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.

If it’s high, Now is a Good Time to Borrow

In this crazy lending market, interest rates have remained at historic lows but all the banks have gotten so picky that most requests for loans go unanswered.  There is an old saying that goes, “If you don’t need the money, you can borrow all you want”.

Well, a year after the global freeze in the credit markets that caused massive government intervention (aka interference) interest rates continue to remain at historic lows.

That’s great for people with good credit.  If not, it seems like you could be wasting your time.  Credit has gotten to be so tight that if you are willing to be interrogated for several days, and can document your entire life story, (video and pictures help) along with signed letters from every institution that you have done business with, you might be considered for a loan.  And from all we can see, it’s going to be around for a while.

Bank and financial institutions are on the defensive posturing stage.  After many completely blew lending on the mortgage side, it has had a ripple effect in all other areas of lending from home purchase, to auto, to personal loans, and any other mode of credit issuance that was common in the past.  Not now.  No segment of borrowers has been spared. During the housing boom five years ago, 7 of 10 applications were approved.  Today is 5 in 10.  With credit card companies getting tighter with credit, consumer credit carddebt declined by $6.1 billion in July.

For perspective, big banks are not risk averse.  That’s common sense, right?  Rather, their reluctance to lend has to reflect the fact that they must conserve cash to absorb billions in losses that are still expected to occur from bad loans that were made before our financial meltdown last September of 08. FDIC-insured banks lost a total of $3.7 billion in the second quarter, dragged down by growing number of bad loans.  They set aside nearly $67 billion in the second quarter in anticipation of future losses from all those wonderful decisions that they made for years leading up to the crash.

Oh, there are a lot of other reasons, such as the lack of ability to pool loans into securities, (ABS = auto back securities) for sale to investors, or securitization. Lehman brothers collapse pretty much dried up this market outlet but there are signs of opportunity that crop up from time to time.  With consumers ratcheting back their borrowing and banks getting tougher with their lending criteria, rates will remain low for those who have good credit.  If you can stand the pain, you will benefit from the gain.

What has been your experience?  We would love to hear what you are seeing from your point of view.

Here’s to getting this economy back on track.

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!

So what are some of the discrepancies? Edmunds pointed out what it sees as inconsistencies with the government’s Clunkers statistics. One of the reasons the company delved into these figures is because it says there was an unprecedented wide range in analysts’ sales forecasts, with analysts’ forecasts for the month annualized sales rate at an unprecedented 4 million range. Stands to reason that someone would want to true up the numbers, right?

One of the “mysteries,” as the company calls it, is that the government release said the program took 690,114 clunkers off the road. However, apparently Edmund’s experts tracking the program found that clunker trade-ins never accounted for more than 33.4% of weekly sales. “It is mathematically impossible for there to have been nearly 700,000 new-car sales during the course of the program, given the actual sales numbers announced by automakers who should have no motive to under-report,” said Zhenwei Zhou, Edmunds.com senior statistician.

But now that the numbers are in some of the numbers do not add up.  Apparently, one of the difficulties in forecasting the sales number was due to the midstream change in the Clunkes program, or the fact that the program’s administrators changed the rules allowing dealers to take clunker trades on vehicles that were in transit or on order. “As a result, we’re still seeing clunker deals trickle in and are yet to be counted as sales,” noted David Tompkins, Edmunds.com senior analyst. “We expect that to continue for a few weeks. We expect about 50,000 vehicles will be delivered and counted as clunker sales in September’s sales reports.”

Michelle Krebs, Edmond’s senior analyst noted that the Department of Transportation reported on Aug. 26 that it had received 690,114 Cash for Clunker voucher applications for either $3,500 or $4,500.  As of Sept. 2, she said DOT had not changed that figure.  However, the governments own data doesn’t add up. In its Aug. 26 press release giving the supposed final tally for the program, the DOT gives the total application voucher as well as a breakout of the number of vehicles purchased by category and the number of vehicles traded in by category.

