Consumer Car Buying Advice Blog

If you have bad credit and are considering getting an auto loan to buy a car, make sure you can afford the additional expense.

Looking at your credit score

At Auto Credit Express, we want you to learn how you can improve your credit score:

Anything below a 720 FICO score is generally considered to be less than perfect credit. But even if your credit score is 640 (or more), you can probably get financed through a conventional lender.

If your credit score is below 640, though, most regular lenders will deny you credit for a car loan. If you currently need a car and either don’t have the time to raise your clean up your credit or your credit can’t be cleaned up, you may want to explore the possibility of using a subprime car loan to reestablish your car credit and raise your credit score at the same time.

If you choose to take this path, there is more to consider than just making your auto loan payment. You should also consider the monthly cost to insure the car and the risks associated with repairs and rising gasoline prices.

The big picture of bad credit car loans

On of the best ways to recover from bad credit is to get a new loan and pay it off as agreed. It goes without saying that if you get a new loan and do not make the payments in a timely matter your credit could be worse off at the end of the loan than it was before you got the loan.

So before you sign up for a new loan, make sure you can easily afford the expense. If you have bad credit, you should consider the following before getting an auto loan:

* How much will the insurance be and could you save money on insurance if you selected a different vehicle? Ask your insurance agent which comparable vehicles will most likely carry the lowest premiums.

* How would a major increase in fuel prices affect you? If you live close to work, it probably would not impact your budget to much. If you commute a long distance, however, this could have a serious effect on your disposable income. Whatever you think your gasoline expenses will be, add 50% to it for your budget.

* Do you have enough money put away to cover unexpected repairs, or are you living from pay check to pay check? If you find yourself living from pay check to pay check you should seriously consider purchasing an extended service contract to help cover the expense of major vehicle repairs.

Your budget

We would recommend that your new auto loan payment, combined with all your other expenses, not exceed 50% of your total gross income. We would also recommend that your new auto payment, alone, not exceed 15% of your total income. If you stick to these guidelines, you should be able to make all of your auto loan payments on time and recover from bad credit.

How Auto Credit Express can help

At Auto Credit Express, we specialize in helping people with bad, blemished, bruised and tarnished credit buy cars and reestablish their credit at the same time. Through our web site, www.autocreditexpress.com, we have helped thousands of customers locate the right dealer and get financed on a new or low-mileage used car. We do this by educating our customers. Our web site contains calculators and resources that will walk you through the application process, answer your questions and help you determine how much car you can afford. Unlike the vast majority of nameless, faceless “blind” bad credit car loan sites, our toll free number is listed on every page in case you have any additional questions.

When you do decide to apply for a bad credit car loan, our credit application can be filled out in the comfort and security of your own home. Remember, here at Auto Credit Express, we are experts at “rebuilding America’s credit.”

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