Love the car. Understand the loan.
You already know which one you want in the driveway. We help with the less exciting part: who finances cars in Canada, what the payment could really look like, and how to start an application when you’re ready. We’re an independent guide, not a lender.
Three things worth doing before you visit a dealer
Ten minutes here can save you from nodding along to numbers you haven’t checked.
Run your own numbers
Put in the price, your down payment, a trade-in if you have one, tax, fees, a rate and a term. You get a payment estimate and the full schedule, so you can see what a longer term really costs you in interest.
See who finances cars
Banks, credit unions, finance companies, dealers and brokers all work differently. Our directory tells you which is which and shows only what each one publishes, with the source and the date we checked it.
Put providers side by side
Line up as many as four. When a provider doesn’t publish a fee or a rate, we write “Not published”. We don’t fill the gaps with guesses.
From here to the application in three stops
No surprises about who does what. Here is the whole trip.
Tell us what you’re after
Car, SUV, truck or van, a rough monthly budget, where you live and how to reach you. It takes a couple of minutes.
We hand you over to our partner
With your say-so, we pass those answers along and take you to our partner’s website with the form already started.
You finish it with them
You complete the application there. Whether you’re approved, and at what rate and term, is the provider’s call and never ours. Getting this far is not an approval.
Straight talk about who we are
What we are
- A Canadian website that explains car financing, compares providers and refers you to an application partner.
- Independent in what we write. Paid placements are labelled and kept apart from our own listings.
- Open about how we’re paid. It’s all in our affiliate disclosure.
What we’re not
- A lender, a dealership or the people who approve loans.
- Able to promise you an approval, a particular rate or how fast money moves.
- A representative of the companies in our directory, unless a listing says there’s a commercial relationship.
The “Direct” in our name is about how we talk: plainly, with no sales pressure. It doesn’t mean we lend money directly.
Read up before you sign
Short, plain-language guides to how car loans actually work in Canada.
How Car Loans Work in Canada
What a car loan is, who offers them, what makes up the cost and what happens from application to final payment.
New vs Used Car Financing
How financing a new vehicle differs from financing a used one, and what to weigh up for each.
Car Loan APR vs Interest Rate
The difference between a car loan’s interest rate and its APR, and why the APR is the better figure for comparing offers.
Car loans where you live
Who serves your area, where the branches are, and what to think about when you buy close to home.
Ready when you are.
Take your time. Start with a few quick questions, or keep reading until the numbers make sense to you.