None of these numbers are the same. The overall application number of 690,114 is different from the number of clunkers the government said were turned in under the program — 685,201 — which, in turn, is different form the number of vehicles purchased — 684,941. While the differences are not huge or enough to impact forecasting, they should match. Presumably, the number of clunkers turned in and the number of vehicles purchased should be identical, which should add up to the number of applications.

So why does the clunkers number matter? From an economic standpoint, how many of the clunker trades resulted in sales that wouldn’t have occurred otherwise? Or did it merely pull from behind and pull from future naturally occurring sales. If it did produce incrementally higher sales, what was the cost per vehicle to shareholders? Even more important, sorting Cash for Clunkers data is important for forecasting going forward. Analysts, including those at Edmunds.com, auto companies and other forecasting firms, are trying to determine, what is the true underlying demand for vehicles by retail customers, excluding the clunkers program, and what is the trajectory of vehicles going forward.

What do you think are the government’s data  Credible or not?  How can you believe in anything we are being told?  Too many questions and not any answers.  Tell us what you think.

“American consumers and workers were the clear winners thanks to Cash for Clunkers program,” said Ray LaHood, U.S. transportation secretary. “Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund (or bare) showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel-efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment.”

Overall, rebate applications worth $2.877 billion were submitted by the Tuesday deadline. This covered 690,114 applications.
 
Top 10 Most Purchased Autos
Of the top 10 most purchased vehicles under the Cash for Clunkers program, only five automakers made the cut. This includes Toyota, Honda, Ford, Hyundai and Nissan. Toyota and Honda each had three models make the most purchased list, while Ford was close behind with two. Nissan and Hyundai meanwhile each had one model making the most popular Cash for Clunkers purchases.

Top Most Traded In Autos
The Ford Explorer 4WD and the Ford F-150 Pickup 2WD were the significant leaders in what was traded in.  Of the vehicles traded-in, 84 percent were trucks with 59 percent of customers purchasing passenger cars. The average trade-in mileage was 15.8 mpg, which leads to an overall increase of 9.2 mpg, or 58 percent climb, as the average new vehicle purchased receives 24.9 mpg.
 
Offering preliminary insight into the impact of the Clunkers program will have on the economy, the White House Council of Economic Advisers predicted the program will ramp up economic growth in the third quarter by about 0.3 to 0.4 percent at an annual rate due to the sales. The gross domestic product will be sustained thanks to increased vehicle production and to fulfill inventory requirements, the group indicated. Furthermore, an excepted 42,000 jobs will be created or saved.

New-Vehicle Manufacturer Percentages:
Toyota: 19.4 percent
General Motors: 17.6 percent
Ford: 14.4 percent
Honda: 13 percent
Nissan: 8.7 percent
Hyundai: 7.2 percent
Chrysler: 6.6 percent

There is, as we’ve mentioned many times, a large gap in opinions of just how successful the program was.  However, what it did do is create an artificial spike in consumer spending.  If you think about it, the conclusion that was most promoted by the non-objective major newscasters who thought of this as a good idea, was to proclaim its success. 

With the direct lending markets still in mourning from the failed practices of many banks mortgage fiasco, a huge market still exists for auto loans and refinancing for everyone who does not have a 720+ FICO score.  In the meantime, and still a “nightmare” is the fact that dealerships are still waiting for their money, and most have stopped junking the trade-ins in fear of Uncle Sam failing to reimburse them under the program.  Time will tell.  What do you think?  Good or bad, let us know.

It sill looks like consumers benefited, and the Government benefited by the “look what we’ve done to spark the economy” sound bits spewed all over the media, and finally, the dealerships got rid of a lot of autos sitting on their lots.

The problem is that they seem to be the ones floating the Federal Government, while they try to figure out how to make the payment processing work. That’s funny! From what I’m seeing, most dealerships are going on a wish and a prayer about getting paid.

