If you have a good credit history, you will probably not have any problems getting the auto loan you need. However, without a good credit history you might have some difficulties getting an interest rate you can afford. The lack of a good credit score does not mean that you are somehow irresponsible. Everyone has the occasional financial set-back. Unfortunately, lenders do not know you personally and need to rely on your credit score to determine whether or not they should lend you money.

Therefore, you should first find out whether or not you have a good credit score. If you have a good credit rating, above 700, you can walk into a dealership with confidence. If your rate is not as high as you would like, you will be able to take steps to compensate for your poor credit rating.

You can get your credit report free once every year, but your credit report does not contain your actual credit rating. There are two ways you can get your numerical credit rating.  The first is to pay a company to send it to you. The second way is to sign up with a company that offers you a free credit score.  You will need to sign up for a trial of their credit services in order to receive your score. Make sure that you cancel your membership before the trial period that you have. Otherwise, you might be charged.

If your credit rating is below 700, try and raise it before you buy a car. Work on servicing and paying down any debt you have.  Make payments on time or early.  Within a year, you should see a marked improvement in your credit score. If you have never taken on any debt, such as an auto loan or credit card, credit agencies have no credit score for you.  This is also called a “thin file” and means that there is not enough credit history to review.  A non-existent credit score can look just as bad as a low credit. Apply for a credit card and use it, making your payments on time each month.  Go to your banker or credit union and obtain a small personal loan.  The amount can be $1,000 so the point is to pay it on time, and payoff. This will let lenders know that you are responsible when dealing with your debts.

Sometimes, however, you just cannot wait to buy a  new car.  Your old car might have been in an accident and you need a car to get to and from your job.  If you do not have time to improve your credit score, consider asking a trusted friend or family member to be a cosigner.  Make sure that you can make the payments before you ask a friend to co-sign for you. For many individuals, getting an auto loan is the most stressful part of the car buying experience. Want to reduce some of the stress?   Search online for a real lender, or someone that you can see is really in the auto lending business and apply.   Better yet, if you can get multiple quotes from auto finance companies like myAutoloan.com, you can compare and save time and frustration that you would have to go through at the dealer.  Fortunately, if you do your research in advance you will be fully prepared for the auto loan process.

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A private party auto loan is a loan where a bank or credit union gives the loan to the consumer when they purchase a motor vehicle from a private person.  What is great about these loans is that the lender utilizes the car you are purchasing as collateral. If you cannot pay your loan as agreed, then the bank repossess the motor vehicle.  This helps the bank or credit union give out loans more frequently and easily than through a car dealership.

Now, of course, this means that the consumer works with a private individual instead of a car dealership.  However, dealing with a private individual has its advantages thanks to this loan process.  The consumer is able to facilitate a relationship with both the lender and the individual selling the motor vehicle.  Extensive communication with the seller aids in getting to know the car in greater detail and will allow you to get a CarFax report to verify the background and condition.

A relationship with the bank or credit union helps when negotiating the loan in question.  At a dealership, the loan process and seller of the auto are all through the car dealership.  Banks work through a dealership in a process known as an indirect loan, and are very strict in their loan requirements.  They also allow dealers to mark up the loan so you invariably pay more interest than you would if you went direct to a lender.  There is more flexibility when working directly with the financial institutions than when you use the car dealerships and dealer financing.  It is important to know that when you work directly with lenders will also save you money because you will be getting the lowest APR available, especially when you can get more than one quote on financing.  Dealerships always have a significant mark-up on the autos they are selling.  By using a private party auto loan, you simply work with the seller directly (aka, a private party who is usually selling their car), which will allow you to negotiate and most likely, keep money in your wallet.

To find a lender and get an all in one multi-quote offer, simply go online to myAutoloan.com while searching for cars you want to investigate at the many used car sites, at the same time you are searching for a loan.   Since most lenders provide online forms, you can work out everything online instead of at a busy car dealership.  It’s always best to compare side by side, the offers, so that you can select the offer that is best for you. 

