Vehicle finance Australia
Vehicle finance: cars, utes, trucks, fleets and novated leases
Vehicle finance is the loan or lease that pays for a car, ute, van, truck or fleet, either in your own name or through a business. A private buyer usually takes a secured car loan. A business usually takes a chattel mortgage, because the vehicle is the security and the GST and tax treatment follow from that. On 10 October 2026 secured car loans started from 6.49% p.a. at Westpac and 6.79% p.a. at CommBank. Business vehicle loans are quoted rather than advertised as a single rate.
- Consumer car loans: 1 to 7 years, secured on the vehicle
- Business: chattel mortgage, finance lease or operating lease, on an ABN
- Novated lease: salary packaging through your employer
- A fleet can sit under one limit instead of a new loan per vehicle
Finance by vehicle
The rate, the term and the tax follow the vehicle and who is buying it. Start with the page that matches what you are financing, then come back here for the structure.
Car loans
Secured car finance for a new or used car bought privately or from a dealer.
- Secured or unsecured
- New and used
- Published rate ranges
Ute finance
Work utes and dual cabs, including low doc options for ABN holders.
- Dual cab and single
- Business use
- Car limit check
Vans and business cars
Buying a car or van through an ABN, on a chattel mortgage or a lease.
- ABN holders
- GST credit
- Chattel mortgage
Truck finance
Light commercials, rigid trucks and prime movers, new or used.
- Rigids and prime movers
- Trailers with the truck
- ABN finance
Motorcycle loans
Motorbike finance, secured or unsecured, with the age limits lenders publish.
- New and used
- Age limits
- Secured or unsecured
Caravan loans
Touring caravans, camper trailers and motorhomes.
- Touring and pop-top
- Motorhomes
- Private sale
Boat and jet ski loans
Runabouts, cruisers, yachts and personal watercraft.
- Secured or unsecured
- Jet skis
- Used-boat checks
Electric vehicles
The EV and plug-in hybrid discounts the banks publish.
- Green rate discounts
- Novated FBT
- Chattel or loan
Vans sit with business car loans. Trailers financed with a truck sit on truck finance. Horse floats and camper trailers are consumer purchases and sit with caravan loans. Anything that is not a vehicle, from a fit-out to a machine, starts at asset finance.
Personal versus business vehicle finance
The same ute can be financed three ways, and they are not interchangeable. In your own name it is a car loan, secured if the vehicle is new enough, unsecured if it is not. Through an ABN, with the vehicle used mostly for business, it is a chattel mortgage or a lease. Through your employer it can be a novated lease, which is salary packaging rather than a business loan.
Private use does not get a GST credit or a deduction for the interest. Business use does, to the share that is actually business, and a passenger car runs into the car limit. Putting a private car through a company so it "looks like" business finance does not change the tax: private use by a director or employee can create a fringe benefits tax liability. The ATO's car fringe benefits rules are the check, and your accountant should make it before the contract is signed. The business car loan page sets out the ABN path in detail.
On the rate, a consumer secured loan is the one with a published range. On 10 October 2026 Westpac published 6.49% to 12.99% p.a. (comparison 7.90% to 14.34%), with a median of 8.49% that around half its customers get or beat. CommBank's secured car loan was 6.79% to 11.29% (comparison 8.20% to 12.65%). Business vehicle rates are quoted on the business as well as the vehicle, so a short ABN or thin financials can price above those consumer floors even though the vehicle is the same.
Car loan, chattel mortgage, lease or novated
Ownership, GST and tax sit in a different place under each structure. The cheapest repayment is not always the cheapest after tax.
| Structure | Who it is for | Who owns the vehicle | GST and tax | At the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secured car loan | You, privately | You, with the lender registered on the PPSR | No GST credit and no interest deduction on private use | You already own it; the security comes off when you pay the last instalment |
| Chattel mortgage | A business with an ABN | The business, from day one | GST on the price claimed on the next BAS, capped for a passenger car; interest and depreciation to the business-use share | Pay the last instalment or balloon; the security is released |
| Finance lease | A business that may hand the vehicle back | The lessor | GST on each rental; rentals deductible to the business-use share | A residual set at the start: pay it, refinance it or return the vehicle |
| Novated lease | An employee, through the employer | The lessor, with the employee using the car | Paid from pre-tax salary. Fringe benefits tax applies unless an eligible electric car is exempt | Pay the residual, refinance it or hand the car back |
Tax treatment is general guidance from the ATO rules already covered on our car limit and equipment tax pages. Confirm it for your entity with your accountant.