I’m talking some major cash per dealership that is hung up in government regulations of 150 pages and some 14 different forms that need to be completed. Does that sound like efficiency to you? I think it’s totally blind faith at this point that the dealerships are going to get the money that is owed to them. Citi call centers have been awarded outsourced work, and the National Transportation and Highway and FAA employees have been brought in to process paperwork, in addition to part-time employees having been hired.

It kinda sounds like a cluster — I mean ‘Clunker’ to me. They are all working on trying to input stuff and they can’t get in because there is soooo much of it and the documentation to process just one sale with a qualified rebate takes hours to complete. The computers are overwhelmed. It’s a great program for the manufacturers, a great program for the consumers. For dealers, it’s been an administrative nightmare.

Think about this for a minute – The Obama administration and its allies in Congress propose to overhaul (and potentially run) health care for more than 300 million Americans?

I think we can say cash-for-clunkers doesn’t inspire much confidence in Washington’s bureaucratic acumen. Or its speed! Or its feel for a functioning market, the demands and expectations – - OK I’ll stop.

Will the dealers get paid? Yes, because failure to do so would be a PR disaster of epic proportions for the democrats and the administration. Will the program prove to be the jumpstart languishing auto sales need? Debatable, but probably not, though depleted inventories already are forcing increased production schedules across the industry. Those announcements were made about a week ago.

The more important question, it seems to me, is what the obvious administrative failures of cash for clunkers say about the federal government’s capability to manage programs more typically run by the private sector. And, secondly, why is there a clamor for more of the same? What is it about this poorly run program that the American people or even congress wants more of? Tell me, what am I missing? Why did the public not see or hear about the issues in the media? Clearly journalism has seen better days and major networks appear to be agencies for the Obama administration.

Sad day for the USA.

Auto dealers are in business to make money selling cars and trucks, not to serve as conduits for federal transfer payments. If nothing else, cash for clunkers proved Americans still love good deals — and that their government cannot process them.

It is interesting that no media analysis has ever told the tale of the “unintended consequences” of the destruction of more than a quarter million used cars, especially older models that would have gone to charity or been sold on the private party market.   It’s an obvious benefit to the new dealers, that’s for sure.  This creates the supply shortage, especially for lower prices cars resulting in the remaining cars left on dealer lots to increase the sales price.  Since demand has remained strong, at least for the first few days and possibly weeks, it would have forced the average prices to increase because the least expensive cars and trucks were being removed from the overall inventory available.

Owners of vehicles that didn’t qualify for the clunker program reverted to their original intent and sold the cars and trucks private party, according to Art Spinella, president of CNW Research.   Specifically, private used-vehicle sales are expected to total 1.214 million in August, a 1.5-percent improvement from a year ago. Meanwhile, franchised dealers are expected to move 1.417 million used units, a 0.5-percent decline, and independents are likely to sell 1.246 million used cars, a 0.4-percent upswing.

Cash for Clunkers affected the new side of the market. According to his analysis, at the mid-point of July, new-vehicle sales were on pace to have a 22.2-percent year-over-year decline.  However, the heavy promotion and coverage of CARS helped to lift new-vehicle sales to 997,572 units for the month, which was down less than 13 percent from July 2008.   The “bounce” in floor traffic at the end of July continued through the first two weeks of August, and this helped multiple areas of the industry, according to Spinella.  First, it drew more ‘lookers’ who weren’t even planning to buy a car or truck. It’s been more than two years since analysts have seen any appreciable increase share of floor traffic consisting of long-term shoppers (those who don’t expect to buy a vehicle for at least a year,) and second, it exposed Cash for Clunker buyers and general consumers to other models, which had a positive overall effect in sales.  There were many benefits for dealerships’ F&I, parts and service operations, as well as for salespeople in general.  I suppose all those who got a subsidy are pleased.

