golf GTi when you really should be looking at a Suzuki Celerio!
