A bad credit score can make getting a car loan more difficult ? and increase the cost of that loan in the long run. But as long as you are responsible about your loan, it can ultimately help you improve your credit score.

In this article, you?ll find information about credit scores and how you can use an auto loan to help build or rebuild your score. You?ll also find some recommendations for additional ways to work on bringing your credit score up. 

Auto Loans May Be an Opportunity For People With Bad Credit

One of the hardships for people with bad credit is the availability of credit itself. Lenders may be reluctant to offer credit to people with low scores. This results in a no-win situation wherein people need credit to improve their scores, but can?t get credit due to their scores. Specifically, most lenders will consider a FICO credit score under 580 to be a ?bad? credit score. 
Auto loans, however, can sometimes be one of the easier types of credit to obtain for people with low scores. Car loans are secured loans that use the vehicle as collateral, meaning a lender can repossess the car if the borrower fails to make payments. This means that lenders have more security with auto loans than they do with other forms of credit such as credit cards and personal loans. 

Eric Ridley, an attorney who specializes in bankruptcy and credit issues, told Automoblog that car loans can help people build credit in some cases.

?An auto loan may be a go...