So now what?  Frankly, as it has been observed by others, that dealers have been taking early sales from 2010 expected revenues.  This has driven up prices, while the big 3 have increased production.  What should we expect next?  In my opinion, expect a spiraling drop in sales through the balance of the year, picking up some first quarter 2010.  Shoppers will clearly delay purchases until more signs of a stable economy are seen and their jobs are not threatened.  At some point the auto loan marketplace is going to rebound.  I am looking forward to lenders getting back into the game and providing some service again.

Invite me to Connect on LinkedIn

Why are TV and media so blind and non-objective anymore?  That’s probably because so many reporters fail to heed the journalistic rules that have been a foundation of our press, and that is to note the unseen as well as the seen—to consider all the effects of a policy on society as a whole, not just the immediately obvious benefits for a select group. I’ve not really seen anything published or on TV that has put any type of high level of questioning of the program before us and tried to explain what the unseen consequences of the ‘Clunkers’ program might be.  That’s why I ask if anyone is paying attention.

The first benefit of this revised clunkers program, which was approved last night by the senate and is off to the President today, is to increase the sales price of the car.  What this $3 billion subsidy is doing is boosting sales prices and lowering trade-in payments.  It’s not as if dealers simply charge $4,500 less than they would have and pass the entire subsidy onto the buyer — dealers still charge as much as they can for a new car and pay as little for a trade-in as their customers will allow. The subsidy is split between dealers and customers.  No one has ever come out and said that.

And who are the customers? Not poor people, or the needy — they don’t shell out five figures for new cars. No, this is a middle-class to upper-middle-class subsidy, which is probably why politicians love it so much.  I continue to hear that the average FICO score of the buyers within the ‘Clunkers’ program has a 720 score.  That’s clearly not the poor but I doubt if that kind of information ever comes available to the public or gets reported.

The real benefit to business — and harm to the economy — comes after the car sale is concluded. The law requires the dealers destroy the “clunker” engine (which, to be eligible, was drivable upon trade-in), scrap the car and shred almost all its parts. This government-required waste reduces the supply of used cars on the road.  All those poor and needy, who would have benefited from having access to these autos, will be completely denied.  Reduce the supply of drivable used cars, and you drive up the price of all cars.

This supply reduction is the real stimulus for automakers and new-car dealers, and it comes at the expense of every consumer who didn’t take advantage of Cash for Clunkers — especially those who can’t afford a new car. This $3B program taxes used-car buyers to subsidize new-car buyers.  Have we all just gone nuts in the country?  So tell me, how’s that “cash for clunkers” program working out for you?

 I’d love to hear your comments.

The study examined five key factors to contribute to satisfaction within the prime retail credit, subprime retail credit and retail leasing segments: provider offerings, credit personnel, application/approval process, termination policy/service and sales representative relationship. Three factors were measured in the floor-planning segment: provider offering; floor-plan support personnel and process/service.

The study was based on responses from more than 2,000 dealer principals who were surveyed between April and May of this year.  

On a 1,000-point scale J.D. Power found:

Prime Retail Credit (down 46 points)
2008: 835
2009: 789

Subprime Retail Credit (down 76 points)
2008: 793
2009: 717

Retail Leasing  (down 79 points)

Floor Planning  (down 90 points)

The retail financing experience account for more than two-thirds of dealer satisfaction. Meanwhile, offerings such as rates account for less than one-third of overall satisfaction.  While recognizing that the past year has been tough for dealers, J.D. Power executives advised, “This indicates an opportunity for lenders to differentiate themselves through service, even though external market forces are driving a more conservative lending approach.”   I just love the “more conservative lending approach,” don’t you?

David Lo, director of financial services as J.D. Power, explained it this way, “Current economic conditions have created something of a ‘perfect storm’ as declines in new-vehicle sales, tightened lending and reduced inventory funds have combined to put extreme stress on dealer business.”

