2024 Caribou Auto Refinance Review

Caribou auto loans at a glance

	Refinance auto loans
Starting annual percentage rate (APR)	5.48%
Loan terms	24-84 months
Loan amounts	$10,000-$100,000
	See Refinance Rates

If you’re looking for a quick, easy way to lower your monthly car payment, applying for an auto loan refinance with Caribou Financial is a good place to start. The process is simple: You’ll fill out a short online form, and Caribou will show you multiple loan offers from its partners within minutes if you qualify.

• Competitive rates: Caribou’s interest rates start at 5.48% for borrowers with excellent credit. Borrowers with lower credit scores may only qualify for rates on the high end of Caribou’s range — currently 28.55%.
• Offers prequalification: When you apply for an auto loan refinance, Caribou will show you what rates you qualify for without damaging your credit. It will conduct a soft credit pull to show you what rates you prequalify for, and then it’ll do a hard credit check to confirm your credit history when you commit to a lender.
• Co-borrowers allowed: You may access lower rates and better terms with Caribou by applying with a co-borrower, especially if your co-borrower has excellent credit.
• Dedicated customer service: Caribou has a team of loan officers who can answer your questions and help you with the refinancing process by phone or email any day of the week.
• Best for borrowers with fair to excellent credit who want a quick way to shop around for lower car payments: If you’re looking for an easy way to save money on your car payments, you can compare multiple offers from Caribou’s partners without damaging your credit.

Caribou auto loan requirements

To refinance your car loan with Caribou, you’ll need a credit score of at least 640 and a minimum income of $2,500.

You also can’t live in the following states:

• Maryland
• Mississippi
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• West Virginia

Caribou pros and cons

Caribou may help you do some comparison shopping for your car loan refinance, but it’s not the perfect fit for every borrower.

If you have good or excellent credit, Caribou may offer competitive interest rates from several different auto lenders to help you lower your monthly car payment. You can also add a co-borrower to your car loan if you want to qualify for a lower rate. You can ask Caribou’s customer service team any questions along the way, and the lender offers online resources to help you through the refinancing process.

But refinancing with Caribou isn’t for everyone. Bad-credit borrowers won’t qualify for an auto refinance with Caribou. The company also doesn’t offer loans in Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada or West Virginia. And if you want to skip fees, read your offer carefully — Caribou’s partners may pass on a $499 processing fee.

Caribou company overview

Caribou is a lending platform that partners with auto lenders to offer car loan refinancing to borrowers who want to lower their car payments. It was founded in 2016 as MotoRefi and has since changed its name and expanded its offerings to include car insurance products.

Caribou auto loan types offered

Caribou only offers auto loan refinancing, so you should look elsewhere if you’re shopping for a new car loan.

Currently, Caribou exclusively refinances loans for cars, trucks and SUVs. Consider other lenders if you need a loan for your motorcycle or a commercial vehicle.

How to get an auto loan with Caribou

Provide personal information

Caribou offers a quick online process to prequalify. First, you’ll enter basic personal, employment, income and contact information about you and your co-borrower (if you have one).

Enter information about your car and your current loan

You’ll provide your car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) or manually enter information about the car’s make, model and manufacture year. You’ll also specify any particular features that came with the vehicle, including any add-ons or upgrades.

Next, Caribou will show you all of your existing car loans, and you’ll select which one you want to refinance.

Compare offers

Once you’ve submitted all of the information about yourself, your car and your current auto loan, Caribou will show you auto loan refinancing offers from its partners. Caribou makes it easy to compare offers, showing you how much you’ll save on monthly payments with each loan. You can also compare loan terms and interest rates.

Choose a loan

If you decide on one of the loan offers, you’ll select that loan and Caribou will show you how much you’ll save each month and over the course of your loan.

To formally apply for the loan, you may need to submit additional information about your employment and residence history. You’ll also need to provide your Social Security number and email address. Caribou will then run a hard credit check, which may ding your credit score by a few points.

At this point, you can also add one of Caribou’s insurance products, like its key replacement program or guaranteed auto protection (GAP) insurance.

Finalize your loan

To finish the process of refinancing your car, you’ll need to scan and upload copies of your driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance. Then, you’ll need to sign the loan contract and have the limited power of attorney (POA) document notarized before mailing the POA and title to Caribou.

Is a Caribou auto loan right for you?

A Caribou auto loan could be right for you if you’re looking to lower your monthly car payments without having to spend too much time comparison shopping on multiple websites. Borrowers with excellent credit could qualify for rates as low as 5.48%.

How Caribou auto loans compare

Caribou offers competitive interest rates and terms when compared to similar lending platforms, though it does require a higher credit score.

Here’s how Caribou compares to its competitors when it comes to auto loan refinancing:

Like Caribou Financial, RefiJet and myAutoLoan allow you to see your rates without affecting your credit by completing a short online form to prequalify. Both RefiJet and myAutoLoan can refinance loans as small as $5,000, making them good options for borrowers who want to refinance a small car loan.