What credit score do you need for a car loan in Australia?

Published 30 July 2026. General information only, not personal advice.

How credit scores work in Australia

Australia has three main credit reporting bodies: Equifax, Experian and illion. Each holds a file on you and calculates its own score from it, on its own scale. Equifax scores run from 0 to 1200, while Experian and illion use a 0 to 1000 scale. That's why the "free credit score" you checked online can differ from the one a lender sees. They may be looking at a different bureau, or at your full file rather than just the number.

Your score is shaped by things like:

• Your repayment history on loans, credit cards and, increasingly, phone and utility accounts
• How many credit applications you've made recently, and with whom
• Any defaults, judgments or bankruptcies on your file
• The age of your credit history and the mix of credit you hold

So what score do I actually need?

Here's the honest answer: there is no universal cutoff. Every lender sets its own credit policy, and those policies differ a lot. A score that one bank declines, a specialist lender may approve without drama. Broadly, a higher score opens more doors and more competitive pricing, while a lower score narrows the field toward lenders who specialise in complex or repaired credit.

This is exactly why a broker exists. Rather than guessing which lender's policy your file fits, we already know the panel's appetites and match you to a lender likely to say yes, whether that's for a new car loan or an older used car.

The score is only part of the picture

Lenders assess the whole application, not just the number. The other things that carry real weight:

Income and stability

Steady, provable income matters more than most people realise. Time in your current job, or consistent trading history if you're self employed, gives a lender confidence the repayments are sustainable.

Your expenses and existing commitments

Lenders look at what's left over after rent or mortgage, living costs and other repayments. A strong score with no room in the budget can still be a decline. A modest score with plenty of surplus can still be an approval.

The loan and the car

A sensible loan amount against a suitable vehicle is easier to approve than a stretch. A deposit or trade in helps, and the car's age and condition matter to the lender because the car secures the loan.

Recent conduct

The last six to twelve months of your file count for a lot. Clean recent conduct after older problems reads very differently to fresh missed payments.

Can I get a car loan with bad credit?

Often, yes. Our panel includes specialist lenders who consider applicants with defaults, past payment problems or a discharged bankruptcy, assessed case by case. Expect the pricing to reflect the risk, and expect the lender to want a clear story: what happened, what changed, and why the repayments work now.

Two things genuinely help a harder application:

• Don't spray applications around. Each formal application adds an enquiry to your file, and a cluster of enquiries makes every lender more nervous. One well targeted application beats five hopeful ones.
• Be upfront. Lenders see your file anyway. An application that explains a past default honestly goes better than one that hopes nobody notices.

How to improve your position before applying

• Pay everything on time for a few months before you apply. Recent history moves the needle fastest.
• Close or reduce unused credit cards. Lenders count the limit, not the balance.
• Check your file for errors with the credit reporting bodies. Mistakes happen and you can dispute them for free.
• Avoid new applications, including buy now pay later, in the run up.
• Save even a small deposit. It shrinks the loan and shows a lender the budget already works.

If you already have a car loan on tougher terms because your credit was worse when you took it out, cleaning up your history can also open the door to a better deal later, see our refinance page for how that works.

Checking your options without touching your score

The catch 22 with credit scores is that finding out what you qualify for usually means applying, and applying leaves an enquiry. It doesn't have to work that way. We work out your indicative options across our lender panel with no credit enquiry, so getting started has no impact on your score. A credit check only happens when you pick an option and give us the go ahead. If you're planning ahead for the purchase itself, our guide to car loan preapproval explains the next step.

The bottom line

Stop hunting for a magic number. Lenders differ, whole applications matter, and the right lender for your file probably isn't the one with the biggest ad budget. Get your recent conduct clean, keep applications to a minimum, and let someone who knows the panel point your application at the right door.