“However, the fundamental principles of service are unchanged. Lenders that focus on prompt application and funding turnaround times, have credit buyers that demonstrate willingness to worth with their clients and have sales representatives who are skilled in relationship management may position themselves to be a lender of choice,” he continued.   This is actually pretty significant.  One of these days lenders will clamor around the dealerships, if not the buying consumers, and be happy to lend money again.  LOL, that sure sounds so funny to me.

This is interesting as well; Basically, the study discovered that higher levels of satisfaction may positively impact the amount of a business a lender receives from a dealer.  For instance, for the lenders in the prime retail segment whose satisfaction scores averaged 712 on a 1,000-point scale, 22 percent of dealers say they “definitely will” increase their business with this organization.

However, of the lenders whose satisfaction scores averaged 886, 46 percent of dealers said they “definitely will” increase business with that lender.  Lo noted, “High-performing lenders tend to close a higher proportion of deals. This is critical right now, and almost more importantly, may serve as a foundation for growth one the market stabilizes.”

Prime Retail Credit

Taking the top spot in the prime retail credit segment was Mercedes-Benz Financial with an index score of 918. Officials said this company performed particularly well in two areas, provider offerings and credit personnel.  The prime retail credit company averages of a few sample lenders are as follows:

Mercedes-Benz Financial: 918
BMW Financial Services: 898
Toyota Financial Services: 873
Audi Financial Services: 838
Honda Financial Services: 831
Wachovia Dealer Services: 814
Ford Credit: 802
Bank of America: 787
Chase Auto Finance: 772
US Bank: 744
Capital One Auto Finance: 732
GMAC: 711
Chrysler Financial: 665

Subprime Retail Credit

Interestingly enough, J.D. Power said that no awards were presented in the subprime retail credit segment due to insufficient market representation.  

The rest of the detail is not that interesting so I won’t go into it.  I don’t know about you but let’s hope that this ‘Perfect Storm’ ends soon.  I’d like to see the supply of financing start to meet the demand of the applicants.  No doubt it will take time but I speak for myself when I say I’m getting a little impatient!

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.

The auto industry and lawmakers are pushing for quick Senate action on “cash for clunkers” legislation to boost auto sales, after the House overwhelmingly passed such a bill Tuesday. But it remains unclear when Senate supporters may overcome the objections of Senate appropriators and a group of senators who say the House proposal doesn’t do enough to improve fuel efficiency on the nation’s highways, as reported in the Detroit News, Washington Bureau.

The House approved its version Tuesday, 298-199, with substantial Republican support despite the opposition of House leaders including Minority Leader John Boehner and whip Eric Cantor.  Opposition came from members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which objected to funding provisions of the bill, and from senators who want tougher fuel economy requirements. Getting the auto loan financed is still no easy process as lenders continue to tighten credit and only approve the very highest credit scores.

Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced a competing proposal on Monday.  Stabenow said Tuesday she’s working with other senators to answer those concerns. One possibility is an idea House leaders are pursuing to attach an appropriation for the program to a wartime spending bill.  At some point the lack of auto finance must be addressed.  The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, auto dealers and other groups also called for speedy Senate passage.  President Barack Obama has also encouraged Congress to pass legislation.  The bill approved Tuesday would offer vouchers worth $3,500 or $4,500 to new-car buyers, depending on the mileage of their new vehicle. To be eligible, consumers would have to turn in a vehicle rated at 18 mpg or less for one rated at 22 mpg or greater. Pickups and business trucks would have different criteria.

And the reason why they are so successful?  Simple.  People like to be in control.  We often call this empowerment because taking the auto loan process out of the hands of a salesman gives you trememdous control in negotiating the deal on your car.  Picking up the telephone and talking to a salesperson about an auto loan involves a lack of control.  Going to a car dealership and speaking to someone there involves a lack of control.  However, using your mouse and choosing where you want to go and how long you spend there, while you search for rates and possible auto financing, that’s control.

myAutoloan.com obviously offers a great service; you will know this because you are reading this post.   But we don’t do this for any other reason than that we love cars, love helping people to buy them and love saving people money by going direct to financing

sources.  You see, we don’t mark up any of our loan offers therefore, you are getting the most competitive rates and terms available.  And we hate those people out there who will quite happily sell you a loan deal that will, effectively, eat up your income, when at the same time there are loan deals that will clearly save you money.