Fleet finance: one limit, more than one vehicle
A single ute is a single contract. A plumber who replaces two vans a year, or a carrier adding a prime mover and a trailer, spends more time applying than driving if every vehicle is a new loan. A fleet facility is an agreed limit. You draw it down as you buy, the vehicle becomes the security, and you can add or swap vehicles without starting from a blank application each time.
Lenders still look at each vehicle's age and at the business. A new van and a ten-year-old truck will not be priced the same, and a trailer is often financed beside the truck rather than inside the same contract, because a trailer can outlast two prime movers. Transport equipment finance and transport business loans cover the working-capital side, which a vehicle facility does not: fuel, wages and registrations are not assets.
There is no single published ceiling. Banks size larger fleets on financials. Low doc lenders work from bank statements and the vehicles, usually with a lower ceiling and a higher rate. A broker's job on a fleet is to keep one set of documents in front of the lenders who will take the mix of ages, not to promise a dollar limit before anyone has seen the file.
Novated leasing
A novated lease packages a car, and usually its running costs, into an employee's pre-tax salary. It is not business vehicle finance, and it is not a personal loan. The employer has to agree. The saving depends on your tax rate, the car's price, the fringe benefits tax, and what the packaging company adds to the price of the car and the finance.
Eligible electric cars can be exempt from fringe benefits tax. That exemption is narrowing for new arrangements: our coverage of the draft end date and the novated lease mark-up is the context, and the novated lease calculator is the comparison against a straight car loan. Read novated lease versus car loan before you treat a packaged quote as the cheap option.
What drives the rate
Four things move a vehicle quote more than the brand of the car. The vehicle's age and kilometres, because that is what the lender can sell if you stop paying. Your credit file. For a business, how long the ABN has been trading and whether the lender is looking at financials or bank statements: CommBank publishes 12 months of trading as a floor on equipment finance, and low doc lenders will often look at less paperwork at a higher rate. And the structure: a balloon lowers the repayment and keeps a lump sum, which is interest-bearing for the whole term, owing at the end.
On a consumer loan the published ranges are the map. Westpac's median of 8.49% p.a. (comparison 9.67%) is a fairer marker of a typical secured car loan than the 6.49% floor. Unsecured loans, used when the vehicle is too old to secure, run much wider: NAB 7.50% to 22.00% and CommBank fixed 7.25% to 22.25% on 10 October 2026. Electric and plug-in hybrid cars can sit below the ordinary floor. CommBank published 6.49% to 8.49% for eligible EVs and plug-in hybrids, and 5.79% under its EV Access Program for eligible essential workers or buyers earning under $100,000. The car loan interest rates page has each lender's range, fees and age rule.
Tax and GST for business vehicles
For the 2026-27 income year the ATO car limit is $69,883. It caps the cost a business can depreciate on a passenger car, and it caps the GST credit at one-eleventh of that limit, $6,353. A $90,000 SUV does not produce a $8,182 GST credit. The credit stops at $6,353, and the amount above the car limit is never depreciated. Utes, vans and trucks designed to carry a load of one tonne or more are not cars for this test, so the cap does not apply. Check the payload on the compliance plate: plenty of dual cabs fall just under a tonne and are caught.
The instant asset write-off is a separate rule and, at a $20,000 threshold, it does not write off a new vehicle. Assets at or above the threshold go into the small business pool. The instant asset write-off guide and the equipment finance tax benefits page walk through the pool, the car limit and the GST cap with the ATO's own worked example. Luxury car tax, which is a different threshold, is on the luxury car tax page.
None of this is personal advice. The deduction follows business use. A logbook, or the cents-per-kilometre method for a sole trader's car, is what supports the percentage. A company claims actual costs and may have fringe benefits tax on private use.
