Car Equity Loans work by letting you borrow against your car, so you’ll need equity in your car to fund the loan. This means if you financed your car when you purchased it, you’d need to owe less on the car than it is currently worth, or you need to have paid off your car loan completely. Most car equity loans are for small amounts, ranging from $100 to $5,500, so you must have at least that much equity in your car to qualify.