Yes, we love what we do.  We love to help our customers find auto loans and auto refinance loans to save them money.  It has taken a few years for people to truly understand the power of the Web just how much freedom that is provided to obtain information that was once more difficult to get your hands on.  But now that people know how much control they have with their mouse and the internet, it pretty much dominates our lives. 

In fact, it is pretty fair to say that there has never been a better time to buy a car, and there has most definitely never been as much information available to the consumer. Check out our auto buying program, or the auto buying guide and the vast amount of customer information and research that we have compiled.  Our moto: Your Loan – Your Way!

If you’ve been out shopping, you might have experienced a bit of “sticker-shock” in the process.  What this does is to make us all wonder if the extra cost for these hybrid cars is worth it, and in fact if the difference can be offset over time by the cash saved from buying less fuel.

We can generalize all day but the concept of a payback for a hybrid cars’ additional cost involves a number of variables and is only really answered on an individual basis.  That doesn’t stop us from trying so here goes.

At myAutoloan.com, we really have spent considerable time looking into hybrid vehicles and green processes.  As a matter of fact, we are so “green” around here that we amaze ourselves!  Everything is so electronic and paperless in our processes that we’ve thought about giving ourselves a “Green Award” for being so environmentally friendly.  I digress – now back to the point.  We have come to the conclusion that a realistic answer is not so simple to the cost justification question.  Therefore let’s see if we can share some methodology to help you determine if a valid hybrid car payback process is feasible.

Much of our research had to do with number crunching and we found out quickly that whatever scenario we ran, some elements are moving targets.  For example, higher gas prices work to shorten the number of miles needed for a hybrid payback.  With the volatility in the prices of a barrel of oil these days and changing financial pressures on the industry that is providing incentives, it means that any calculations we make today may be different than the realities of calculations made in a few weeks.  That coupled with the changing retail prices of hybrids also appears to be a moving target as well.

We have read about how some dealerships tack thousands of dollars onto a hybrids’ MSRP because of demand.   That certainly needs to be factored into the equation too but much of what you pay is based on just how much you want the green car.

Fortunately the basic equation for estimating a breakeven equation point for a hybrid car is intuitive.  It begins by identifying the combined city/highway MPG number for a hybrid car and that of a conventional set of wheels.  You can find these MPG figures online at Fueleconomy.gov.

Assumption: Gas cost = $4.0 per gallon

Civic Hybrid: Cost: $4.00 / 42 MPG = $0.095 cents / Mile
Civic EX: $4.00 / 29 MPG = $0.14 / Mile

Assumption: MSRP

Civic Hybrid:$22,600
Civic EX: $18,710
Purchase Price Difference = $3,890

To find the projected mileage to a breakeven point, the difference in the cost between the two models is divided by the savings per mile.  For example:
Purchase Price Difference / $0.045 = 86,444 Miles

Thus, in theory, the extra cost of a hybrid green car, in this case, would be off set in just over 86,000 miles of driving if gas prices are $4.00 per gallon.

These basic calculations can be used to determine the estimated payback for all hybrid cars.  There are a lot more variable factors so don’t get swept away into believing all that you hear professed in car commercials.  Do your own research and verify it.  Think it through and make your best decision.  In the end, time will tell if all this hybrid technology will pay for its self, but one thing we do know, is that it appears to be environmentally friendlier and that’s good.

Free markets behave like the natural laws of physics. Take water for example, water always seeks the lowest level.  The pull of gravity on a liquid is enormous and forever.  Try to dam the river, the forces of gravity are so constant and strong that over time the dam will fail, always has and always will. Call it what ever you want, but trying to shore up, bail out, or subsidize ailing US auto manufacturers is like damming the river. The forces of inefficiency, government regulation, horrendous labor contracts with the United Auto Workers Union, and executive level management greed will be so great that over time they will fail.  Subsidizing, propping up, and bailing out any business or industry almost certainly guarantees inefficiency, lower productivity, higher prices, shortages, reduced quality and sub par services.

