Car Loan

• Shopping for a vehicle, negotiating the price, and signing the auto loan contract will, no doubt, have words and/or terms used by the car dealer that you may not understand. Car buying vocabulary, or car dealers and their use of tricky language can overwhelm some of us. When there is something you don't understand, say, "Would you repeat that, please!!" Say it again and again, until you understand what the car salesman is saying.
  
  
• Remember, it is your money the car dealer wants, whether you understand what he is saying or not, so it's up to you to make the car dealers language understandable to protect yourself. Click Auto Loan Learn the Terms to read some of the most common terms you may hear when you are shopping for a new or used vehicle. When educated, you'll have peach of mind.
  
  
• The first thing to remember is, "when you drive into a car lot, the car dealer see's money!!" Yours!! And his goal is to get it!! He is going to do everything possible to get you to make all of your decisions in a single day.





• Nothing new said here, we all know this, but....the second thing to remember is, it's important to shop for a car loan BEFORE you shop for the car. After all, you will most likely have your car loan for about 5 years, AND...this is the exciting part, you will have a pre-approved loan in your hand, which is cash to the dealer, that gives you bargaining power!!" Dealers will often take smaller profits when selling you the car, called front end profit, if they know that they are going to make a nice profit on the financing of the car, called back end profit. Car dealers make approximately half of their money through financing the autos they sell. (Read about dealership financing below)
  
  
• Instead of the car dealer having the advantgage over you, you will have the advantage over him. If it's up to the car dealer to get your financing approved, that makes him have power over you. With a pre-approved loan in your hand, from you local credit union, or bank or online sources, you can negotiate like a cash buyer and you can wheel and deal 'till the cows come home. After all, there are car dealerships just down the road, and the car dealer knows that.
  
  
• It's overwhelming enough to shop for a vehicle these days, knowing how expensive the price tag is, but it's even more owerwhelming trying to get apporved for a car loan at a car dealership. You're sitting on pins and needles the whole entire time waiting, while the car dealer disappears into another room arranging for a loan approval for you. You're wondering during this time if you are doing the right thing, and probably already having buyers remorse, and you haven't even signed the loan contract yet. Getting your car loan pre-approved before hand is less pressure on you, also you will have piece of mind as you drive into that car lot (about the financing part of it anyway). That's one less thing for you to worry about and deal with during your car shopping adventure.
  
  

• If you decide to finance your car, be aware that the financing obtained by the car dealer, even if the car dealer contacts lenders on your behalf, may not be the best deal you can get. Unless they offer very low financing rates, you should contact lenders yourself to compare the financing they offer you with the financing the car dealer offers you. Be wary of focusing only on the monthly payment. Sometimes, dealers offer very low financing rates for specific cars or models, but may not be willing to negotiate on the price of these cars. To qualify for the special rates, you may be required to make a large down payment. With these conditions, you may find that it's sometimes more affordable to pay higher financing charges on a car that is lower in price or to buy a car that requires a smaller down payment. Before you sign a contract to purchase or finance the car, consider the terms of the financing and evaluate whether it is affordable. Read about Auto Loan Dealership Financing Beware
  
  
  

Federal Laws
Major laws that govern financial institutions and protect individuals in their financial dealings

Organizations

Consumer Info