GOT IT! now what?

[mekikya]

I finally got approved for a "1st time buyer" auto loan, with no cosigner! I got the car, I wanted for the priced I wanted! so happy! the montly payments are just slightly higher than I wanted but nothing I can't afford. The interest rate is higher than I really want, but better than I thought I would get as a first time buyer, 7.3%. So I have the first real depth to my credit history beyond the small credit cards I have.

So how soon is too soon to pay the loan off? It's a 5 year loan, but I checked and made sure no penalties for paying off sooner. As I read it on the contract, the interest is calculated yearly, so any years I can knock off are good. I would ideally like to stop making payments after two years, but is that too soon? should I just eat the high interest for the sake of my credit score? Any thoughts, fine print to think about, or suggestions would be appreciated since I am new to the world of car loans. How and when will I see an impact on my credit?

[mekikya]

Oh yeah, and the total car loan was for 12k, it'll be 14,300 if I let it play out to the end of the loan.

[cambob]

From most of what I've been told and read, paying the loan early shouldn't harm anything. I bought a car this summer and actually wanted a 2-year loan. I was talked into a 5-year since the lender told me I would get a better rate, no penalty for early repayment and it should have little to no negative effect on my credit paying it early. Whether that is completely true remains to be seen. I don't see why it would hurt, and in my experience with private student loans early repayment (I was 5 years early on a 7 year loan!) actually seemed to help my scores.