Although Ford's certified used car program fails to cover vehicles from other manufacturers, the announcement late last summer that the company had partnered with Carfax to provide vehicle history reports is a step in the right direction for consumers with questionable credit searching for online auto loans.

Buying a car can be exciting. It's time for something new, and sometimes we get caught up in that excitement and get ahead of ourselves. And when this does happen, it often leads to disappointment when we get to the car dealership and discover that what we want isn't exactly what we can get.This is why it is so important for all car buyers to get their financing arranged first.

Consumers, especially those with tarnished credit, should avoid used cars with poor reliability as the odds of paying for costly repairs on top of a monthly car payment increase for these vehicles.

Especially for car buyers with problem credit, anything that makes the car buying process more transparent is a good thing. So a tip of the hat to the Western Michigan Better Business Bureau as well as the Grand Rapids and Holland New Car Dealers associations for making things easier for car buyers on the west side of the Great Lakes State.

Car buyers with good credit can buy a vehicle from practically any seller they want, but if you have bad credit, getting financed for a private party loan, or any place other than a licensed dealer, can be very difficult.

There are a number of advantages to getting a buy now pay later car loan from a buy here pay here car lot. With this type of loan, you get financing directly from the dealer and there is no credit check. But while these dealers have helped many people finance a car, they may not be the best choice for a bad credit car loan.

Do you need a driver’s license to buy a car? The short answer is that in most cases you don’t, but unless you pay cash you won’t be able to get it on the road.

When it comes to auto loan modifications, it's our opinion that most consumers with car credit problems will get taken for a ride.

It's been proven that car buyers with bad credit hoping for easy financing for cars are especially open to being taken in by sellers pushing used cars with hidden damage.

It's a fact that more car buyers with less than perfect credit choose to finance used cars because they're usually more affordable. But, among other things, there's also the chance that they may be checking one out that has one or more open recalls.