Are car payments like credit cards, where past the due date=notifying credit bureaus?

[Anonymous]

I live with my Dad and he has a loan with Toyota. The monthly statement always shows the normal due date, and then has a sentence near it saying "$10 late fee if received after this date," which is usually ten days after the original due date.

Sometimes things get tight and my Dad trys to buy time by paying the payment a week or so after the due date, but still before the $10 late fee is issued. Is this killing his credit or would Toyota only clarify him as late to the bureaus if he's 30 days late? I know with credit card companies, that when your even a day late, they immediately show up on you're credit report as late. Thanks for your help.

[marty56]

IMHO your dad would be okay.  The problems happen if you pay after the next statement date.  Some creditors only report at 60 days late but I would not test them on that.

Something else to consider is that while a 30 day late is not fatal to your credit score in the long run, it could cause secondary effects like AA from your dad's CCCs so I would also consider that as well.

[Anonymous]

In my experience it will only report late if it is posted past the next due date, in other words pay and make sure it post before the next payment is due, although he will probably incur a late fee it probably wont effect his credit.