Car Buyer Labs

Car Buying Advice, Tips, and Reviews

John Oliver

Don’t Expose Yourself to a Subprime Auto Loan

Pick any town or city in the country, and you can rest assured that it’s happening. In Sacramento, people are looking to buy a vehicle that costs more than they can afford. In Charlotte, cars are being repossessed after payments have gone into default. And researching bad credit car loans Louisville drivers are setting themselves up to repeat those same cycles. This is the unspoken side of auto loan financing, and in a world where so many people carefully mask the truth about their finances, it may be more common than you think.

Have a few minutes? Here’s a humorous, yet well-informed discussion of this epidemic:

 

The Risk

Regardless of your credit standing, the decision to buy a vehicle can be frustrating and even perilous to your long-term financial well-being, if you aren’t well-informed and looking out for your own best interests.

For customers with challenged credit, it can feel as though your options are limited. Seemingly unable to secure traditional financing, desperation sets in. Concessions are made, and you find yourself settling for a less-than-optimal purchase agreement. Whether that arrangement is flawed by an excessively high interest-rate, damning fine print or the fact that you’re buying from (or financing through) a less-than-credible partner, you may be setting yourself up for major stresses down the line.

This is the basis upon which subprime auto loans are provided. While predatory lending is far from new or recently discovered, we are now seeing the automotive industry coming under fire the same way that the housing industry had ten years back. The result is a higher default rate than ever, with more and more vehicles repossessions occurring, and car-buyers often paying far more than the vehicle is worth.

A Trusted Partner

With an investment as big as the purchase of a vehicle, it’s always worthwhile to explore all of your options. Many of the consumers who have found themselves on the wrong end of a purchase, could have avoided the situation by working with a more reputable resource.

In many cases, the car buyer is looking for convenience. Favoring a local dealership, or a Buy Here Pay Here dealer, they limit their own options, both in terms of selection and financing.

But what if you didn’t have to limit yourself? Even with challenged-credit, what if you had a wider selection of vehicles to choose from and a wider range of financing options, empowering you to protect yourself financially? There are concierge services that provide exactly that.

online.cars is a great example of a concierge car buying service. Unlike a dealership which is limited to its own inventory, or that of its family of dealerships, online.cars works with a national network of dealerships. This allows for a far more extensive inventory than you could expect anywhere else.

In terms of financing, they follow the same approach. In fact, online.cars guarantees financing for all customers. Using a coast-to-coast network of lenders they can find the optimal financing option, regardless of your credit rating.

The result? A greater likelihood of finding the vehicle that you want, and the financing that you need. And in the end, a more satisfied ‘you’.