Used and private-sale checks
A dealer sale comes with a contract and, usually, the dealer arranging the payout of any existing finance. A private sale does not. Before you pay a deposit on a used car, ute or truck:
- Match the VIN on the vehicle to the registration papers and the advertisement.
- Search the PPSR for money still owing. A secured lender will not take a vehicle that already has a security interest, and you can inherit the debt if you pay the seller and the interest stays on.
- Check the odometer against service history. Kilometres move the rate and, on some lenders, the maximum term.
- Confirm the vehicle will still be inside the lender's age limit at the end of the term you want, not only on the day you apply.
- Agree who pays the lender, and when. On a private sale the lender usually pays the seller direct at settlement, after its own security is ready to be registered.
BankSA publishes a $6 PPSR fee on its secured car loans, which is the lender's fee for registering its interest, not a substitute for the search you run yourself before you commit. The private sale car loan page covers the settlement order in more detail. The same checks apply to a used truck or trailer, where the identifier and the registration are different but the PPSR search is the same register.
What are the repayments on vehicle finance?
| Loan amount | Monthly repayment at | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.49%p.a. | 8.49%p.a. | 10%p.a. | 12.99%p.a. | |
| $25,000 | $489 | $513 | $531 | $569 |
| $45,000 | $880 | $923 | $956 | $1,024 |
| $70,000 | $1,369 | $1,436 | $1,487 | $1,592 |
| $120,000 | $2,347 | $2,461 | $2,550 | $2,730 |
Scroll the table sideways for more rates
Illustrative monthly principal and interest repayments over 5 years, before fees and charges. Rates are examples, not offers; your rate depends on the lender and your circumstances. 6.49% and 12.99% are the bottom and top of Westpac's published secured car loan range, and 8.49% is Westpac's median, as published on 10 October 2026. 10% is illustrative. Monthly principal and interest, no balloon, before fees. Business quotes can sit outside this range. Use the car loan calculator.
On $45,000 over five years at Westpac's 6.49% floor the repayment is about $880 a month, and about $923 at the 8.49% median. Interest over the five years is about $7,816 at the floor and $10,382 at the median, before fees. A 30% balloon at an illustrative 8% on the same $45,000 cuts the repayment from about $912 to $729 a month, and leaves $13,500 owing at the end. The car loan calculator adds a deposit and a balloon. Equipment-style balloons are on the equipment finance calculator.
Vehicle lenders a broker can compare
Lenders in our directory that write vehicle loans. Business vehicle policy is separate from the consumer car loan, and many lenders only quote it through a broker or a business banker. The broker checks which panel lenders will take your vehicle, your ABN and the age.
| Lender | Products | Current rate |
|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Bank of AustraliaMajor bank | Products:
| Current rate: 6.79%p.a. 8.20% p.a. comparison rate* Secured Fixed Rate Car Loan, Secured Fixed Rate Car Loan, secured by the car being bought: from rate for excellent credit (rates up to 11.29% p.a.); comparison on a $30,000 loan over 5 years. As at 10 Oct 2026. Source: CommBank rates page (opens in a new tab) |
| Westpac Banking CorporationMajor bank | Products:
| Current rate: 6.49%p.a. 7.90% p.a. comparison rate* Car Loan Secured, Car Loan for petrol, diesel or LPG cars, fixed rate, secured by the car: from rate; the rate offered depends on your credit assessment. As at 10 Oct 2026. Source: Westpac rates page (opens in a new tab) |
| Bank AustraliaCustomer-owned | Products:
| Current rate: 6.29%p.a. 6.29% p.a. comparison rate* Clean Energy Car Loan, Electric Vehicle Loan, fixed rate, secured, new electric vehicles; establishment fee waived for fully electric vehicles; comparison on a $30,000 secured loan over 5 years. As at 10 Oct 2026. Source: Bank Australia rates page (opens in a new tab) |
| Liberty FinancialNon-bank | Products:
| Current rate: 8.99%p.a. 10.65% p.a. comparison rate* Liberty Drive Secured, Flexible car loan, secured, new and used cars: from rate; comparison on a $30,000 new-car loan over 5 years with no balloon. As at 10 Oct 2026. Source: Liberty rates page (opens in a new tab) |
