re: does paying off a car loan early hurt credit?

How long have you had the car loan so far?

Paying as agreed on installment loans for over 2 years really helps your credit (assuming you don't have this elsewhere on your credit report with a mortgage or other car loans).

Paying off an installment loan overall helps your credit.
Although... having a 2+ year track record paid as agreed helps credit.
And having active credit accounts helps credit.

There are so many moving levers, it is difficult to generalize.

But yes. Paying off an installment loan helps your credit because it shows you are managing debt (even if you are cheating and having a friend loan you the payoff amount).