America’s Car-Mart Review: Loans, Fees and the Going-Concern Warning

America’s Car-Mart is a real, publicly listed dealer that lends to its own buyers, and its SEC filings say more about those loans than its website does. On 6 October 2026 we read its Form 10-K for the year to 30 April 2026, its Form 10-Q to 31 July 2026 and its 8-Ks through 1 October; its website’s financing, FAQ, payment, exchange, service-contract and closed-store pages and Terms of Use; the CFPB’s enforcement list and complaint database; and its BBB profile. We submitted no application. Car-Mart’s Terms of Use allow links only to its home page, so its pages are named, not linked. This site has no commercial relationship with Car-Mart or any lender.

Who America’s Car-Mart is, and how it shrank in 2026

Car-Mart’s financing page calls it “an integrated auto sales and finance company also known as a ‘buy here pay here’ dealership.” The first store opened in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1981. The 10-K says the business runs through Car-Mart of Arkansas and Colonial Auto Finance, Inc., and that it “primarily sells older model used vehicles and provides financing for substantially all of its customers.” Our buy here pay here guide covers the model in general; this page is about the one company.

The cars are older and the prices are not small. Car-Mart generally buys vehicles “between five and twelve years old,” with about 70,000 to 140,000 miles, paying $7,000 to $15,000 each and about $9,500 on average. Its average retail sales price in fiscal 2026 was $20,064 including “ancillary products” and $17,618 for the vehicles alone. By our arithmetic, $2,446 of the average sale, about 12%, was add-ons, which the 10-K says “in most cases” means a service contract and an accident protection plan.

The network shrank by more than a third. Car-Mart began fiscal 2026 with 154 dealerships and finished it with 94, having closed 60 and opened none, 39% of its stores by our arithmetic. An 8-K says that on 7 April 2026 the board approved “the closure of 42 of the Company’s 136 dealership locations,” leaving “94 dealership locations across 12 states.” About 64% of the stores are in communities of 50,000 people or fewer.

If your store closed, your loan did not. Car-Mart’s closed-location page says “As of Wednesday, April 8, 2026, all active loans will be serviced by: America’s Car-Mart Corporate Account Servicing,” and its store-change notices name the store that took over each account. The website has not caught up everywhere: it still says “more than 2,000 associates,” while the 10-K counts “approximately 1,500 full-time associates.”

The going-concern warning, and what it means for a buyer

This is the part of the record a buyer is least likely to see on the lot. The 10-K says “conditions affecting the Company’s liquidity and capital structure raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” and the 10-Q repeats the warning.

The filings explain why. On 30 October 2025 Car-Mart took a five-year, $300.0 million term loan from funds managed by Silver Point Capital. In the quarter to July 2026, the 10-Q says, it “failed to comply with the minimum liquidity and minimum collateral coverage ratio covenants” in that loan. An amendment of 19 June 2026 gave relief to 7 September, and five 8-Ks since then report short extensions: to 11, 18 and 24 September, 1 October and, in the 8-K filed 1 October, 8 October 2026. The company had “no revolving credit facility or warehouse facility available to it” and “obtained no new financing” in the quarter.

Less credit means fewer cars. In the quarter to 31 July 2026 Car-Mart sold 2,450 cars at retail, down 81.9%, or 8.7 per dealership per month against 29.4 a year earlier. Expect a thin lot.

The latest 8-K says “The Company believes it has made significant progress towards a transaction,” and that “There can be no assurance” of a good outcome. The 10-Q says outcomes “could include a refinancing, recapitalization, restructuring or sale of the Company or its assets,” or “the Company seeking protection under applicable bankruptcy or insolvency laws.” None of those outcomes had been announced in the filings through 1 October 2026.

Two disclosures show what could change for a customer. On servicing, the 10-K says each loan securitization “requires that a back-up servicer be in place,” and that back-up servicers typically use “call-center-based collection models” with less familiarity with “in-person payment collection practices.” On the add-ons, the 10-K says the Accident Protection Plan “contractually obligates the Company” to cancel the balance, and the website says service-contract repairs “must be authorized by Car-Mart in advance.” Both depend on Car-Mart itself.

How approval works: a soft inquiry, then the store manager

You can apply online, “in as little as five minutes,” and get “a text with your pre-qualification,” or apply at a store. The home page promises pre-qualification “WITH NO HIT TO YOUR CREDIT,” and the FAQ gives the limit: pre-qualification “will only generate a soft inquiry,” but “Once a vehicle is selected and your official application is submitted, a hard credit inquiry may be made.” Applications are “good for 30 days.”

