Consumer Car Buying Advice Blog

When it comes time to buy a car with a bad credit car loan, the number of aftermarket products offered by the dealer can be confusing. But be sure to consider a service contract if you’re buying a used car.

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One option that bad credit customers have in today’s market is the ability to refinance a car loan in order to reduce the monthly payments. There are a number of advantages that this option can offer all owners, even those with a checkered credit history.

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With the price of gas over $4 per gallon, it makes more sense than ever to forget about driving all over town for a car loan and, instead, get a free car loan quote on the internet.

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According to a recent survey conducted for the Consumer Federation of America and Washington Mutual bank, consumers could save $28 billion a year in lower credit card finance charges if they improved their credit scores by 30 points.

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One of the big questions that many customers ask when they’re looking at bad credit car loans is how much down payment they’ll need to buy a car. We looked at this issue back in January, but the lending environment has changed since then. Now is a good time to take another look at what lenders will require.

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The internet has spawned literally hundreds of companies offering to help you finance a car. But which of these online car lenders can really help you, especially if you have bad credit?

Types of online car lenders

There are two basic types of online car lenders – direct lenders and placement services such as Auto Credit Express. The direct lenders are the banks, themselves. The placement services are companies that either deal with a network of banks or represent a nationwide network of car dealers.

At first glance, it would appear that the best choice would be to directly deal with the banks. They are, after all, the places that actually loan the money. If you go to a car dealer, that dealer has to get the money from the bank, so why not go directly to the bank, yourself?

Good credit versus bad credit

Good Credit

Here is where the process gets interesting. If you have good credit, you could spend a few hours on the internet and visit most of the national lenders. In order to find their rates, chances are you will need to submit an application to each one. The problem is, with each application you submit, that bank will need to check your credit. Too many credit inquiries through these online car lenders to the credit bureaus can actually lower your FICO score.

If, on the other hand, you go through a placement service and it is sent to a dealer, that dealer can study your credit bureau, check the rates at all the banks they do business with and pick the one or two with the best rates. This will cut down on the number of credit bureau inquiries, avoiding the possibility of lowering your credit score.

Bad Credit

If you are a customer with bad credit, it’s even more important that you make the right choice for online car lenders. If you go the direct lender route, not only will you have a number of inquiries on your credit report, there is also no guarantee that you will get an approval. In fact, without any knowledge of the subprime lenders that you’re dealing with online, there’s a good chance that you won’t even get approved for a loan. Even worse, if you do get approved for a loan, that loan may carry a higher interest rate than you might otherwise have qualified for at another subprime lender.

What’s the answer?

The obvious choice, especially for customers with bad credit looking for online car lenders, is a placement service. And here is where we come into the picture. For years, Auto Credit Express has been helping people with credit problems get approved for new and used car loans. Our dealers work with the lending companies to get you approved. Your credit report will get checked by the dealer, but once you’re approved, each month you make your car payment you are rebuilding your credit score and reestablishing your financial future.

Unlike many other services, we belong to the Better Business Bureau and our web site is SSL secured, ensuring the privacy of your personal information. Since our inception, we have processed over 1,000,000 online bad credit auto loans and closed over 1 Billion dollars in auto loans.

Visit www.autocreditexpress.com and see what we can do for you.

Consumer Report’s exclusive owner-cost analysis shows overall vehicle costs can offset any savings at the pump.

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For customers with credit problems, the internet makes it easier than ever to apply for and receive a call back from a dealer that specializes in approved car loans with a spotty credit history.

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If you’ve spent any time at all on the internet, you have probably been besieged by various ads and popups offering you a free credit report. But do you really need this kind of service and, more importantly, how can these companies afford to advertise it if it really is free? Although many of the ads are simply a come-on to induce you to pay for additional services, there is one site that will allow you to view and print your report from all three agencies without paying a dime.

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With the cost of new vehicles rising every year, many customers decide that it is more cost effective to go with a 2 or 3 year old pre-owned car.  With the quality and durability of cars at an all-time high, this decision makes sense. Now they’re faced with another decision: should they buy a regular used car or a certified used car?

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