How Do I Check My Car Loan Balance?

When you take out a car loan through a dealer or a car finance broker, your car loan isn't funded and administered by the broker or dealer, the lender manages it.

This means that to check your car loan balance, you'll need to contact the financial institution that funded your loan.

When might you need to check your car loan balance?

You will need to know your car loan balance when:

• You plan to sell a car that is under finance
• You are considering a car loan refinance to get a better deal
• You plan to upgrade your car with a new car loan
• You want to pay out the loan to be debt-free.

Depending on the type of car loan you have taken out, there may be fees attached to paying out the loan before the end of the loan term, and you'll need to factor these in when you calculate the total payout fee. You can find all of this information on your original car loan documentation.

How to check your car loan balance

Here are the key questions you need to answer to check your car loan balance:

• Who is your loan funded by?
• Does the lender have an online customer account?
• Find your login details and log in

1. Who is your car loan financed by?

Your car loan lender can be found on the loan documents that you signed when setting up the loan.

If you arranged your car loan with a Positive car loan broker, these would have been emailed to you, so you can check your email account to find the loan documents, or contact Positive Lending Solutions to request the information.

If your car loan was arranged with a car dealer or another source, you'll need to check your communication with them to find out who your lender is. If you are paying the loan with direct debit, your bank statements might say the lender's name against the debit.

2. Do you have internet banking for your car loan?

Most lenders have online accounts. You may need to register for an online account using your loan information before you can access your loan history.

To do this you will usually need your loan account number, personal contact information, and a password you will use for the account. Make sure that your password is unique, and something that can't easily be guessed by someone else.

The following lenders have online banking for car loan accounts:

• Macquarie - access your car loan account at 'YourLease'
• Pepper Money - access your online account for loan details
• Liberty - Online Account
• First Mac Money - online car loan account login
• Money 3 - online car loan account
• Ratesetter - online car loan account

If you don't have internet banking for your car loan, you might choose to contact the lender by phone or visit a branch.

The following lenders don't have online banking for car loan accounts yet (on 30th April 2018), so you'll need to contact the lender by phone:

• ANZ - call on 1300 365 652
• Latitude - call on 13 10 24
• Automotive Financial Services (AFS) - call on 1800 688 995
• Finance 1 - call on 1800 346 663
• Green Light Auto - call on 1800 200 555
• Metro Finance - make an online enquiry or call 1300 362 627.
• Capital Finance - call 1300 300 309.

Some lenders will also allow you to check your loan balance at an ATM. Check your loan documentation to find out if your lender offers this facility.

3. Logging in to your car loan account

Once you have set up internet banking for your car loan account, you will need to log in using your account number and password.

With internet banking you can:

• Check your current loan balance and recent transactions
• Check your interest rate
• Make repayments
• Find your minimum repayment amount
• Check your payment frequency
• See when your next payment is due

Need to change your repayment schedule?

If you need to change your loan payment or direct debit schedule, you'll need to contact your lender by phone.

For example, if the day that you get paid has changed, you might change your loan payments to be due on the same day to make sure you make each payment on time.

I have my current loan balance, now what?

Now you know what your current loan balance is, you can use it to refinance or pay out your car loan, make extra payments to pay out the loan by a certain date, or just be confident that you know exactly how much you still owe on your car.

If you need to sell your car, you'll know if the car's value is higher than the loan balance, or if you will need to contribute a sum to pay out the loan once you make the sale.

To refinance your existing car loan, or upgrade to a new car, a Positive Lending Solutions broker can advise you on the most cost-effective options. Get in touch with us or get a quick quote to know your monthly repayments before applying for one.