Buying a Car with Bad Credit - Setting Expectations
by Dave LaLonde on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007What 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.
Direct Marketers
Direct marketers often hide their true identity and make false claims when promoting their service, for example, if you Google™ “Buy a Car with Bad Credit”, you will see ads for websites that claim:
- 100% Approved
- 99% Approved
- No Credit Check
Unless the advertisement is ran by a buy here pay here dealer with in house financing, the “No Credit Check” claim is not only false, it is a blatant lie. If you have to give up your social security number on the application, chances are a credit report will be ran to determine your suitability for auto financing.
Direct marketers focus is to collect your personal information and resell it to the highest bidder, which includes car buying services such as Auto Credit Express, car dealers, and direct lenders.
Consumers that request a quote from a direct marketing website are often left with the feeling that they were over promised and under delivered. We have talked to many people that have applied on these sites, most were unaware that they could not use these services to buy their neighbors car or shop at any car lot like a cash buyer would.
In other words, these sites do a poor job at setting expectations and lead consumers to believe that any thing that customer wants they can get, regardless of their income, monthly budget, down payment, and credit score.
Direct Lenders
Direct lenders do a poor job of approving people with bad credit online. Most of their “Bad Credit” programs are tailored for people with marginal credit. People with marginal credit have credit scores in the 600 range. On the other hand, if you are approved with a direct lender you can shop at most any licensed dealers just as a cash buyer would.
If you apply with a direct lender and they turn down your request for financing, they will often offer the you the services of a reputable bad credit car buying service, such as Auto Credit Express.
Auto Dealers
If you apply directly with an auto dealer you will know who has your information, the downside is that the dealer that you applied with may not have the people, process, inventory, and lenders in place to approve your specific credit situation. If the dealership is unable to help you buy a car with bad credit, you will have to start the process all over again.
