So how much are we really talking about here? For example, let’s say you bought a new car in the summer of 2008.  Just for this example, let’s say there were a few blips on your credit report that lowered your score and so the dealer told you that your auto loan would be 11 percent on a 60 month loan for a $24,000 car. Your monthly payments are $500.

Now let’s say that you look for a car loan refinance and you find an actual finance company that will do the application and approval process all online.  There are big differences in licensed finance companies and websites that promise to refinance and just sell off your information.  But that’s another story, for now, you have determined that the website is legitimate and actually works for you to get you refinanced.  That’s great because, as we identified earlier, rates are now at the lowest point in years.  If you want to lower your payments, do another 60 month loan.
 
If you want to lower the overall cost of the loan, refinance the balance that you owe on the car and do so in the fewest amount of months that you can, as long as you can handle the monthly payments. You could refinance the balance of your car loan and lower your payments to about $350 a month. 

How?  Because ideally, you have not only improved your credit, but you have been offered a very competitive interest rate and that could translate into a savings of nearly $6,000 over the life of the loan.

We could run a number of scenarios but one quick way to check out rates and payments is to use an auto refinance calculator to estimate payments and loan costs.  Other examples could well be more dramatic. In some cases, a new-car buyer could wind up with an auto loan based on an 18-percent interest rate. By refinancing at a competitive rate, the monthly payments would be slashed, and all it takes is about 10 minutes to fill out the application.

Regardless, you could save some cash by investigating the possibility of an auto refinance loan and get the New Year off to a great start.  Good luck and good financing.

You have probably heard of auto refinance before. Or simply refinance. The term “refinance” actually refers to a financial situation wherein a borrower finds financing to pay off a current loan.  It’s really pretty simple and not difficult at all to accomplish.  Auto refinance is done less often than it is in the real estate market, specifically with home ownership.  In fact, refinancing is one of the most popular methods of getting financing for a home loan.

With auto refinance, the same thing applies. Auto refinance is basically paying off one loan with a new loan. The goal of auto refinance is to allow you, the borrower, to save some money from your monthly loan obligations.  That can be in reduced monthly payments and/or in reduced interest APR that also helps lower the monthly payment.  And as such, it is one of the best kept secrets in the financing industry.  For years now, people have refinancing their homes and saving thousands of dollars when rates go lower. However, the practice of refinancing car loans has not quite been at the level of home refinance, but it has clearly gain popularity with interest rates having been lowered to 25 year lows.
 
One thing that is so often overlooked is that if you have improved your credit over say, six months, you can actually get a lower interest rate than when you purchased your car.  This is almost always true if you’ve had a few late payments in years past but have been on time and have taken control of your credit lately.  Why don’t more people know this?  Perhaps the reason is most people don’t know that since an auto loan has so much less paperwork associated with it, compared to home loans, they are naturally skeptical about how simple they are.  Regardless, auto refinance is still a good choice for many people, provided that the situation is right, you’ve done your home work and you are serious about keeping your credit in good shape.

When to get an Auto Refinance Loan
The way for an auto refinance loan to benefit you is if you can get it when the interest rates are lower than when you originally made the purchase.  This is true for auto and for Mortgage rates.  Rates tend to move up and during economic challenged times, they move lower. Therefore, since interest rates are low, then it’s likely that auto loan rates are low also.  Low auto loan rates typically mean lower monthly repayments can be obtained and that you can save money in the long run by reducing the APR on the loan.
 
Only few people really understand the time value of money.  In other words, you need to keep in mind that the longer you pay for a loan, the bigger amount of money you actually spend for it.  It simply costs your more of your cash to pay for the loan.  Thus, in some poor credit situations, by the time you get the loan paid off, you could have paid more money on interest than on the principal.  Just make sure you take control of the situation and don’t allow that to happen.  This is why auto refinance is important for it is one of the few methods that could help you minimize loan costs and maximize your savings.

Who can benefit from Auto Refinance?
Almost anyone with an auto loan to his name can benefit from auto refinance. Even car buyers with bad credit can obtain auto refinance as a way for them to lower down their APRs.  Let’s say, for instance, you make an auto refinance loan for $16,500 on a new Honda Accord.  At the end of six months, you agree to pay off the amount at 21% APR. So for a few months, while you might be working on getting your credit back in shape with on time payment and reducing your overall debt,  your monthly loan payment will be $446.

After say 4 months, you decide to apply for an auto refinance loan.  However, this time, your loan rate is at 6% APR.   Your current monthly payment is $446 which gives you total interest charges of $10,283 at the end of your loan period.  Your auto refinance loan offers you a monthly payment of $319 with total interest charges of $2,639. Thus, by refinancing, you can save up to $7,600.  Yes, it really is possible.  Apply now to find out if you can benefit from an auto refinance loan.

“As we have discussed before, there are a lot of auto buyers that pay more than they have to pay because they need a car,” says Heather Dietel, Director of Business Development at myAutoloan.com, a licensed auto loan refinancing lender. “If they just had to have transportation and purchased a car with higher rates at the time, they will absolutely be surprised at how much they can save.”  There are a lot of good reasons to consider doing an auto refinance loan so let’s highlight a few of them.

Benefits of Auto Loan Refinancing
The most obvious benefit of refinancing your car loan is to save money on the interest you’re paying. You can also shorten the terms of your loan or reduce your monthly payments. One great benefit of refinancing is to improve your credit.  “When you refinance, it will show up as a car loan that was paid-off in full and on time on your credit report,” Dietel explains. “The new lender pays off your current loan and even though you’re taking out a new loan with the new lender, it will help your credit score.”  Remember to keep your auto refinance loan applications to a one to two-week time period so it won’t negatively affect your credit score.

Whether refinancing will lower your current car loan rate by 10% or 1%, you will still save money, Heather says. On average, consumers can save $60 a month on their car payments and get a 3.8% rate reduction, she says.  “Even if you only get your interest rate dropped 1%, you’ll still lower your monthly auto payment and save hundreds of dollars over the course of your auto loan,” she says. “With that, you can either pay off your loan faster, or invest that money in getting rid of other debt. Remember, the way to get the lowest interest rate and save the most money is to make the auto refinance loan term equal to or shorter than the old loan.”
 
Examples of how much you can save by refinancing:
 
Loan amount:           $30,000
                                 Original loan                      New loan
term:                        60 months                        60 months
interest rate:             12.5%                              7.5%
payment:                  $675                                 $601

monthly savings:  $      74
total savings:         $4,429
 
Loan amount:           $20,000
                                 Original loan                      New loan
term:                        60 months                        54 months
interest rate:             12.5%                              7.5%
payment:                  $450                                $436

monthly savings:       $14
total savings:        $3,434
6 month shorter loan
 
Overall, at whatever level your credit score is at and whatever interest rate you are currently paying on your car loan, refinancing can save you anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars over the life of the loan. Check online and your local credit union or bank to see what they offer and to see if you qualify to refinance.

Financial experts tell consumers to check all areas of their monthly budget to see where they can cut, like insurance, groceries, cable bills and phone bills. Your car loan payment is an expense that you can easily reduce by refinancing.