subject: What To Do Before You Ship For A Bad Credit Auto Loan [print this page] Steps You Should Take Before You Start Shopping For An Auto Loan With Bad Credit!
Searching for a decent used car is hard enough, but if you are looking for a bad credit auto loan on top of that it can become a daunting task! Usually its pretty easy to spot a good deal at a local car lot. Just make sure that if you are financing the car and you have a few credit blemishes that they don't try and sneak in a few extras that you really do not need. These types of tricky tactics are how dealers get you to spend more money than you actually need to spend.
If there are blemishes on your credit, it can be hard to take when your dealership tries to explain to you that you do not qualify for a lower interest rate and better terms on your auto loan. It can sometimes make people feel helpless in getting a fair auto loan offer.
At times this can be the case but one thing to remember is that car dealers need to sell cars. Don't be afraid to walk away and try your chances at another dealer if you feel you are not getting a good deal. The message I will try and get across to most readers of this article is what to do to prepare yourself to get a good deal when shopping for a bad credit car loan.
The most important thing to get before you shop is "Credit Score". You need this in order to get an idea of where you stand and how bad your credit really is. Most of the times people go about the whole buying process backwards. They go to a dealership, find a nice car that they like and then the dealer comes back with an auto loan approval only to tell you that you barely qualified for this car because of your credit history and credit score. They may just be trying to charge you a higher interest rate and in turn make a few thousand dollars extra on your deal, than if you already knew what your credit history looked like. a 2 to 4% increase in your interest rate can mean as much as $2000 more in interest payments coming out of your pocket over the life of the loan! This is obviously something you want to avoid.
First, do a search online for free credit reports with credit scores. You are going to need to arm yourself with an accurate credit score from all three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and Trans-Union. You are actually eligible for a for a free credit report every year, so take advantage of that so you can get the best deal possible on your auto loan.
The most important part of a credit report used for determining your credit worthiness is your FICO Score. This score in determined by a calculated formula used by the credit reporting agencies. Usually your credit score can be as low as a 400 and as high as 850 to 900 in some cases! As the score gets higher typically over 700, thats when you start to reap the rewards of getting a better deal. If you do not know your FICO score, you may be led to believe that with your credit history this is all you qualify for. This way they can charge you more interest and in the long run you can wind up paying thousands of dollars more over the life of the auto loan. Remember dealerships are in business to make money, and given the opportunity, that is exactly what they are going to do. Don't get me wrong, car dealerships do deserve to make money or they could not keep their doors open and pay their bills. But consumers also deserve to get a fair deal!
