Can You Buy An RV With Bad Credit?
Bad credit can happen for a number of reasons that aren’t really relevant to your present financial situation. You may discover your credit is bad for any of the following reasons:
- Old debts, even if you’ve paid them off
- Behind on current or past debt repayments
- Self employment
- Too many current payments on debts
- Low credit score
- Previous bankruptsy
Luckily for you, even if you have bad credit, there are plenty of lenders out there who are willing to take the chance of lending you money to buy an RV. The payoff for them is that you will often pay a significantly higher interest rate in exchange for their acceptance of risk.
One of the great things about RV loans is that they can be structured more like a mortgage than an auto loan but without all the paperwork involved in getting a mortgage. With an RV loan, you can stretch out your payments over as many as 20 years so your payments may be very low, with most of each payment going toward interest rather than building equity in the RV.
If you have a downpayment, lenders may look more favorably upon your loan application even when you have bad credit. For RVs over $50,000, it is usually (not always) a necessity to have a downpayment.
How To Buy An RV With Bad Credit
Start at your bank
If you are buying an RV with bad credit, you may want to get pre-approval for an RV loan before you go RV shopping. If you have a good relationship with your bank or credit union, go there first to discuss options. Every time a potential lender runs a credit check, it will drop your credit score a few points. Losing points on your credit score won’t help you to get an RV loan when you already have bad credit.
If you go to your bank first, they’ll know your present and past financial situation firsthand, and as an added bonus, you may not take a hit to your already floundering credit score.
Your RV dealer has RV financing solutions
RV dealers want to sell an RV to you. RV dealers have a network of lenders they work with so they can sell RVs to people with a variety of financial backgrounds. Each lender will have its own level of tolerance for buyers with bad credit.
National Vehicle: Financing solution for private RV deals
Sometimes it might be worthwhile to check out pre-owned RVs being sold by private sellers. This can often save you money on the price of a used RV while absorbing the initial cost of depreciation, which starts as soon as you drive your new RV off of the lot.
National Vehicle is a listing service of for-sale-by-owner RVs. Similar to a dealer, National Vehicle helps to facilitate RV sales, including offering financing options for buyers.
Try these RV financing companies
These RV financing companies are known to help RV buyers with less than stellar credit.
RVers looking for valuable how-to information have learned to go to the experts. Forums such as iRV2.com and blog sites like RV LIFE, Do It Yourself RV, and Camper Report provide all the information you need to enjoy your RV. You’ll also find brand-specific information on additional forums like Air Forums, Forest River Forums, and Jayco Owners Forum.
Related articles:
The article say to start with your bank. Boloney. Start with a Credit Union. Let me explain, The wife and I have been “cash only” people for a while. We used credit only for large puchase such as home and vehicle. We paid off the vehicle loans about 5 years ago and our property is owner financed. We currently have 4 months left to owning it free and clear. So, for 6 years we havent used any credit at all.
When I went to our bank, the same one that we use for our business, we were told that we only had a 620 score. Not from “bad credit” but from “lack of credit history” The loan underwriters said there was nothing they could do. So we approached a credit union, they investigated our “old” credit history and approved our loan to buy a motorhome. This happened about a year ago. I have since acquired a credit card from them ( at a very reasonable rate). I am now enjoying a credit score of 710. Thank you Credit Union !!
Hello,
I listened to your vide on Bad credit and buying an RV.
You mentioned you have a credit card the pays 6% on groceries and 3% on fuel.
Please share the name of this card you refer to.
Thank you,
Paul M Tucker
Quality Engineer (Ret)