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We’re a digital car loan platform that matches consumers with lenders. In plain English, that means we help you navigate the long list of Australian car loan lenders so that you can find the best rate based on your personal situation.
We work with lenders all day everyday, so you don’t have to. This means we can give you personalised rates from multiple lenders all in one place. It also means no threat of hidden fees or an interest rate that changes just before you sign the contract.
Driva’s mission is to help you navigate existing lenders in the market.
There’s already so many lenders out there, we thought adding another name to the list wouldn’t help. This means we don’t have any incentive to steer you down the wrong path.
We think so (obviously) - but you don’t have to take our word for it.
Loads of our customers do too, which is why we’re rated Excellent on Trustpilot. The Australian government also trusts us - which is why we’re an Authorised Credit Representative under an Australian Credit License. This means we’re legally bound by ASIC to follow strict compliance rules (and will get in big trouble if we don’t!).
If it’s got wheels, chances are we can help.
From commercial equipment to camper vans and trucks to motorbikes, we have a diverse lender panel that can service a huge range of automotive needs.
Of course! Our large panel of lenders covers dealership and private sales, and used and new vehicles. Vintage, used or new - we can help!
Follow a few simple online steps to provide us with your basic details and you'll instantly gain access to your best quotes from our lender panel. Driva’s platform automatically checks your profile against our lender partners’ criteria to see which loans you're likely to qualify for, and at what interest rate. These rates are tailored to your personal profile, not just the generic starting rates you’ll see elsewhere that change just before you sign the contract.
No. Getting your rates with Driva doesn't impact your credit score.
Only once you've chosen your preferred lender, submitted your final application to us, have been vetted by the Driva team and provided consent will your application be shared with your chosen lender and a full credit report run. This way we make sure you don’t have unnecessary credit enquiries on your file - only once we know you have a high chance of approval and you are happy to proceed do we give lenders authority to run the required credit checks!
The entire process can be done as quickly as same day, but actual application lodgement turnaround times will depend on your chosen lender.
Our short online application only takes 2 minutes to fill out, and you can see your loan options from within your Driva Dashboard instantly.
Once you’ve picked your lender and provided a few other details (like income, employment and expenses), we will work with your chosen lender to lodge your application. Approval can take anywhere from a couple of hours to 48 hours, depending on the lender you picked. The Driva team is closely aligned with our lending partners to make this as fast a process as possible so you can be on the road in no time...
To access your Driva Dashboard and get personalised rate estimates, you don’t need to provide any documentation.
In order to submit a loan application for assessment, you will only need access to your drivers license and a copy of your two most recent payslips in most cases. Most lenders also require your last 3 months of bank statements - but with the Driva platform you can retrieve your bank statements digitally! In some exceptional circumstances, we may also ask you for some other documents, but we’ll keep you informed of if and why we need them.
Once you’ve been approved, all we need is the vehicle sales invoice and proof of comprehensive insurance and you’re good to go!
Our friendly and knowledgeable team are available to speak at any time - just call us on 1300 755 494 to ask any questions you may have!
Believe us, we know there's a lot of information required to get through a loan application.
Driva and our lending partners are strictly regulated by the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, which is a good thing! But it also means we are required to collect enough information about your current financial position (including your current income, expenses and assets) to allow us to make a reasonable assessment on the suitability of the loan for your financial situation.
Don’t worry, this information is securely stored and is only used for this purpose.
This depends on the lender. Some lenders will allow you to put a partner or child as a co-applicant on the loan, which means they will assess both parties’ income expenses when considering the application.
Keep in mind that they’ll look at the lower of the two credit scores when calculating your interest rate, so in some circumstances you might get a better rate with a single applicant.
Unless you specifically ask us to, we won’t add your partner as a co-applicant to the application. However, most of our lenders will still want to know what your partner’s employment and income situation is - this is only used for the purpose of splitting expenses, they are not liable for the loan repayments!
For example, if you are renting together and are paying $1,000 a month between the two of you, to be able to split this 50-50 they need to know that your partner is also earning an income. As always, you and your partner’s information is stored securely and only used for this purpose.
You don’t need to have your car locked in to get your loan pre-approved. For secured loans (normally 2008 vehicles or newer), the age of the vehicle you end up with will impact your interest rate. So if you want to get pre-approval before you’ve picked a car we’ll make an estimate based on the most likely vehicle age and price you’re looking at purchasing. If you’re looking at an older vehicle (2007 or older), then we can look to an unsecured loan - this means you can even have funds in your account before you get to the dealership or private seller to make the process even faster for you.
You can always change vehicle details or loan amount later in the process, and getting pre-approval doesn’t commit you to anything.
If you’re looking at a 2008 vehicle or newer, your best loan options are most likely to be a secured car loan. This means the money will transfer directly to the seller - whether this is a dealership or a private seller. This also avoids double-handling of the money so the transfer happens quicker.
If you’re looking at a 2007 or older vehicle, you’re more likely to be looking at unsecured loan options in which case the money will transfer directly to your bank account. It’s then up to you to transfer it to the seller when you’re ready!
You can get pre-approved for a certain loan amount at a fixed interest rate before committing to a vehicle, to give you the confidence you need to slog out the shopping experience online or in the car yard. Even if you don’t know the final amount or exact vehicle you are looking to purchase, we can still get you pre-approval and then update the final amount and vehicle details prior to settlement.