The 10-K describes the decision. Car-Mart takes a full application covering “employment, residence, credit history, and personal references,” verifies it, and then “the dealership manager ... reviews and either accepts, rejects, or modifies the proposed transaction, potentially requiring a higher down payment or recommending a lower-priced vehicle.” Its loan system has “tightened its credit approval standards, primarily by requiring higher down payments and shorter terms from certain customers.”

Ask which score counts. The FAQ says “a traditional credit score is not used to determine financing.” The 10-K describes a proprietary “seven-point scorecard,” introduced in May 2024, whose grade sets “the maximum amount financed, term length and minimum down payment,” and says the rate is set “based primarily on the customer’s credit score and applicable state usury limits.” It may mean Car-Mart’s own score. Note too that “After origination, credit grades are generally not updated.”

Some rules are firm. Car-Mart finances people with past repossessions and bankruptcies, but “we do not finance those who are experiencing an active bankruptcy.” Full coverage insurance is required in Texas and “on all vehicle sales above $10,000,” and “Car-Mart does not provide or sell insurance.” A trade-in offer is good for “seven days” at the store that made it.

Payments reach your credit file. The FAQ says Car-Mart reports “to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion Credit bureaus each month,” as “Colonial Auto Finance” at Equifax and Experian, and “reports all information both positive and negative,” for co-buyers too. And: “At any time a car is parked on lot pending repossession, this information is sent to the credit bureaus,” so even a car parked and redeemed the same day gets the comment “Redeemed Repossession.” See how these loans reach your credit file.

Rates, terms and down payments, as the filings print them

Car-Mart’s website talks about “low down payments” but prints no rate. Its filings print ranges and averages, and the two filings three months apart do not print the same ranges.

By our arithmetic, the top rate rose 2.7 percentage points and the longest term grew by 12 months between the filings. The 10-Q mentions only “slightly increasing the maximum terms over the last year” for the highest-risk customers. State usury limits cap the rate; the 10-K says states set them as “a specified margin above the federal primary credit rate,” by “the age of the vehicle,” or as “a fixed rate.”

Car-Mart prints no average amount financed, so here is a worked example built only from its own fiscal 2026 averages. Take the $20,064 average sale, put down 5.1% ($1,023) and finance $19,041 at 17.7% for 45 months, close to the 45.1-month average term at signing. By our arithmetic the payment is about $582 a month, or about $134 a week, and the 45 payments total $26,189, of which $7,148 is finance charge, before tax and fees. Car-Mart’s own average collected per active customer per month in fiscal 2026 was $591. This is an illustration, not a quote.

Modifications are common. The 10-K says “Approximately half of the Company’s installment sale contracts on average require one or more modifications,” usually term extensions “to lower the installment payment amount,” and that it “expects to collect all amounts due, including accrued interest at the contractual rate.” Contracts making up 30.3% of the portfolio were modified during fiscal 2026, and term extensions added a weighted average of 1.9 months. A lower payment now means more months of interest later.

Short of the down payment? The financing page says “some of our locations offer a lay-a-way plan that allows payments up to six weeks,” not in Texas. Either way, bring a rate from elsewhere: compare credit union rates, get a pre-approval, and read how used-car rates are set. Our pages on Capital One, Navy Federal and PenFed auto loans read those lenders’ published terms.

Weekly payments, and what each way of paying costs

Payments follow paydays: the 10-K says about 78% fall due weekly or bi-weekly. The payment page adds a term to ask about: “Seasonal payments are additional scheduled payments beyond your regular payment schedule.” About 43% of customers paid in person at a dealership in fiscal 2026, down from 50% in 2024. The fee depends on how you pay.

Paying bi-weekly, the same arithmetic gives $65 a year online and $102.70 in cash at retailers. The FAQ’s own list of payment options lists phone and online payments without any fee; the Pay Your Way page is the one that charges $2.50. No late-fee amount appears on the pages we read, though the 10-K reports about $5.9 million of late-fee revenue in fiscal 2026, so ask what it is.

At payoff, note that the portal’s principal balance “is not the same as your payoff amount”; ask your account representative for the exact figure in writing. And closed stores raise a risk Car-Mart names itself: the 10-K says many customers “have not traditionally remitted payments to non-store locations,” and that those whose dealerships closed “may become more likely to not make their payments in a timely manner.” If your store closed, confirm where to pay before the next due date, or set up Auto Pay.

The 7-day exchange, “as is” sales and the inspections

The 10-K is direct: “Sales are completed on an ‘as is’ basis; however, customers have the option to purchase a service contract covering certain vehicle components and assemblies.” The FTC’s Buyers Guide on the window should say the same; read it before you sign, with our notes on the Buyers Guide.

