Capital One auto loan refinance? How soon is too soon?

[ALLgoodABQ]

So I bought a brand new car back in April thru capital one. Its my first auto loan since 2009, and because of some CC charge-offs I had and some collections, my rate is 18.99%! All my CC charge-offs have fallen off, and these 2 small collections remain. I have a Capital One QS card I got about a month after the car for $300 CL. How long should you wait until contacting capital one for a rate reduction? Or should I look elsewhere to refinance the car? Just feel that my payments aren't doing anything to the balance.

[Anonymous]

Congratulations on taking out all of that negative stuff and increasing your score - but you'll have to shop elsewhere for refinance.

Capital One, like 99.9% of all auto lenders, will not refinance their own loan.  There is no "requesting an interest reduction" because that, technically, is a refinance.

You'll need to explore other options - a credit union, your regular bank, etc.  Credit unions are probably the best place to start, especially if you already belong to one someplace.  Just be aware that to get the best rates, not only do your scores have to be in line, but they'll want to see a solid payment history - which may mean they'll want you to complete several more on-time monthly payments on your current loan, if you don't already have solid past history with installment debts.

It's never too early to refinance, if your scores and file have improved greatly and especially if your original interest rate is high... just be sure you're ready for whatever lender you decide on, and that you consider it carefully before applying to minimize the number of inquiries you'll have to incur (if you're reasonably expecting approval at a decent rate with one lender, and apply only to that one, you'll only get one pull - but if you send out five apps hoping something will stick, you'll take five pulls).

[ALLgoodABQ]

Thanks for the info! Next month, my secured CC I have thru my local credit union hits the 1 year mark, so i'm going to go in and see if they will make it an unsecured card. At the same time i'll bring up my car and see if they can use the same pull on my credit to give me an idea of what a refi would look like. If thats even possible.

[Anonymous]

How long to refi on a new 3 month old loan.

[EddieK]

It's never too soon as long as you can get a lower rate.

[surferchris]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Congratulations on taking out all of that negative stuff and increasing your score - but you'll have to shop elsewhere for refinance.

Capital One, like 99.9% of all auto lenders, will not refinance their own loan.  There is no "requesting an interest reduction" because that, technically, is a refinance.

You'll need to explore other options - a credit union, your regular bank, etc.  Credit unions are probably the best place to start, especially if you already belong to one someplace.  Just be aware that to get the best rates, not only do your scores have to be in line, but they'll want to see a solid payment history - which may mean they'll want you to complete several more on-time monthly payments on your current loan, if you don't already have solid past history with installment debts.

It's never too early to refinance, if your scores and file have improved greatly and especially if your original interest rate is high... just be sure you're ready for whatever lender you decide on, and that you consider it carefully before applying to minimize the number of inquiries you'll have to incur (if you're reasonably expecting approval at a decent rate with one lender, and apply only to that one, you'll only get one pull - but if you send out five apps hoping something will stick, you'll take five pulls).

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Good advice.