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Tred used car loans review
In-house financing available — but only for the cars in its inventory.
Bottom line: Tred works with sellers and borrowers to make it easier and safer to privately buy a car. Its loans cover the vehicles in its inventory. But rates, terms and other information isn’t available online. Read the full review.
Starting at 3.34%
APR
Pros
- 100% online process
- Same-day funding available
- Fair credit OK
- Includes free Carfax report
Cons
- No preapproval period
- Financing limited to Tred’s inventory
- Mixed customer reviews
- Limited information available online
Review by
Kellye Guinan
kellye.guinan@findercrew.comKellye Guinan is a seasoned financial writer with over 500 articles under her belt spanning all things loans from auto to personal to business and everything in between. With four years in the field and five years of research experience, she's able to make complex personal finance decisions easier for anyone to tackle. When she's not up to her knees learning about the latest trends in lending, she spends her time improving her own financial literacy and expertise — and maintaining a Duolingo streak of over 1,300 days.
Expert review
Tred is a legit service that helps you find and finance a car from a private seller. But the lack of information on its website and negative customer reviews leave a lot to be desired. You should compare other lenders first. Much like a dealership, this lets you know what rates you can expect before you shop for your next car.
Tred reviews and complaints
The majority of Tred’s reviews concern its high fees — and charges sellers weren’t expecting to pay. The most recent comments also had troubles with customer service and some of its policies. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find reviews specific to its financing program. However, with so many negative customer reviews, it may be worth considering other options before using this service to buy a used car.
How Tred compares to other lenders
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Tred rates, fees and terms
Tred works with four lenders — Ally Financial, BECU, First Tech FCU and Westlake Financial — to offer loans to buyers. This means you’ll need to apply through Tred to see what kind of interest rates and terms you can expect.
What types of car loans does Tred offer?
Tred only offers used car loans for its inventory of vehicles. If you’re not looking to use Tred as a middleman between you and a private seller, you should consider another lender instead.
Tred requirements
There isn’t much information available about eligibility criteria — and customer service wasn’t able to answer our basic questions without first applying for a loan.
Personal requirements
Because Tred isn’t directly in control of your loan, it doesn’t have any personal requirements listed on its website. However, you will likely need to have good to excellent credit and a steady source of income to qualify for the best rates.
Vehicle requirements
Tred doesn’t list any specific vehicle requirements for its loans. Provided the car is listed in its inventory, it should qualify for Tred’s in-house financing.
How the application works
To use Tred financing, you will need to select a car and sign in to your account. From here, you can select Pay with financing. Tred will ask a few basic details about you as well as your desired loan term to see if you’re a fit for one of its lenders. If you are, you’ll see one or more loan options that you can select from.
If one of Tred’s partner lenders doesn’t work in your area or isn’t able to offer a loan, you’ll also have the option to apply using your own bank. Tred will send a purchase order to your bank — which should eliminate some of the hassle of applying for financing.
What sets it apart
Tred is unique because it works with private sellers and borrowers as a middleman. It helps facilitate the process and makes it easier to pay fees. Tred is also able to ship your car anywhere in the country, although it doesn’t disclose the cost of this service.
But that’s about it, you’ll be on your own if you want more information. You’ll also risk a lowered credit score.
Because Tred only lets you apply for one vehicle at a time, taking too long to decide on a vehicle to finance through its lenders could damage your credit. Similar services, like Carvana, only require you to apply once before letting you shop for the right vehicle.
Is Tred legit?
Yes, Tred is a legitimate car-buying service and works with real lenders. But that doesn’t make it the best option. Although your application will be secure and your information safe, Tred’s high volume of complaints and uninformative website may not be up to your standards.
Compare other lenders before applying through Tred to see what terms you can qualify for. Since Tred requires you to apply for each car individually, this will help prevent too many hits to your credit score if you aren’t able to find the right option quickly.