A cosigner helps you get the loan. A year or two later, they often want out — they're applying for their own mortgage, the relationship has changed, or they just don't want the debt on their credit report anymore. The question is whether you can carry the loan by yourself.
Quick answer: Usually yes, by refinancing the loan in your name only. Most auto lenders won't simply take a cosigner off an existing loan, but a new loan that pays off the old one releases them completely. To qualify on your own you typically need to owe no more than 125% to 150% of the car's value, keep the new payment under 15% to 20% of your gross income and total debt payments under about 45% to 50%, and have a car roughly 10 model years old or newer with under 100,000 to 150,000 miles. Many lenders also want at least $5,000 left on the loan.
When the lender approved your loan, it approved it on the strength of two people. Taking one away changes the risk it agreed to, so lenders generally won't do it. Chase states it directly: a cosigner can't remove themselves, and the primary borrower can't remove them either. The cosigner's obligation ends only when the loan is paid off.
A minority of lenders do offer a cosigner release after a set number of on-time payments and a fresh credit review. It's worth one phone call to ask. If yours doesn't, there are four ways out:
When you refinance alone, you apply as if the cosigner never existed. Only your income and your credit count — plus the car and the loan itself. NerdWallet and Bankrate both describe the same set of checks, and typical limits look like this:
| Check | Typical limit |
|---|---|
| Loan-to-value (balance ÷ car value) | 125%–150% |
| Payment-to-income | 15%–20% of gross income |
| Debt-to-income, incl. rent | 45%–50% (some refinance lenders 60%) |
| Credit score | Minimums often in the 500s |
| Loan balance | At least $3,000–$7,500 |
| Vehicle age | About 10 model years or newer |
| Mileage | Under 100,000–150,000 |
| Loan history | Open at least 6 months |
The credit score minimum is rarely the problem. The rate is. Experian's Q2 2026 averages for used-car loans run from 6.29% for super-prime borrowers to 13.93% for near-prime and 19.10% for subprime. If your own score is lower than the score the original loan was priced on, your solo rate may be higher than the rate you have now.
Say you owe $18,000 on a 4-year-old car worth $19,500, at 11.5% with 48 payments left — $469.60 a month. Your gross income is $4,200 a month, rent is $1,300, and you have $200 in other minimum payments. Your credit score is now 690.
This borrower would probably get approved by some lenders and declined by others. Cutting about $71 a month in other debt payments — paying off a small card balance, for example — would bring debt-to-income under 45%. And because the new rate is lower, refinancing would also save about $410 in interest over the remaining term.
Change one number and the answer flips. Owe $24,000 on a car worth $17,000 and loan-to-value is 141%, above most lenders' comfort zone. Getting it to 125% means paying the balance down by about $2,750 first.
Our cosigner removal calculator runs all eight checks on your own numbers and shows what to fix first.
Every on-time payment on the cosigned loan appears on your credit report as well as theirs, so the loan itself is building your case. Twelve or more months of clean payments, combined with any improvement in your score, is a common point to start checking rates. Many refinance lenders quote rates with a soft credit pull, which doesn't affect your score; the hard inquiry comes only when you formally apply.
Avoid stretching the term just to make the numbers work unless you have to. A longer term lowers the payment and helps payment-to-income, but it usually adds interest and can leave you owing more than the car is worth for longer.
A cosigner usually isn't on the title — they guaranteed the debt but don't own the car. A co-borrower may be. If the other person is on the title, refinancing releases them from the loan but not from ownership; removing them from the title is a separate step through your state's DMV, and they'll typically need to sign.
For the cosigner, the refinanced loan shows as paid in full. The account's history stays on their report — on-time payments included — but the debt no longer counts against them when they apply for credit.