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Can I refinance with bad credit?
Possibly, it depends on what 'bad' means and what's happened since. Lenders read the whole file: how old the marks are, whether defaults were paid, and what your repayment behaviour has looked like recently. An old, paid default behind a year of clean payments is a very different story from fresh arrears.
By Leverage Finance · Updated 17 July 2026
There's a quiet advantage many people miss: if you've been paying your current car loan on time, that history is itself evidence in your favour, often the strongest evidence a recovering file has. Some lenders on the panel specialise in exactly this situation.
No outcome is guaranteed; approval is always the lender's assessment. But finding out costs nothing and starts with a soft check, so the question is at least free to ask. See Refinancing with bad credit for the full picture.
Same car. See what a better loan looks like.
Two minutes, one soft check to start, no obligation. Your file goes to a panel of NZ lenders and the strongest offer comes back.
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