So, with this I say let them fail or succeed on the basis of free market economics. Failure would allow them the reorganize under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code. A bankruptcy filing allows them to restructure their debt, union contracts and executive compensation packages. I say this with the caveat that the US auto industry is not solely at fault here. Our US Congress and the EPA have single handedly continually changed and added new regulations that place an overwhelming burden and hurdles for these companies to overcome. As far as an Obama presidency, I can only see him maintaining and expanding these oppressive regulations. My hope is that in the future, the people of this country will elect a conservative congress that will see and understand the damage these oppressive regulations forced on these manufacturers and repeal or attempt to restrict them selves from further damaging this industry.  With free market economics, the big three will emerge as lean, technology driven, productive manufactures of high quality, highly demanded US automobiles. Why, they may even emerge as the big two or even the big one!

Here are some basic tips:

Pay on Time. Every time!
Your track record paying all your bills, not just your credit card, is the single biggest factor in your credit score. It accounts for 35 percent of your score.  Even if you only send in the minimum amount due on your credit card bill, send it in on time. No Excuses If you find that you are late every month on one or more bills then you are living beyond your means. You need to cut back on something or work something out with your creditor to move your due date. Communicate with your creditors and let them know what is going on.

Don’t Max out your credit cards
The amount you owe on your credit cards as a percentage of your outstanding credit limit—known as your debt to credit limit ratio—accounts for 30 percent of your score. The best way to keep this percentage low is to make sure you don’t run up a big balance. Another option is to call your card company and ask for your credit limit to be raised. For example, if you have a $5,000 balance and a $10,000 limit, you are at the 50 percent level. But if your credit limit is raised to $15,000, your ratio is reduced to 33 percent. Just be sure not to use the extra credit limit for “emergencies.” I can’t tell you how many times we said buying and outfit for a wedding was an emergency. Keep things in perspective.

Build a Strong History.
How long you have had an account determines 15 percent of your score. The longer the history, the more confident a lender can be about your financial behavior. For this reason, don’t cancel any unused cards, because their history will be wiped from your record. So, let’s say you no longer use a card you took out 10 years ago, because you got a better deal elsewhere. That’s fine; just stick the card somewhere safe and sound, but don’t cancel it outright. Even though you aren’t using the card, you still want to use the history. The longest account I have is a gas card from 1991. If I would have cancelled it my next oldest account is from 1994. Makes a difference.

Don’t Be a Credit–holic.
Potential lenders hate to see you applying for a lot of credit; it makes them think you’re going to get in way over your head with debt. Your pattern of opening new accounts, or applying for new accounts, determines 10 percent of your grade. One important caveat: If you confine your mortgage shopping to a two-week period, all those applications (and lender requests for your credit score) will be bundled together and count as only one request on your record. Same goes for auto buying. If you apply for auto credit in the same 14 day (2 week) window it all counts as one request on your record. Try to limit your requests for credit to once a year. Don’t apply for those in store credit cards just for the sale. 10% a balance that charges 22% is not that great of a deal.

Watch Your Mix.
You don’t want to have a ton of open credit lines or loans. Your mix of credit cards, retail cards and installment loans accounts for the final 10 percent of your score.

I recommend going to myfico.com and purchasing all three credit bureaus for review. After you buy the Suze Orman’s FICO® Kit Platinum you can get on the road to improving and maintaining your credit. You can’t improve if you don’t know where you are now. Find out now and keep moving forward instead of backward.

To read more about view the official press release on PR Leap. http://www.prleap.com/pr/118201/

 Read more at the Press Release posted on PR Leap. http://www.prleap.com/pr/117080/