Keep in mind, however, that online lenders are of equal quality to any bank lender through a car dealership.  In fact, they might even be the same ones.  The lenders will require typical information for any loan with specific requirements.  These include, but are not limited to, a social security number, consistent residency of at least two years or your last two residences for more than 6 months, and proof of age and employment.  Many national lenders require a minimum income of at least $500 a week or $26,000 annually with proof that you were employed at your last two jobs for at least 6 months.  Always remember these facts, no matter how much you can save with a private party auto loan that the loan is still a loan and the auto will be used as collateral.

Always check your credit score when deciding to purchase a product like a motor vehicle.  Once you know your credit, try a private party auto loan.  You will save money and purchase the car you want thanks to a person-to-person auto loan.

The question is – what is auto finance going to cost you and how can you guarantee that it will not have adverse affects on your personal budget?

In the past, getting an auto loan has traditionally been getting the dealership to provide financing options for you.  It is never cheaper than getting a direct loan from an online finance company or even a direct loan from a participating bank loan. The interest rates on online quotes or bank loans are always lower than those obtained from an auto special financing dealer.  You still have to shop because they all have different rates but do your homework and you will be OK. There are many car dealers who will readily assist you in getting the right kind of financing for your car, all you have to know is that they will charge you more for the interest.

The rates are sometimes competitive, as each dealer wants to get as many cars sold as possible. Nowadays even if you have immense amount of debt or have filed for bankruptcy you can still be eligible to obtain auto financing for your car. Auto finance works the same way bank loans do. It is, after-all, a loan that you are taking from the car dealer.  We still recommend that you go direct first to see what competitive rates are and then, if you choose to, check out the dealer pricing.

As you can clearly see, purchasing a car cannot get any easier than this.

Technology, however, has also made it possible for individuals to get loans for an auto loan using non-conventional methods, such as the Internet.  Here you do not need to go to a dealer to sit in the penalty box, waiting for a finance manager to bring you a special deal he was only able to get for you today, and only if you sign within the next 30 minutes will it be administered. You can normally apply over the Internet and get approved within as little as 15 minutes.  Yes, if you are working with a legitimate licensed lender, such as myAutoloan.com, you won’t have any problem being treated right.

All in all it depends on whether or not you want to pay the installments every month. Remember to read the fine print; it can save you from making a $10,000 mistake by taking an interest rate that is 2% higher than what you can get from a direct lender.  Buying a car is a big decision, which will have an impact on your personal finances, so you need to be wise. Check out companies until you find one that will best suit your needs.

You’ve decided to acquire another vehicle–great! Before rushing off to the dealership, you’ll need to consider how much you can afford in monthly payments. Deciding this point will determine whether you look for used or new auto financing.

Once you know about how much you can afford in monthly payments, it’s time to think about what type of loan you want from auto loan finance companies. Options for financing a car include loans for autos, new vehicles, used vehicles purchased through a dealer, private party vehicles, auto refinance, and auto lease buyouts.

Keep these points in mind when choosing an auto finance company specializing in vehicle loans:

1. Do I want to buy from a car dealer or from a private seller?

2. Do I want to purchase outright or lease the vehicle? Auto Lease buyout loans are commonly required at the end of the lease period if you choose to keep the car.

3. Will I be paying off my loan on-time or early? Some loans carry stiff prepayment penalties. Not all but just be aware.  Most reputable auto finance companies tell you up front if there are fees involved.  For most, the process is free and with no obligation.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Learn about Auto Financing
Study the different types of auto financing solutions.  Each one will have pros and cons, depending on your situation. Get familiar with how a lease works, read the fine print and precautions about financing an auto directly through a dealer, and get tips on how to fix less-than-perfect credit.  There are a lot of places that this information is available but here is our recommendation after years and years of auto lending experience looking out for the customer.

We recommend:  Read and understand the sections of our Auto Buying Guide that provide you a quick guide to the steps involved in buying and financing a car.  It’s down to earth and easy to understand.

