Finance Tips

Car loans after a bankruptcy is one of the first secured loans you will qualify for. Not only will you obtain transportation with a car loan, but you can also rebuild your credit. The following three facts will help you get the best financing deal.

1. Seven Years Doesn’t Mean Seven Years Of No Credit

Bankruptcy doesn’t mean that you can’t qualify for credit for seven years. After a few months of reestablishing your credit, you can apply with a subprime lender for vehicle financing. With a good credit record of two years or longer, you can look at conventional lenders.

Subprime lenders work with non-traditional borrowers. With their slightly higher rates, they can offer a variety of financing options to people with all sorts of credit records. Conventional lenders also look at people with bankruptcy once they have regained a good credit score.

2. Lenders Offer Different Rates – So Compare First

Lenders offer different rates from the market index. By comparing the APR, which also includes any fees, you can find the lowest costing loan. This doesn’t always mean the lowest interest rate.

Another way to reduce your rates is to increase your down payment to 20% or more. A large down payment reduces the risk of default, enabling lenders to provide better rates.

Rates also vary by the type of vehicle you purchase. New cars purchased from a dealership qualify for the lowest rates. But budget considerations, such as vehicle price, should also be considered in choosing your car’s financing.

3. You Can Refinance Car Loans

Once you sign a contract for your car loan, you don’t have to feel trapped by the rates. Today’s lenders offer refinancing options for car loans. Even if rates go up, you may find that by improving your credit score, you will qualify for better rates in two years.

If you plan on refinancing, make sure that your current car loan doesn’t have any early payment fees. Also, be aware that the majority of your interest is paid at the beginning of your loan. Waiting too long to refinance may not save you any money, so check the numbers first.

Reasonable car loan rates can be found by researching and planning ahead.

When you are sitting across from the credit manager at the dealership and only a few feet away from the car of your dreams, you really want to believe every word he says. But if you have poor credit history, you know there is no way to get that shiny new car through a bank loan – and he knows it, too! You may not have thought a new car loan was possible because of a couple of bad decisions made in the past – so when the credit manager says “you’re approved”, your heart begins to race!

Suddenly you start to imagine yourself taking road trips and having one adventure after another – and the last thing on your mind is the interest rate on the car loan. Before you know it, you are driving off the lot in your shiny new car thinking that you pulled one over on those fools! Three months later, surviving off of peanut butter and saltine crackers, it hits you – car loans financed through a dealership are evil!

But what can I do?

Well, after sticking the voodoo doll with a few more pins and hoping that the credit manager feels it, you need to start thinking about how to refinance the car loan, bad credit and all. But it isn’t easy to refinance a car loan with bad credit, is it? Truthfully, you may not be able to do so – for awhile…

So I was right–bad car loans are the end of the world, aren’t they!

Now now, pilgrim – just breathe. While you may be in deep trouble at the moment, all hope is not yet lost – but you may have to get used to those crackers and peanut butter for awhile. What you cannot do is panic, or throw your arms up in despair. Bad car loans happen, and they happen to people with bad credit more often than you think. But bad car loans can be fixed by improving your credit, so make sure to pay everything on time – for at least six months. I don’t care how disgusting saltine crackers become during that time, do not miss any (any!) payments!

OK, I have lost fifteen pounds, but I have paid my bills on time for six months–now what?

Now, you get smart. You need to shop around online for a place that refinances bad car loans. After building your credit by making the payments on that bad car loan for the past six months (and all of your other bills, too!), your credit rating should begin to improve and options will start to open. You do not want to refinance your car loan with the same bad credit you had when that credit manager lured you in six months ago, because you probably won’t get a better rate anyway. But, if you have been a good boy or girl, and ate all your crackers and paid your bills on time, you can probably find a better rate now on a new car loan. And potentially save yourself thousands in the process.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it may take longer than a year to find a rate on a car loan that will make it worthwhile to refinance. Even if it takes a year to get your credit rating to a better place, be patient. On a five year car loan, an interest rate that is even 1% lower can save you a bundle over the next four years. Just take your time, and shop around before signing on the dotted line when refinancing that bad car loan. You don’t want to go back to eating crackers, do you?