Buying a Car With a 500 Credit Score: What It Costs

Written by Jared · Last reviewed 2026-08-05

Figures reviewed 2026-08-05 (yesterday). Rate data is sourced per table and each table states its own reporting period.

What rate does a 500 credit score get?

A 500 score sits at the top edge of the deep-subprime tier, which Experian defines as roughly 300 to 500. That tier averaged 21.58% APR on used vehicles in Q4 2025.

For context against the rest of the market in the same quarter:

*Experian, Q4 2025.*

Notice where 500 sits: one point below the subprime tier. A borrower at 501 is priced roughly 2.7 points cheaper than one at 500, for reasons that have nothing to do with them as a person and everything to do with where the tier boundary falls. If you are at 495 and can find 6 points, that is worth more than almost anything else you can do in the short term.

What the payment actually looks like

At 21.58% APR on a used vehicle:

Those are principal and interest only. They do not include insurance, which for a deep-subprime borrower is frequently the second-largest line item and sometimes rivals the payment itself.

The total-cost picture matters more than the monthly one. A $15,000 loan at 21.58% over 60 months costs about $9,640 in interest — you repay roughly $24,640 for a $15,000 car. Stretching the same loan to 72 months lowers the payment by $38 and adds about $2,230 in interest.

New versus used at this tier

This is the counterintuitive part worth checking before you assume a cheaper older car is the cheaper decision.

Deep-subprime APR on new vehicles runs around 15.85%, against roughly 21.6% on used. That is nearly six points, and it partly offsets the higher price of a newer vehicle. The gap exists because a newer car is better collateral — more predictable value, more recoverable at auction.

It does not always come out ahead, and for most deep-subprime buyers the used car still wins on total cost. But the margin is narrower than it looks, and it is worth running both numbers rather than assuming.

What you will be asked for

• Down payment, commonly $1,000 to $2,500. At this tier the down payment does more for your approval than a small score change would.
• Proof of income, usually recent consecutive pay stubs showing $1,500 to $2,000 a month from one primary source.
• Proof of residence, insurance, references, and employment verification — the standard stips.

Most declines at this tier are not score declines. The lender was willing; the file did not support the payment.

The thing that saves the most money

Refinance at twelve months.

A borrower who signs at 21.58% and pays on time for a year frequently lands in the subprime or even near-prime tier, because the auto loan is building fresh positive history and the older damage is aging. Moving from 21.58% to 18.86% saves $23 a month on a $15,000 balance over 60 months; reaching 14.11% saves $61.

Nobody at the dealership will mention this, because the refinance is not their transaction. Put a calendar reminder at eleven months.

What not to do

Do not solve an unaffordable payment by extending the term. At 21.58%, an 84-month loan on a used car means paying interest for seven years on a vehicle that may not last that long, while being underwater for most of it. If the payment only works at 84 months, the honest reading is that the car costs too much, not that the term is too short.

For the full tier picture, see car loan interest rates by credit score. If a dealer tells you in-house financing is your only option, check what dealer approval promises actually mean first.