Get automotive financing even if your credit isn’t so great
If you have had credit problems in the past, does that mean you’re reduced to driving whatever you can afford to pay for with cash? Not necessarily.  Some companies making car loans specialize in customers with bad credit.  We work with many of those companies so that we have done the legwork and that will save you tons of time.   Many vehicle financing companies have partnerships with car dealers prepared to offer bad credit car loan programs on car and truck loans.  You may be able to pre-qualify for a bad credit auto loan regardless of past credit challenges.   We never know until you apply and there is no cost or obligation to find out, even if you decide to purchase.

Have one company do the legwork of finding car credit
The Internet has revolutionized how we do a lot of things, including how we look for auto loans. Look for websites that are secure, first of all.  Next, verify that you are under no obligation if you enter your information on a website. Bottom line, use the ease of the Internet to make auto financing fast, easy, secure, and hassle-free.  You know you are at the right place, right?  That’s exactly what we do and 7 years and millions of customers stand behind us.

We recommend:  (I wonder who that might be, LOL) myAutoloan.com  – They can put an end to applying at several sites on the Internet and driving all over town trying to get the best deal on your auto loan.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of our Auto Buying Guide

Be extremely careful with your personal & business information while doing research on financing a car.  Make sure you are dealing with a reputable company with a good track record to prevent possible theft of your identifiable information.  BBB information can be a real time saver too.

Research, research, research.  Get quotes on automobile financing from several providers by using a finance company that will show you up to 4 loan offers and not run you around testing you with a one at a time approach.   myAutoloan.com does!
Be wary of automotive financing car dealers claiming to specialize in financing bad credit loans.  Make sure the vehicle is actually worth the stated price. Some less than honest dealers artificially inflate a vehicle’s price, generously reduce that inflated price, and finance the balance at high interest rates.

How it works – The auto refinancing process is similar to the mortgage refinance process, but it does not have the costs and fees normally associated with the mortgage process. Basically, you obtain a new car loan at a lower rate to replace your first loan.  Ten years ago, auto refinancing was pretty rare.  They were available but just not much was known about them.  Now that interest rates have dropped dramatically and we continue to sit in this recession, auto refinancing has become increasingly popular. If you decide that you want an auto refinance loan, consider letting myAutoloan.com assist you in the process.  It’s fast, easy and there are no fees or costs to see if you can lower your payments or reduce the APR% on your auto loan. Apply for a no obligation, no fee auto refinance quote online to see how current rates might save you some money.

How much can you save – Refinancing can save you a lot of money, if you play your cards right. For example, if you currently have an auto loan for $23,000 at 11% APR for 5 years, you’ll pay $500 a month. If you can refinance this loan payment to $400 a month, you can save $6,000 over the life of the loan! The higher your current loan rates are, the more you can save by refinancing. Many of our lenders offer auto refinancing rates around  4.75% -6% APR.  Of course, it always depends on your current credit rating at the bureaus.

Who should refinance – Any individual who have an expensive auto loan or who wants to reduce their monthly payments, or lower their rates should consider auto refinancing.  Consumers with expensive loans from a car dealer can save big by refinancing with a lower rate from myAutoloan.  If your credit scores have improved significantly since your original car purchase, you should be able to reduce your rates which will save you money in the long run.

What are the requirements – Not all auto loans will qualify for refinancing. Since most lenders require you to have at least $7,500 due on your current loan in order to refinance, you might want to recheck and take a look at your balance.  There are also common restrictions on the age of the car and the car’s mileage.  Generally that means that if you have less than 70,000 miles and the car is less than 6 years old, you should have no problem getting an offer.  Plus, you may need to have a credit score say 525+ or so to qualify for a competitive refinance rate.

