Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for the ‘Auto Loans’ Category

Recession Touches the Wealthy - Lamborghini Now Offers Financing

The recession (which is supposedly over) has made its way all the way to the top. Even luxury sports car company Lamborghini has started to offer payment plans for two of its “most exclusive” cars, the Murcielafo LP640 Coupe and the Roadster, which retail at $345,000 and $382,400 respectively. Here’s how the auto loans work, according to Kicking Tires : “The offers include 5.9% for a 12-year term. Yes, 12 years. If you have really good credit, including a credit score of more than 740, you can get 0% financing for 60 months. That comes out to $5,310 a month... more »

Consumers and Banks Continue to Reign in the Credit

For the seventh month in a row, outstanding consumer credit declined in August, according to a recent Federal Reserve report. Total credit debt dropped 5.8 percent to $2.463 trillion dollars , signaling continued caution on the part of consumers and perhaps continued reluctance on the part of lenders to make credit available. The seven month declining streak is a record not seen since 1991 and consumer credit has never contracted for eight straight months in the history of the survey, dating back to 1943. Revolving credit, including credit card debt, fell to $899.4 billion in August, a 13.1 percent drop... more »

Cash For Clunkers Extended (Updated)

Updated: On August 6th, the Senate passed a bill to add $2 billion dollars to the popular CARS program. According to a New York Times article today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an extension bill providing more money for the Obama Administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program. The Senate is likely to pass the same bill by Friday (although there have been several proposed amendments from various senators). The current auto trade-in program has been wildly popular, with $1 billion in government funds already used up. The extension bill promises to pump an additional $2 billion into giving new car... more »

Obama’s “Cash For Clunkers” Program Gives Incentive to New Car Buyers

Last Thursday, Congress approved the new Cash for Clunkers program.   The program is designed to provide motorists with a $3,500-$4,500 incentive if they agree to trade in their older vehicles for one that is more fuel-efficient.   The Obama administration feels that this program will be a stimulus for car dealerships; it also provides the nation with vehicles that are more fuel efficient.   In states that rely heavily on the auto industry for jobs, such as Michigan, this can be seen as a good thing. But what if the car being traded in his worth more than $3,500?... more »

Consumer Delinquency Rates Grow, Unemployment to Blame

A recently released report from the American Bankers Association (ABA) showed that 3.35 percent of consumers were behind on their loans during the first three months of this year, compared with 3.16 percent in the last quarter of 2008. These consumer loans include home equity loans, home improvement loans, direct and indirect auto loans, marine and RV loans, mobile home loans and personal loans. Of those categories, the delinquency rate on direct car loans grew the most from 2.03 percent to 3.01 percent. ABA chief economist James Chessen said in a statement: “The number one driver of delinquencies is job... more »

Auto Loans Still Hard to Come By

Even though many banks receiving federal bailout money promised to make more money available for auto loans, it appears that not much has changed lately in terms of how hard it is to get car financing. For example, a recent CNN article reported that GMAC bank announced plans last December to earmark $5 billion for new car loans that could be offered to even to those with low credit ratings. So far, the company has only made $3.4 billion in loans during the first quarter and many auto dealers say very few of those are being made to those with... more »

Used Car Loan Legislation May Hurt Dealerships

In an interesting article on the News and Record of Greensboro, North Carolina, website, there is discussion on used car loans in financing.   Right now, with the way the economy is, getting a loan of any kind can be a tough proposition.   Getting a used car loans can be a nightmare experience. You have no way of knowing , really, if the deal that you’re getting on a car loan is the best that you can get.   Used car dealers shop loans for new and used cars to a variety of banks on a regular basis.  ... more »