Instead of a return, Car-Mart offers an exchange. Its “100% Satisfaction” page gives “a full 7 days or less than 500 miles (whichever occurs first) to exchange your vehicle for another one of equal or lesser value.” The window closes on the seventh day or at 500 miles, whichever comes first, and the fine print sets the limits:

• “Our 100% Satisfaction designates an exchange; not a return.”
• “Customers may use this service only once per sale,” at “the Car-Mart of purchase.”
• Trading up means you “must provide for the increase in required down payment.”
• The car must come back “undamaged, clean and mechanically sound.”
• “No money will be returned,” and it is “Not available in Illinois.”

If the seventh day falls when the store is shut, the deadline moves to 6pm on the next open day. The 10-K words the policy as an exchange “for one of comparable value.” Either way, the remedy for a wrong car is another car from the same lot.

On inspections the website and the filing differ in tone. The Hand Selected Vehicles page describes “a two-step process” and says “We make any necessary repairs.” The 10-K says a manager “inspects and test-drives each vehicle,” and that “Given the Company’s limited capacity for vehicle repair and reconditioning, it strives to purchase vehicles requiring minimal repairs.” None of the Car-Mart pages we read mentions recalls.

Service Contract Plus, the Accident Protection Plan and GPS

Most buyers take the add-ons. The 10-K says “A substantial majority of customers” buy a service contract and “the vast majority of financed customers” buy the Accident Protection Plan. Both are optional; price each separately.

Service Contract Plus. Car-Mart says it “covers most major mechanical failures,” with covered parts listed in the agreement you get at the sale. Which package you can buy depends on the car’s price; none is sold in Illinois. Repairs “must be authorized by Car-Mart in advance,” you must supply “a written repair diagnostic,” and “A $75 deductible applies to each approved Service Contract Plus claim.” If a claim is denied, “the diagnostic fee is your responsibility.” At an out-of-network shop you pay first, and “Reimbursement processing typically takes 4-6 weeks.” Sell, trade or total the car early and Car-Mart credits your account “for a pro-rated balance.”

The 10-K adds a detail the website does not. Car-Mart books service-contract revenue over about 9, 18 and 27 months for the 12-, 24- and 36-month contracts, because it “estimates that the covered mileage is generally used before the contract’s month limit is reached.” That is 75% of the stated months each time, by our arithmetic. On an older car driven daily, expect the mileage limit to end coverage first, and judge the price by the miles you will really get. Our guide to extended warranties covers cancellation refunds.

Accident Protection Plan. Car-Mart calls it “a cancellation of your remaining debt in the case your vehicle is stolen or considered a total loss.” You must carry the insurance your contract requires; “claims are not automatically approved”; insurance money goes to your balance first; a theft claim waits 21 days; and “primarily commercial use is not covered.” One line says “Not offered in Illinois and Indiana,” other pages say only Indiana, and the 10-K says “most states.” Compare it with GAP insurance.

GPS. The 10-K says “the Company uses credit reporting and GPS technology to support its collections efforts.” Nothing we read mentions starter-interrupt devices. Ask whether the car has a tracker or any device that can disable it; our guide explains starter interrupts and GPS trackers.

Credit losses, late accounts and repossession

The filings show how often these loans go wrong. Car-Mart’s provision for credit losses was 40.8% of sales in fiscal 2026, against 32.7% in 2025 and 36.5% in 2024, the top of a five-year range that began at 22.9% in fiscal 2022 and averaged 32.4%. In the July quarter it hit 79.6%, which the 10-Q puts down mainly to “the substantially reduced sales base.” Net charge-offs were 27.6% of average finance receivables, up from 25.9%.

Repossessed cars recover only part of the loss. In fiscal 2026 Car-Mart charged off $534.6 million and recovered $122.1 million of collateral, 23% by our arithmetic. Accounts were about 73 days past due on average when charged off. The 10-K says “a significant portion” of repossessed cars are “voluntarily returned or surrendered by customers,” and the 10-Q says that since late May 2026 Car-Mart has been “wholesaling substantially all repossessed vehicles.” Neither prints a count of repossessions.

Late payment is routine. At 30 April 2026, 77.19% of principal was current, 18.69% was 3 to 29 days past due, 2.80% was 30 to 60 days, 0.83% was 61 to 90 days and 0.49% was over 90. Accounts more than 30 days past due rose to 4.6% at 31 July 2026 from 4.1%.