What are the dangers – While auto refinancing can help you save a lot of money in some situations, it may not always be a good decision. If you are thinking about refinancing, be sure to evaluate if it is really going to help you out because of payment reductions or APR % decreases.  Just don’t kid yourself before you really take a good look and make sure that it’s a smart thing to do.  By that I mean just be aware that a refinance loan may extend the term of your car loan in order to reduce your monthly payments. This could result in increased costs over the life of your loan.  So again, I’m just trying to make sure you are thinking this through so that it’s to your advantage, based upon your circumstances.  For most people, it’s a no brainer – if you can save some cash, just do it!

Refinancing allows borrowers more flexibility and freedom with their auto loans and with the cash that they save. People with expensive auto loans are no longer stuck with them for the life of the loan. Use them wisely and it’s clearly to your advantage! Find out today if an auto refinancing loan can help you save money and let us help you see just how easy it can be.  We would love to show you what we can do.

Refinancing your car loan is an ideal way to lower your overall interest cost or reduce your monthly payments.  If you get lucky, you can do both.  By using an online multi-lender auto loan finance company, you can be assured that you are finding the lowest rate.  To be sure you are getting the best offer; follow these three tips before you refinance your vehicle.

1. Know Your Goal

Before you refinance your auto loan, decide what your goal is. Do you want a reduced interest payment or have a smaller monthly payment? With your goal in mind, you can choose terms that will best meet your needs. To find reduced interest payments, it is best to have improved your credit rating. One easy way to do this it to pay your credit cards down to 50% of their limit. You can also find lower interest rates by choosing a loan shorter than the typical five year period. Regardless of what you are looking for, it does not hurt your credit score to look and apply for an auto refinance loan.

Remember, smart people shop and the credit bureaus score it as only 1 inquiry, within a two week period.  To reduce your monthly payments, look for a loan for a longer period.  You don’t even have to find lower interest rates to lower your monthly payment. However, you will be paying more in interest payments over the course of your loan.  Just review your options and make a good choice for you, and know what you want to accomplish on the short term.

2. Go Online But be Prepared

To speed through the refinance process, gather all your financial information, for the auto you want to refinance, such as lender, monthly payments amounts, estimated payoff amount and current rate.  It’s not critical that you have the VIN number or exact APR’s or amounts, but if that info is handy, have it ready and with you as you apply.

If you don’t know the current balance on your loan, you can call your current lender to get the exact amount.  Having a copy of your last tax forms will also make filling out the forms for quotes or a loan application easy.

3. Compare Quotes – Get your Refinance Auto Loan

When you are ready to find an auto loan, compare quotes before you pick a lender. You can get quotes from online lenders from our site – all you need to do is apply.  What we do is match your application up with our lender base and electronically post lender approval information on our site.  It is secure and completely private so that you are the only one that can see the information.  Getting multiple offers is important to you so that you can have a choice and pick the offer that is best for you. Your Loan – Your Way.

Not a bad approach, right?  You don’t want to get locked into a deal that you can’t pay early.  While rates and terms are important to compare, you also be aware that there are no fees for applying or using us for your auto loan. Select the rate that works for you and take it from there.

After a small amount of paperwork, you can have your new lender pay off the old one and you are on your way to saving some money.  Good luck and let us know if you have questions.

I’m really not trying to be judgmental but as they say, you do the math.  Let me summarize.

Point 1
A vehicle getting 15 mpg and averages 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.  A vehicle getting 25 mpg and averages 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.  So, the average Clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year

Point 2
Cash for Clunkers DOT officials reported 690,000 vehicles sold during the program – so that’s 220.8 million gallons per year.

That equates to saving close to 5 million barrels of oil per year. I repeat—per YEAR.  5 million barrels of oil is about ¼ (25%) of one day’s US consumption.  And, 5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars at $70/bbl.

Point 3
Our Government “gave” each Clunker Trader approximately $4,500 per car for 690,000 transactions which cost US Taxpayers $2,877,000,000–not including Washington’s astounding Administrative costs.

