Car Loan Rates
Car loan rates are the first thing you have to investigate when trying to determine whether or not a car you want to purchase is affordable. Car loan rates go up and down depending on the prime interest rate, but what car loan rates you qualify for is directly dependent upon your credit score as well.
Find what your monthly car loan rate will be using the below calculator
Before locking in to car loan rates you should do your best to raise your credit score by challenging any incorrect information on your credit report. If your credit is very bad, only poor car loan rates may be available to you unless you get someone else to co-sign, which may be an option.
Investigate car loan rates before you go in to a dealer to purchase a car because many dealers will play with the bait and switch, which is offering you vehicles at amazing car loan rates (zero percent down, zero percent financing is a popular one), and then when you get into the dealership that particular vehicle is no longer available and they set you up with another one at a much higher rate instead. While this is frowned upon, it's not illegal as long as the ad makes it clear there is only one such vehicle available, which is why these teaser ads place the vehicle identification number in the ad. Another way that dealers play with car loan rates is to offer you a good rate upfront but then tack on extra fees here and there. If you added those extra fees up, they could easily add on a couple of percentage points to the car loan rates.
If you check car loan rates online and determine what the average rate is, you can go into the dealer armed with this knowledge and decide whether the price you're being given plus the monthly payment is a good deal or not. A difference in car loan rates of just two percentage points can cost you thousands of dollars over time so it really is important to investigate carefully. There are many places online where you can check current car loan rates, including bankrate.com, carloan123.net, MSN's Money Central section, auto-loaninterest.com, and eloan.com. Be careful when relying on websites for information on car loan rates, though, because some sources may be biased and be attempting to suck you in to taking out a loan through them using the same bait and switch car dealerships use. It's best to check with several different sources and find a consensus in order to be sure that the car loan rates you're looking at are legitimate. Once you've got a good idea of where your rate should be, then you can go into the dealership and say, "Let's make a deal!"
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