| MoneyMeSpecialist | Products:
| Current rate: 6.24%p.a. 7.13% p.a. comparison rate* MoneyMe Secured Car Loan, Secured car loan, variable rate, new or used vehicles: from rate for excellent credit history (maximum 26.35% p.a.); $12.50 monthly fee. As at 10 Oct 2026. Source: MoneyMe rates page (opens in a new tab) |
| Now FinanceSpecialist | Products:
| Current rate: 7.59%p.a. 8.43% p.a. comparison rate* NF Secured Car Loan (Tier 1), Vehicle Loan secured by the vehicle, new or used: from rate (rates up to 15.39% p.a.); establishment fee up to $595. As at 10 Oct 2026. Source: Now Finance rates page (opens in a new tab) |
| PlentiSpecialist | Products:
| Current rate: 7.99%p.a. 9.78% p.a. comparison rate* Plenti Car Loan (Tier 1), Secured car loan, new or demo vehicle, homeowner with exceptional credit: from rate (rates up to 12.99% p.a.); comparison on $30,000 over 60 months including a $14.90 monthly fee. As at 10 Oct 2026. Source: Plenti rates page (opens in a new tab) |
| Australia and New Zealand Banking GroupMajor bank | Products:
| Current rate: ANZ rate card (opens in a new tab) |
| National Australia BankMajor bank | Products:
| Current rate: NAB rate card (opens in a new tab) |
| BankSAMajor-bank brand | Products:
| Current rate: BankSA rate card (opens in a new tab) |
Show all 16 lendersShow fewer lenders
| Lender | Products | Current rate |
|---|---|---|
| ING AustraliaTier-2 bank | Products:
| Current rate: ING rate card (opens in a new tab) |
| IMB BankCustomer-owned | Products:
| Current rate: IMB rate card (opens in a new tab) |
| Newcastle Permanent (Newcastle Greater Mutual Group)Customer-owned | Products:
| Current rate: Newcastle Permanent rate card (opens in a new tab) |
| Teachers Mutual BankCustomer-owned | Products:
| Current rate: Teachers Mutual rate card (opens in a new tab) |
| Pepper MoneyNon-bank | Products:
| Current rate: Pepper Money rate card (opens in a new tab) |
| Angle FinanceSpecialist | Products:
| Current rate: Angle Finance rate card (opens in a new tab) |
Inclusion is editorial reference, not a recommendation. Rates change often, so we only show a rate we captured from the lender's own page in the last 60 days, with a link to that page; otherwise we link to the lender's rate card where it publishes one. The broker you are matched with compares the lenders on their own panel.
See all 20 car loan lenders* WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Car loan comparison rates are based on a secured loan of $30,000 over 5 years.
- Private buyers: a secured car loan, with published ranges from about 6.5% and age limits of 7, 10 or 12 years depending on the lender (10 October 2026).
- Businesses: a chattel mortgage when you will keep the vehicle, a lease when you may hand it back.
- Employees: a novated lease only if the employer will package it, compared after fees and fringe benefits tax.
- Fleets: one limit, drawn down as vehicles are added, with each vehicle still checked for age and use.
- Passenger cars: GST credit capped at $6,353 and depreciation capped at $69,883 in 2026-27.
- Private sales: VIN, PPSR, age at the end of the term, then the lender pays the seller.
Vehicle finance guides
The child pages hold the depth. This hub is the map.
Your Finance Guide is free to use. Licensed brokers who meet our criteria pay Your Finance Guide a partnership fee to receive enquiries from this site. The fee is paid by the broker, not by you, and is not added to your loan. Brokers are usually also paid a commission by the lender when a loan settles. Full details are in our Credit Guide.
WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Car loan comparison rates are based on a secured loan of $30,000 over 5 years.
Vehicle finance FAQs
Can I finance a vehicle on an ABN?
What is the difference between a chattel mortgage and a novated lease?
How old can a used vehicle be?
Can I finance several vehicles under one facility?
Can I claim GST on a financed vehicle?
What is the maximum term on vehicle finance?
Compare vehicle finance for the vehicle you are actually buying
Cars, utes, vans, trucks and fleets. A licensed asset finance broker compares the lenders on their panel. Free to use, no obligation.