How long before one can Refi an autoloan.

[4thmouse]

Hello folks,

 A little over three weeks ago My wife and I purchased a new 2013 truck for $37K. I received a loan through the dealership and its not to bad of a loan. $21,000 at 4.69% for 72 months with payment 367ish a month. Not sure what the truck is worth, However with the tradein I know there is equity in the truck. My wifes and My score at the dealership was 710, 711.

 Couple of days ago I received my christmas bonus and put most of it on the principal of the loan. On top of that, the refund for the extra service plan the dealership tried to stick us with just hit the loan, For a total of $8,000 off the principal og the loan, Leaving us at principal balance of $13,000ish.

I would really like to shorten the term of the loan to about 60 months, and by the car loan calculators I have seen the payment due would actually go down if I could get an good rate.

The question I have is, Is it possible to do a Re-fi this soon after taking out an initial loan? I mean the loan hasn't even actually reported to our credit yet. If I can re-fi, Will it be real hard to get a rate close to or around the same interest? The main reason I would like to refi is because I would like to drop the payment down until I can finish repaying the loan with next years bonus.

However this is the first time I have ever Financed a new car, Much less considered a Refi, So I don't know what to expect.

[Shogun]

Do you belong to a CU?  Some of them have great rates, 0.9% to 1.9%.  This might make it worth it.  Nice move in paying that principal down.  What you spent now will save you much more over the life of the loan.

[4thmouse]

I do belong to Community America CU, But they have turned me down for any other loans I have ever applied to, because of our 2+ year old BK. Doesn't seem to matter to them that we have 700+ Fico, 0 negatives since, Extremely Low Debt to income and reasonably good mix of current credit. since, and only 3 negatives total left on our credit from before the BK. Unfortunatly I don't know of any other CU's around the KC area that we are eligible to be members of.

@Edit,

 Although, I do have the credit monitoring thing and a online checking account through USAA, Anyone know if USAA considers me a member and If they will Re-Fi  a loan if I am not Military?

[maiden_girl]

Personally...I think it'd be silly to refi if you owe around 13k at the APR you have now. You mentioned that you got a bonus and put it towards the principal of your loan. Are you concered that your monthly payments are too high? Because I could easily see you knocking the loan out before hitting your 72 month mark considering your payment history. I think refinancing the loan at this point might end up costing you more money than it will be saving just to have lower monthly payments. My two cents.

[cowboyguy]

I have the exact same question. How early can an auto loan be refinanced?

Is it possible to refinance it even before making your first installment payment?

[TrishN]

The best to get refinance is after the loan showed up on your CR.

[jllunas]

My wife just went to our local credit union last Friday and was approved for a refinance. We had the vehicle 8 months now. she got her original loan through capital one at a 10.85% rate and just refinanced to 2.99 rate. Lower payment better rate.