President Obama said in his speech to auto workers in Ohio recently, “One of the other efforts we undertook was the Cash for Clunkers program. Folks said that wouldn’t work either. That program was good for automakers, it was good for consumers, and, by the way, it was good for our environment.”   What I did not read in that speech was that it was good for taxpayers, and here’s why.

We all invested and paid (through our taxes) more than $3 billion+ $150,000,000 to administer, to save $350 million.

And the return on investment is….Priceless

Getting a new car loan? Now is the time to also check on insurance rates for your new car. Get a very competitive quote for car insurance available, as you do your research for auto financing, at BestCarInsurance.com.

myAutoloan.com’s used car loan rate for cars purchased at a franchise dealer is currently being advertised at 6.74 percent for car loans up to 36 months and the auto loan rate is 6.94 percent for loans between 37 months and 60 months.

Used car loans for purchasing an auto from a private party loan is a lot higher than purchasing from a franchised dealer. The current rate of loans up to 36 months is 7.19 percent and 7.79 percent for auto loans between 37 months and 60 months.

Rates for doing an auto refinance are at 4.75 percent for auto loans up to 36 months and 5.64 percent for car loans between 37 months and 60 months.  Leased buyout loans, buying your leased auto and financing the purchase, are at 8.08 percent for car loans up to 36 months and 8.45 percent for car loans between 37 months and 60 months.

See all the rates available by going to myAutoloan.com’s home page – rate chart is there.

In the second quarter, 0.80 percent of car loans were 60 to 89 days past due, up from 0.66 percent during the same period in 2008.  Thirty-day delinquencies rose 14.6 percent in the second quarter to 3.06 percent, up from 2.67 percent the previous year.   Combined, 30- and 60-day delinquencies amount to $25.5 billion in loans at risk. 

Why is this significant?  That’s because it prompts lenders to tighten their lending criteria.  The result is that it pushes many consumers out of the market altogether.  Sure some buy used but many just drop the purchase to wait out the strict requirements being applied.
 
Michigan was among only three states to show a reduction in 30-day delinquencies, according to the study’s findings. The other two were Alaska and Nebraska.
 
At some point the lending markets has to turn so that pent-up demand eases.  However, for right now, it’s a tough market and consumers are not getting much of a break on the cost of financing, that is unless you’ve got a high credit score.  In the meantime, we all wait. 

For the balance of the year SAAR (Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate) figures will probably close the year out at just under 10 million per month annualized.  Next year by February, we should see things starting to break free.  Let’s hope that prediction holds!

The Transportation Department is preparing to suspend its $1 billion “Cash for Clunkers” program by the end of Friday, after it had all but run out of money, but said it would still honor the vouchers until midnight.  What’s going to happen now is that Congress will be approving another $1 billion dollars for the program so that they can leave for vacation and talk about how successful the ‘Clunkers’ program is. 

My math may not be the best but at a 10,000,000 sales rate for the year, with 6 sales days per week, that is about 32,000+ cars/day sold in the US. The CARS program will support a maximum of 285,000+ cars if everyone only gets $3500, and 222,000+ if everyone gets $4500 (The actual number lies somewhere in between). At around 32,000+ cars/day, that translates into 7-9 days of sales if every car purchased qualified for CARS. If only half qualified, then that would be 14-18 days.

It sure looks to me like someone didn’t bother to check their math to see how much of a difference this would make, or how long it would likely take to burn through the money.

The surprise revelation came FOUR DAYS after the program started and prompted an urgent series of meetings on Capitol Hill and at the Transportation Department to figure out if and how it would replenish the funding.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made a round of calls to members of Congress notifying them that the program was out of money, talking to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, among others. He was making a push to try to find funding to keep the program alive.

It’s not clear what will happen if dealers submit more requests for vouchers beyond the $950 million in the program but I’m hearing that all the vouchers will be honored if submitted by midnight today. The remaining $50 million is set aside to cover administrative costs.  You know, for another $50 million plus $950 million more, we can do it all over again.

