How can you go about getting a personal loan from a bank? What collateral do you usually need?

I would stay away from any kind of vehicle and personal loans. Auto loans are usually for 5-7 years and personal loans are shorter. But with personal loans you will pay a higher interest rate. Start saving what you think would be a car payment now, collect interest on your savings and then buy a car with straight cash. A 20, 000 loan for auto should cost about 24, 000 after intesrt at 6%. So you really paid 24, 000 for your car. Try selling things you don't use to get your car fund going, add what your blue book value for your current car and see how much more you need to save. Put aside a $1000 for a deductable and save even more on car insure with full coverage. I insured two vehicles w/ full coverage in KY for $700 because I set aside the deductable in savings. I would stay away from using collateral because if a bank won't loan you they money you shouldn't be borrowing it to begin with. Visit a personal finance plan site like dave ramsey.com and don't go into debt in the first place so you have money to save for what you want. Yes if you have good credit you won't need collateral. But writting a budget and saving for what you want will get much further then taking out loans will. Always conduct yourself with integrity and money will find it's way to you. All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. Proverbs 14:23, New International Version

Some banks do give small loans of about $2000-$3000 and it helps if you have an account (s) with the bank. If your credit is good, the bank will consider giving you more money and for sure if you own your home and don't owe major amounts of money to others, you'll probably get the money.

Apply for a personal loan at your bank. For the amount you are considering, you could get the loan with no collateral, as long as you have the ability to pay the loan payments. I have a $20,000 line of credit at my bank. All I had to do was ask for it.

A personal loan is an un-secured/non-collateralized loan. Your approval is based soley on your credit history and abilty to repay, i.e. steady source of income (which they will want to verify). In my state, with the Bank I work for, you apply, get approved and, as soon as the docs are generated (usually only a day or so), you sign and receive a check same day. As far as your stipulation question, this is a personal loan and, as long as you're approved, the Bank generally does not want or need to know the purpose.