If you fall behind, ask early about a modification, and get the new term and total in writing. If a car is repossessed and sold for less than you owe, you may still owe the difference: “Loan balance remaining after the vehicle is repossessed and sold” is the commonest sub-issue in Car-Mart’s CFPB vehicle-loan complaints, with 45. Our repossession guide explains that balance.

Regulators, courts and complaints

Supervision, not enforcement. The 10-K says Colonial “is deemed a ‘larger participant’ in the automobile financing market and is therefore subject to examination and supervision by the CFPB.” Title searches of the CFPB’s enforcement actions on 6 October 2026 for “car mart,” “car-mart” and “colonial” returned no results, and web searches for state attorney-general or Department of Justice actions found none. That is a search, not a clearance.

Courts and accounts. The 10-K says the company is a defendant in “various types of legal proceedings” in the ordinary course, none expected to be material. It also says earlier financial statements “contained material omissions of required disclosures” about loan modifications, since restated. A 2025 Oklahoma Supreme Court decision in a service-contract case surfaced in search, but the court’s site bars automated readers and we could not read it, so we say nothing about it.

CFPB complaints. The CFPB complaint database publishes what consumers file without verifying it, and bigger lenders draw more complaints. Since 30 September 2026 the CFPB no longer publishes narratives, so only counts are used.

The file is growing faster than the market. By our arithmetic complaints rose 116% from 2024 to 2025, and vehicle-loan complaints went from 30 to 77, up 157%, while the whole “Vehicle loan or lease” category grew 55%. Other common vehicle-loan sub-issues are add-on products (22), “Voluntary repossession” (22) and “Lender trying to repossess or disable the vehicle” (18).

BBB. BBB’s headquarters profile shows Car-Mart as not accredited and rated F, citing “Failure to respond to 49 complaint(s)” and 37 not resolved. It counts 342 complaints in three years, 243 answered and 13 resolved, led by service or repair (104), product (80) and billing (71). BBB asks readers to “consider the company’s size and volume of transactions.”

Car-Mart and DriveTime, on what both companies print

DriveTime is the other large buy here pay here chain; our DriveTime review read its pages the same day. This table compares only points both companies’ own documents state.

The biggest difference is after the sale: DriveTime promises a return and a short warranty, while Car-Mart offers one exchange and sells “as is.” Car-Mart keeps collection in-house and lets you pay free at the store. Complaint counts say little alone, since DriveTime has more stores and Bridgecrest serves Carvana buyers too. Our Credit Acceptance and Westlake Financial reviews cover lenders that buy dealers’ loans instead.

Where Car-Mart’s own documents disagree, and what to do before you sign

None of these is a finding against the company; each is a reason to get your own terms in writing.

Smaller slips point the same way: the FAQ still says the bureaus allow a free weekly report “through April 20, 2022,” and the Terms of Use, last modified 18 November 2022, name a “Terms of Sale, and Disclosure Statement” no page we read links to. Those Terms carry their own arbitration clause, under which either side can demand arbitration and “YOU GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION”; check what your sale contract says.

Common questions

Is America’s Car-Mart a buy here pay here dealer?

Yes, by its own description. It calls itself “an integrated auto sales and finance company also known as a ‘buy here pay here’ dealership,” and its 10-K says it finances “substantially all” of its customers through Colonial Auto Finance and services the loans itself.

What interest rate does Car-Mart charge?

The website prints none. The 10-K says contract rates are fixed and ran from 6.0% to 20.3% at 30 April 2026, with a weighted average of 17.7%; the 10-Q prints 6.00% to 23.00% at 31 July 2026. Your rate depends on Car-Mart’s grade for you and your state’s limits.

How much is the down payment at Car-Mart?

The 10-K says down payments typically run from 0% to 20%, averaging 5.1% in fiscal 2026; the 10-Q gives 5.4% for the July quarter. Car-Mart says the amount depends on the car, your trade-in, your application and any monthly promotion.

Can you return a car to Car-Mart?

Not for a refund. The “100% Satisfaction” policy allows one exchange for a car of “equal or lesser value” within 7 days or 500 miles, whichever comes first, at the store of purchase, and says “No money will be returned.” It is not offered in Illinois.

Does Car-Mart report to the credit bureaus?

Yes. Its FAQ says it reports to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion each month, positive and negative, for buyers and co-buyers. A car “parked on lot pending repossession” is reported too.

Is America’s Car-Mart going out of business?

Its filings do not say that. They say there is “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern, that lenders have extended relief week by week to 8 October 2026, and that outcomes could range from a refinancing or sale to bankruptcy protection. Its 8-K of 1 October 2026 says it believes it has made “significant progress towards a transaction.” Check SEC EDGAR before you buy.