Getting car loan approval is dependent on a number of factors, but even with poor credit you don’t want to just worry about finding approval, you also want to consider how to find the best interest rates. For this you’ll want to consider your credit, your other financial strengths, where you’re looking, and then compare both the rates and terms.

The first thing to look at is your credit report. It’s the first thing lenders will look at so you should too. There are a number of things to look for here, but start by looking for mistakes. Are any accounts marked open or overdue that have been paid? Is your limit on your cards marked lower than it should be? If either of these things are incorrect call the companies to have them fixed. An important factor in calculating your score is the amount of credit you’ve used versus the amount that is available to you, so you want your card limits to be correct and not understated.

Fixing these errors can quickly improve things for getting car loan approval. If you are able to do more to improve things, like paying down any card or loan balances, that will also greatly help things.

Once you’ve looked at that you’ll want to consider what your strengths are before you go to fill out applications. For instance, have you been employed at the same place for a long period of time, or lived at your current residence for at least a few years? These are signs of stability that lenders will consider. They’ll also look at your income level to see if you’ll realistically be able to afford the payments. » Read more: Getting Car Loan Approval