Once you’ve completed your customer profile in your Driva Dashboard, we’ll make a preliminary assessment of your application before lodging with your chosen lender. From there, the lender will assess your ability to repay the loan and, if successful, will give you pre-approval up to a certain loan amount. You can then access these funds at a guaranteed rate once you provide a sales invoice and proof of insurance to the lender.
We work with over 30 different lenders to give you confidence that the options you’re seeing are a good fit for the vehicle you’re thinking about and your personal situation.
Not all lenders were born equal, which means some have slower response times and worse support functions than others, but we’ve hand-picked those that we work with to support our vision of a seamless customer experience and great rates across a range of different scenarios.
Lenders price differently for different customers, and consider a number of factors when deciding whether a customer is eligible for a loan and, if so, what rate they will be charged.
Factors such as the age of the vehicle being purchased, credit score, previous defaults, housing status and stability of employment may all impact your rate. Different lenders prefer different types of customers, and focus on different customer attributes.
With Driva - the hard work of figuring out which lender will give you the best rate is done for you. Just enter some basic personal information to see what these tailored rates are from each lender so you can pick the best option for you.
Learn: what lenders look for when pricing your loan
Basically every car loan lender charges fees - what’s important is accounting for them when you’re making your decision on which lender to choose.
All lender fees and charges (including any fees that lenders pay to us) are already built into personalised quotes, which means the monthly repayment figure you see is exactly what will come out of your account each month and fully inclusive of all costs (bye bye hidden fees!).
This varies by lender - but with all of our lenders, you pay nothing to us directly when your loan settles. Lenders pay us for sending them high quality customers and any fees they pay to us are built into your quoted monthly repayments.
You won’t be caught out with hidden fees from us or our lenders. We pride ourselves on being transparent with this so you will also always be able to see a breakdown of these fees when you receive the quotes from us.
We’re not surprised. Comparison rates vary by loan amount, vehicle age, credit score and a whole host of other factors, but no other car loan companies in Australia have the technology to instantly calculate comparison rates based on your unique circumstances.
This often means brokers will show generic comparison rates that will be increased later in the process, when it comes to signing the loan contract.
Always check with your source to see if the comparison rates are tailored to your specific loan and all fees are accounted for.
If you still think our rates are higher than you’re seeing them elsewhere, we’d love to hear from you. Email us at hello@driva.com.au.
A comparison rate is a rate you can use to help work out the true cost of a loan. While it doesn’t include fees such as stamp duty, it does include most all of the fees lenders will charge you.
The comparison rate is the key metric to keep an eye out for when comparing your car loan quotes from Driva. We clearly specify the comparison rate of every quote we provide to you so you can quickly see which loan will cost you less. Our tip is to rely on either the comparison rate or monthly repayment figure instead of the quoted APR or interest rate as these can be very misleading!
Learn: car finance terminology explained
The APR is the lender quoted annual percentage rate (excluding all fees and charges) that you will be charged on your loan amount.
Be careful of relying on APRs - they can often be misleading as they do not include the fees you will be charged by the lender. Comparison rates and monthly repayments are often a better way to compare lenders.
Learn: car finance terminology explained
The balloon payment is the final amount you pay at the end of your loan, normally expressed as a % of the total loan value.
The higher your balloon payment, the more interest you pay but the lower your monthly repayments. This is because you are delaying payment of this “balloon” amount until the end of your loan, so interest is accruing until this day.
If you believe that your likely car value at the day your loan ends is worth more than your balloon payment PLUS any interest that accrues, then it may make sense to have a balloon payment to decrease your monthly repayments. Otherwise, we suggest avoiding balloon payments if you can.
Lenders often cap what the maximum balloon payment is for this reason also - especially for older vehicles.
Learn: car finance terminology explained
Yes. Every lender considers your credit score when assessing whether or not you’re eligible for one of their loans.
For some lenders, your credit score will even impact how they set your interest rate (the higher the score, the better the rate).
No. Getting your rates with Driva doesn't impact your credit score.
Only once you've chosen your preferred lender quote, submitted your final application to Driva and we’ve vetted it to check if you’re likely to be approved will we share your application with your lender of choice.
With the information you’ve provided in your initial enquiry, we’re able to perform a “soft credit check” on your file with our friends over at Equifax. This gives us the score that lenders use to price your loan, but does not record an enquiry on your credit file.
A credit score is a single number that summarises your credit history, and lenders use it to decide if you’re eligible for a loan, and in some cases, at what rate. If you want to check your credit score, you can do so for free with one of our partners.
If you want to find out why your credit score is the way it is, you’ll need to get your detailed credit history. You can access this for free directly from Equifax on their website.
You can also reach out to us directly to hear how you can improve your credit score and the car loan rates you have access to - feel free to email us at info@driva.com.au or call us on 1300 755 494.
Learn: 10 things you need to know about your credit score
We can only see as much information as Equifax provides on your credit file, and we’re not able to make any amendments or lodge resolution requests on your behalf.
If you think your score might be incorrect, you can work directly with Equifax to have it rectified via the Equifax corrections portal.
