 TITLE: How Bad Is It to Default on a Car Loan? CONTENT: What Happens When You Default on a Car Loan?\n--------------------------------------------\nAs soon as you miss your car payment due date, your lender could consider your account delinquent. The lender will usually charge you a late fee and will try to collect on the missing payment. You might have a short grace period, such as 10 or 15 days, during which time you can bring your account current without facing a late fee or other consequences. After 30 days, your lender will report the delinquent payment to the major consumer credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax), which add them to your credit reports.\nThe next step after delinquency is default. Each lender has their own timeline for declaring your loan in default; some may do it the first time you miss a payment, while others wait 90 days or longer. When you default, the lender ramps up their collection efforts, turning your account over to their in-house collection team or to a third-party collection agency that tries to recoup the money. END