There are many reasons to refinance, but the two primary reasons are to lower your payment or reduce your interest rate.

I’ve spoken with people that had to refinance a loan because they experienced an economic downturn. With the downturn, they could no longer afford their current debt load and got behind on some of their bills. As a result their credit score was lower. They refinanced their loan at a higher rate and a longer term, but they met their primary objective, which was lowering their payment so that they could meet their other obligations.

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One of the most frequently asked questions our customer service department receives is “will I qualify for a car loan if ….”. There are so many possible scenarios it would be impossible to list them all here so I will address some of the major ones.

In our database we have over 100 sub prime lenders, each has an average of 5 lending programs. With over 500 programs in total there should be a program for almost every credit situation. The major factors lenders consider when you apply for a car loan are: (Read More…)

When you have sub prime credit a 580 Score - there is a lot that goes into determining your rate. Based on the information you provided it is hard to estimate your rate but I will try and provide you some guidelines so you can estimate your own rate.

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The FACT Act amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act allows every one can get a free annual credit report once a year. You can contact the Central Source to request this free annual credit report by calling toll free (877) FACTACT. There are services that will give you a free report if you try their credit monitoring service, after the free try period ends they begin to charge you monthly for the service.

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A good car dealer is not the dealer that makes the least amount of profit on their customers, it’s the auto dealer that can provide the best deal. Good car dealers have the people, processes, inventory, lenders, and technology in place so that they can make a profit while providing a good deal to their customers.

For example, let’s say you have bad credit and are interested in a used 2006 Chevrolet Malibu for under $325.00 per month. Via the web, you find two local Chevy dealers that have some on their lots. (Read More…)

Most of the lenders that finance first time buyers, and report to the credit bureaus require a year on the job, and 15% to 20% down payment. If you meet these requirements you should qualify for a loan at a dealership that has a sub prime department.

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Prior to applying with a lender you should visit with your trustee / attorney and ask him or her for an “Authorization to Incur Debt”. This is a legal document that states that the new loan will not be included in the bankruptcy.

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Advice from Auto Credit Express on one way to re-build credit after bankruptcy and start living a better life.

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Some states allow people to take out car title loans; short-term, high-interest loans using their cars as collateral. But as Mark Strassmann reports, borrowers too often default and end up losing their vehicles.

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One of the more popular internet search phrases is “Zero Down Auto Loans”. I would image the meaning of this to mean that the consumer wants an auto loan but does not want to use any of their own cash as a down payment. Customer cash is not the only form of down, there are two others; trade value and rebates.

If you have bad credit there are only a few true no down auto loan programs, and most of these I would not recommend. The repayment terms for these no money down auto loan programs are less favorable than lender programs that require money down. (Read More…)

Find tips for buying a used car and selling a used car at UsedCar.LifeTips.com. Learn how used car pricing is set and where to find used car reviews. Read the differences between buying a used car from a dealer and buying a used car from an owner.

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There are three main categories of auto finance lenders for people with bad credit. They are Direct Lenders, Indirect Lenders, and Buy Here Pay Here In House Financing.

Direct Bad Credit Auto Loan Lenders

Direct lenders lend money directly to the consumer. When you borrow money from a direct lender you can shop like a cash buyer. Direct lenders, however, have more strict underwriting guidelines, that is to say they do not do a very good job approving people with bad credit. I would recommend that you have a credit score above 580 if you apply with a direct lender. Direct lenders may finance the following loan types:

Private party auto loans

A private party auto loan is a loan to purchase a car from a private party. Most direct lenders for people with bad credit do not offer this option. (Read More…)

When you buy and finance a car with bad credit chances are you will be offered additional products during the loan closing process. I would like to take the time now to discuss these and give my recommendation as to whether or not you should purchase and finance these additional products.

There are actually only two products that I feel strongly about and always recommend people with bad credit purchase when financing a car. They are Gap Insurance and a Service Contract (sometimes referred to as a warranty). The reason I feel so strongly about these products is because I seen many people who had good credit end up with bad credit because they did not purchase these products when they financing their last car.

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When it comes to getting an auto loan with bad credit, most lenders have a score card that they use to rate your credit worthiness and risk. Rarely will sub prime lenders rely on the credit bureau score alone when making their decision whether to approve or decline an auto loan application. Following are a few examples of items that may be part of a sub prime auto lenders score card.

Time in Bureau
Many lenders use the “In Bureau Date” as part of their score card, the longer a person has been in the bureau system the better.

Previous Credit High
Finance companies may look at your previous credit high to determine the loan amount that they will approve.

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If a recent economic event such as change in employment, large medical bills, divorce, or legal troubles has turned your good credit to bad credit you can regain a good credit score. Many lenders are willing to help those who at one time had a good credit score and now have bad credit, especially if they can identify a single economic event that caused the good credit rating to turn to a bad credit score.

Many times when a consumers credit turns from good to bad they end up loosing their vehicle, either through bankruptcy proceedings or repossession; after that happens most consumers end up getting a bad credit auto loan through a sub prime auto lender.

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Yesterday I filled in for customer service for a few hours and had the opportunity to speak with many of our clients. Many of them posed a similar question to me. “Should I find a car first or should I get approved for an auto loan first”. Since this is a common question I decided to share my thoughts on this subject today.

In my opinion, if you have bad credit you should get approved for an auto loan before you choose a car. I do not say this just to promote our service; my opinion is based on years of experience working with dealers and people with bad credit. Many of the dealerships I have visited have a stick sales process. The process is the same for all customers whether they have good credit or bad credit. For example: (Read More…)

Twelve years ago when I first started helping people buy a car with bad credit there were only a few lenders willing to give people with credit problems a traditional type of loan. When I say a “traditional type of loan”, I mean a lender that reports to all three credit reporting agencies and had monthly repayment terms via a traditional payment book.

At that time, it was more common for consumers with bad credit to buy cars from local “We Finance” used car dealers that had a buy here pay here “pay as you go” program. With these programs, the consumer visited the car dealer weekly to drop off their payment. In most cases, the “rent to own” vehicle was an older car valued between $1,000 and $5,000.

It was a major step toward rebuilding credit when national finance companies entered the sub prime lending arena around 15 years ago. The first special finance lending programs had repayment terms of 24, 36, or 48 months. Rarely would a lender approve a loan with a 60 month repayment term. These short repayment terms allowed consumers to buy a better car than they could purchase at a buy here pay here used car dealer. Based on our data, the average car purchased utilizing these terms was around $10,000.

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What should you expect if you request a bad credit auto loan quote online?

It really depends what type of web site you apply with. There are four types of websites competing for you business, they are:

Bad Credit Car Buying Services
Bad credit car buying services, such as Auto Credit Express, has an established network of dealers that finance people with bad credit, a proactive customer service department, and affiliate partners. In addition, Auto Credit Express has relationships with direct marketers and direct lenders.

Consumers that utilize the Auto Credit Express bad credit car buying service can expect to work with a single dealer in their area that is uniquely qualified to help them buy a car. We cannot help everyone, but we can help most people with reasonable expectations that are willing to put forth the effort to reestablish their credit rating.

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