Auto loans lender reviews methodology

What is the Bankrate Score for auto loans?

Bankrate rates auto loan lenders and calculates Bankrate Scores using two scales — one for purchases and one for refinancing. Lenders are graded using a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest. These factors cover all aspects of the financing experience and fit four main categories: availability, affordability, customer experience and transparency.

Score visualization across Bankrate

Bankrate scores are visualized differently across our website. These images display the variations you may see. 

How we calculate a Bankrate score for auto purchase loans

To determine Bankrate Scores for auto purchase loans, our editorial team conducts an in-depth industry analysis and explores the current market and economic conditions. This helps us identify industry standards and define what a competitive auto loan looks like. 

Next, we collect data on each lender we feature. Each lender is scored on a one-to-five scale in the four categories below. While Bankrate has partnerships with some lenders reviewed, those relationships do not influence scoring. All scores present are based on concrete data and expert analysis from the Bankrate editorial team. 

Overall score 

The Bankrate team calculates auto loan purchase lender scores based on four categories. These four categories are weighted when determining the final score.

Availability score 

Availability helps us understand how well a lender's product caters to different borrowers’ needs. This information also informs which type of driver might best fit with a specific lender. 

Lenders score high for offering a wide range of loan amounts and types and not requiring car buyers to shop at specific dealerships, among other factors.

Affordability score

Borrowers care strongly about finding the most affordable loan available to them. There’s more to our affordability category than just the annual percentage rate (APR), though providing a competitive interest rate matters. 

Lenders that enforce few fees and offer a rate discount for signing up for automatic payments will receive higher scores in this category.

Customer experience score

Borrowers deserve a frictionless process, from applying for a loan to paying it off. High-scoring lenders in the customer experience category help borrowers avoid common headaches. They might make it easy to access loan details online, offer extended customer services and provide an automatic payment option so borrowers don’t accidentally miss payments.

Transparency score

Transparency helps borrowers compare loan costs and know what to expect when working with a specific lender. For example, lenders that disclose available rates and fees upfront — before you apply and undergo a hard credit check — score higher in this section.

How we calculate a Bankrate score for auto refinance loans

To determine Bankrate Scores for auto refinance loans, our editorial team conducts an industry analysis similar to auto purchase loans. Data collection and scoring is also similar, though the metrics are tailored to refinance products rather than purchase loans.

Overall score 

The Bankrate team calculates auto loan refinance lender scores across four categories. The four categories are weighted the same way as the purchase loans.

Availability score 

The availability score shares the same purpose as the category for purchase loans, but the factors weighed are different. Specifically, Bankrate takes into account the restrictions a lender puts on the types of cars that can be refinanced.

Affordability score

Affordability is especially important in the refinance space — if you can't get a better rate, it often doesn't make sense to take out a new loan. For this reason, the affordability score focuses the APR range offered, whether there are discounts and what fees are charged.

Customer experience score

The customer experience category again focuses on a seamless experience for the borrower. A wide range of customer support hours, online access, funding timeline and the like are covered by this section.

Transparency score

It's equally important to be able to compare lenders before you apply when it comes to auto refinance loans. This category measures how easy it is to know what a borrower is getting into before they submit a full application.