The White House said late Thursday it was considering its options.  I just can’t imagine what those would be, can you?

“This is simply the most stimulative $1 billion the federal government has spent during the entire economic downturn,” said U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Harrison Township. “The federal government must come up with more money, immediately, to keep this program going.But action must be taken fast, as the House was set to adjourn today for its August recess and not return until after Labor Day.  I’m still betting that they will approve more money before they leave for vacation to listen to their constituency.

In an article posted by Michelle Krebs of Edmonds, she noted that dealers think the CARS.gov gauge is in reality on empty. Dealers and dealer organizations have expressed their concern to government officials as the program began, 4 days ago, that they had far more transactions in the works for consumers to trade their clunkers for more fuel-efficient vehicles than the program had in funds. Dealers have always feared they would be left holding the bag for the vouchers of up to $4,500 if the government funds ran out.

On Wednesday night, sources said the National Automobile Dealers Association surveyed its dealers to gauge how many Cash for Clunker transactions they had in the works. The average number of working deals for the 1,900 dealers who responded amounted to nearly 14 transactions, with more deals qualifying for the top $4,500 voucher than the $3,500 voucher.

The program offered consumers up to a $4,500 voucher for turning in vehicles that in the case of passenger cars got no more than a combined city/highway 18 miles per gallon. To qualify for the full $4,500 the new vehicle purchased must have a 10 mpg improvement. To get a $3,500 voucher, it needed a 4-mpg to 9-mpg boost. The program is limited to vehicles no more than 25 years old, which the owner must have owned and insured for the previous year.

Well Time will tell – what will congress do?  What pressure will the White House put on Congress?  Will the American People support it or blow it off? I’m still saying they will approve another Billion or two dollars of your tax money to keep it alive.  Stay tuned ………

The government of the United States is offering $3,500 and $4,500 vouchers for vehicles traded in toward the purchase of a new car.
Here is a quick overview of the Cash for Clunkers program.
1) Visit the www.CARS.gov for current information about the program.
2) Determine if you qualify for the program and locate a dealer.
3) When you purchase or lease a new vehicle the dealer handles the submission to the NHTSA.
4) NHTSA ensures that your purchase meets all of the requirements.
5) About 10 days later the NHTSA credits the dealer if all requirements were met.

There are several restrictions to the program and it doesn’t last forever.
• New car purchases only (no used vehicles allowed)
• Car must be purchased between July 1, 2009 and November 1, 2009
• No cars older than 25 years
• You must be able to drive your car to the dealership for trade in
For a complete list of restrictions visit www.cashforclunkerfacts.com

Don’t wait. This is a first come first serve program. The funds to the program are limited and it will end before November 1, 2009 once the funds are gone.

Apply at myAutoloan.com to finance your new car purchase.

Online auto financing has become easier to obtain as well as seeking and obtaining helpful information on what your auto financing options can be. The process is fast, convenient and absolutely safe. (Did I say it was Free too?) myAutoloan.com requests and requires you to fill in a single page application form. You will have to give some financial and personal details. These are required for us to understand and match your requirements and repayment ability to our network of lending partners. All the details provided at myAutoloan.com are stored on a secured server and stern steps taken to preserve your confidentiality. Apply for a new auto loan, an auto refinance loan or a used car loan, at myAutoloan.com from either your home or office.

Apply Now
Auto financing through myAutoloan.com is a really user friendly and a cheap way of getting funds for your automobile. Many people apply for dealership financing. However, dealership financing is expensive as they mark up all interest rates. At myAutoloan.com you will get auto financing at low interest rates based upon your credit score. Also the repayment plans from our lender network are flexible with monthly repayments in keeping with your monthly budget. Auto financing is usually for a term ranging from 3-5 years. Auto financing for all manufacturers of automobiles is provided. Go on, give us a try. Check us out first and then bookmark us so that you can consider us next time you need a replacement auto or want to trade up, get your auto loan direct and save a ton of money. Follow us on: Twitter & Facebook