Many of us have had a period in our lives where we hit a financial crisis. While we don't like to admit that we have had issues in the past with finances our credit history is going to reflect that trouble depending on how long ago the trouble was and whether we had it removed after the appropriate time. For instance a bankruptcy will be reflected on your credit history for seven years. While for most purposes a bankruptcy will stop affecting you after four years it can still have a moderate affect on any car financing you try to get. In other words when you have bad credit you are going to be paying a higher interest rate on the car loan because you are deemed a risk.
Don't despair if you have bad credit though. You will still be able to get car financing and as long as you have turned around your financial life you should be able to handle the car payments. In most cases if you have proven yourself to be responsible again the car loan will deduct a half a point every six months for the last two or three years of the loan.
In most cases when you have to get a bad credit car loan it is best to shop around before you go to a dealership and try through them. You will find that in most cases a car dealership is not as willing to try for a bad credit car loan. In other words there are specific car dealerships that will advertise bad credit car loans or the ability for anyone with poor or no credit to receive a car of their liking through their loan system. You do have to be a little worried about these types of places, but as long as you have done your research you should be fine.
The key to getting a decent bad credit car loan for your new vehicle is going to be research, checking your own credit history, and making sure you are dealing with a place that allows for poor credit. You don't want to seek a bank that doesn't hand out poor or bad credit car loans as they will often refuse you and make your credit history look worse. Be wise before you apply anywhere. Keep in mind also that you can apply for several different loans in a three week period without it affecting your credit score more than once. You see in a three week period someone can access your credit score without the points being taken off because you are trying to find just one type of loan and get the best deal.
A bad credit car loan is going to be something that is a little harder to obtain and certainly more costly than a regular car financing. What you want to do is choose a vehicle that is extremely low in cost and that will help you rebuild your credit rather than something that is really out of your price range or almost out of that range.