Auto Financing with an Ignition Interlock and Restricted License

After a DUI, you may have plenty of concerns over where your life is headed. Driving under the influence can mean you were injured or that your vehicle was damaged or totaled. Once you get through all of the court and administrative procedures after a DUI, you may even have an ignition interlock requirement and a restricted license. But, without a car, you can’t use either of those… and getting a new car probably means you’re going to have to finance it, as well.

Can you actually finance an auto loan with an ignition interlock and restricted license?

Financing a vehicle means that you’re going through a company that deals with financial information like your income, bills and credit score. They’re going to want your driver’s license information, but that probably isn’t about determining if you’re credit worthy – they just want a way to track you down if you stop paying on the car. Your restricted license and your ignition interlock requirement won’t influence the cost of your car or the rate of financing you receive, and it likely won’t influence the decision to sell you a loan for your new car.

The auto financing company will, of course, require you to have enough insurance to cover the cost of the car, which is where your interlock and restricted license may affect the “big picture” of getting you back on the road. After all of the costs involved with financing your car, your DUI costs, the ignition interlock, attorneys and insurance, your problem may not be financing the car but affording the total cost of your DUI. That’s a lot to consider when financing a new car that may have resulted from your DUI, especially when you could have just paid a few bucks for a taxi ride home.