Monday, November 23, 2009

Auto Loan Shopping Tips 101

By Frank A. Williams Jr.

Ok let me give you some advice on getting the best bang for your buck when applying for a bad credit auto loan.

The first thing someone should do when researching car loans is to check their credit report. Double check to see if everything on the credit report is accurate and true. Chances are that there may be a few things on your credit report that were put there in error and you may have better credit than you think! If the errors on your report are not removed or corrected, then you may be put into a lower bank tier which may mean, a higher interest rate, and your loan may be placed with a "Special Finance" bank rather that a "Prime Lender" who will usually give you better terms on the auto loan.

An important thing to see when applying for a bad credit auto loan, is your actual credit score. For many years in the past, credit scores were for the lenders eyes only. They would use them to evaluate a persons credit worthiness. Now it's been recently made available for the average consumer to get their credit score by themselves. There are 3 main credit bureaus that will give you access to your cedit score online: Experian, Trans Union and Equifax are the main 3 bureaus used by all the lenders. If you have good or bad credit, it is truly important to know this before applying for any type of car loan online. It will give you a good sense of where you will stand with the dealer you are applying with and with the lender approving the loan.

One thing you should make sure of is that you should never depend on just the car dealer. Dealers make money on practically every car loan they help produce. In the long run, any loan you would get through the car dealer with a finance company or bank would wind up being more expensive, than if you shopped around for an auto loan yourself. The best way is to secure a bad credit car loan before you start shopping at the dealerships, if possible!

The first thing to look for is the best and lowest interest rate. This usually differs from one lender to the next. Credit unions can also be a great source for auto loans. Years back, credit unions only offered auto loans for people with good credit, now we are starting to see many credit unions offering auto financing for people with bad credit as well.

But don't get me wrong, alot of car dealerships have very competitive finance departments that deal with numerous auto loan lenders and and can usually get you a pretty good deal if you are a good negotiator. What you are paying for when going to the dealership for the auto loan is convenience. Shopping around for a good interest rate with different banks can be very time consuming. Sometimes just finding a bank that deals with bad credit can be hard enough. Usually dealerships can have a better chance at getting you approved for an auto loan because of the close relationships they maintain with the lenders. So do your research and figure out which method of obtaining a car loan is best for your situation! Good Luck! - 30462

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