Get financing results without impacting your credit
Personalized results in minutes
Most customers can get pre-qualification results in less than 5 minutes, and it doesn't impact your credit score. Here's how you can get started:
It's easy to get pre-qualified no matter where you are on your shopping journey. Just getting started? Get pre-qualified here to understand what you can afford. If you've already found your perfect car, you can get a pre-qualification decision on that car.
Enter your preferred down payment and get your pre-qualification terms from our finance sources in minutes. You can include a co-buyer in your request, which may help you receive more favorable terms.
See personalized terms on vehicles when you get pre-qualified, including the monthly payment and APR. You can adjust filters like your down payment to see how it impacts your terms.
One stop, multiple financing sources
Our finance sources accommodate a wide range of customers, including first-time buyers.
Financing as simple as our car prices
Just like our car prices, our financing terms are no pressure and hassle-free.
No surprises, no regrets
Get pre-qualified to get an idea of what you can spend on a used car. If you find other financing after you buy, use our 3-day payoff program.
Car financing tips & tools
Financing FAQs
Yes. We offer financing through several finance sources, including CarMax Auto Finance, a division of CarMax. Most of our customers' financing decisions are available in 5 minutes or less.
Generally, a pre-qualification is when a finance company or lender does a basic review of your information and credit history to determine if you're likely to qualify for financing a car. A pre-qualification usually results in a soft credit inquiry, which won't impact your credit score.
With CarMax, you can choose to pre-qualify on a specific vehicle or a dollar amount. Simply fill out a pre-qualification request, which will ask for personal, income, and housing information. Then our finance sources will return a decision (usually within 5 minutes). You can use your pre-qualification to shop for a car in our nationwide inventory with your personalized financing terms.
No. For pre-qualification, CarMax's finance sources use soft inquiries, which have no impact on your credit score. Pre-qualification allows you to shop for a car with your personalized financing terms. Once you're ready to buy, you'll have to submit a credit application to get specific offer terms. This credit application will be a hard inquiry, which may impact your credit score.
A pre-qualification is a powerful shopping and affordability tool. Getting pre-qualified allows you to see personalized financing terms on CarMax's inventory, so you can get an idea of what your monthly payment and APR would be. Pre-qualification allows you to find the right car in your budget without impacting your credit score.
Our finance sources accommodate most credit profiles, and every CarMax customer will enjoy the same upfront pricing and exceptional customer service, in the store and online.
Our finance sources accommodate most credit profiles, and every CarMax customer will enjoy the same upfront pricing and exceptional customer service, in the store and online.
Yes, you can add a co-buyer to your pre-qualification request or finance application. A co-buyer may help you receive more favorable terms. Keep in mind our finance sources will also review your co-buyer's information and credit history.
Our finance sources take multiple factors into consideration when determining whether to pre-qualify you. For example: they will review your credit history for things like on-time payments. If you're able to put more money down, that can lead to better financing terms. Double-check your credit reports, because if they are locked or frozen, our finance sources might not be able to pre-qualify you.
A down payment is one of the factors that our finance sources consider when reviewing a pre-qualification request. You aren't locked in to the down payment you list on your pre-qualification request - you can change it on your credit application once you're ready to buy, but your terms may change as a result.
Your down payment should be whatever amount you feel comfortable paying. Most CarMax customers put down at least 8% of the purchase price. Keep in mind that a higher down payment will mean a lower monthly payment and also may help you get better terms.
We have a variety of finance sources, so we're able to offer competitive APRs to CarMax customers with a wide range of credit profiles. If you choose to finance with us, and you find a better APR within 3 business days of your purchase, you can replace your financing at no cost to you.
If you're financing through your bank or an outside lender, you'll need to provide a voucher, check, or other proof of financing. We'll help you with that process.
Typically, a pre-qualification results in a soft credit inquiry and won't impact your credit score, while a pre-approval results in a hard credit inquiry and may impact your credit score. CarMax's pre-qualification process uses a soft credit inquiry, so you can get pre-qualified with no impact to your credit and shop with your personalized finance terms. Once you're ready to buy, you'll have to submit a credit application to get final offer terms. That application will result in a hard inquiry, which may impact your credit score.