Smart Borrower Blog

Archive for the ‘Used Car Loans’ Category

Auto Delinquencies Are Down – And So Are Interest Rates

More Americans are getting back on top of their car payments, according to credit ratings agency TransUnion. The company’s latest data show that just 0.53 percent of auto loans were 60 days or more delinquent in the second quarter of the year. That’s down 20 percent from the first quarter and 27 percent from the previous year, accounting for the largest yearly drop in nine years. “The national trend we are seeing continues to point to a clear improvement in payment behavior,” said TransUnion’s Peter Turek as quoted in the Wall Street Journal. “Although part of the reason for the... more »

Should Auto Lenders Get an Exemption from Oversight?

The recent financial crisis has spurred Congress on to tighten their oversight of America’s banks and credit unions with a new piece of legislation currently before the House. Last week, as a similar bill was considered by the Senate, Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas proposed that auto lenders be excluded from the new regulations because, claiming that otherwise they would not be able to serve the poor-credit, low-income segment of buyers as well. There are almost 20,000 U.S. dealerships which make about 80 percent of the country’s car loans. Reuters reports that roughly 95 percent of all car purchases... more »

Subprime Borrowers: It’s Used Cars or Nothing…For Now

The newest data from Experian Automotive shows that the average credit score was 775 for a new car loan in the third and fourth quarters of 2009. That’s right, 775! So basically that means if you are a subprime borrower in the market for a new car, you are out of luck (unless you can bring a hefty down payment). The good news is that lenders seem to be loosening their lending standards for loans on used cars. The Experian Automotive report found that the average credit score for those loans fell to 680 from 684 in the latest quarter.... more »

No Sign of Looser Auto Lending in 2010

The latest forecast about auto loans points to rising delinquency rates by the end of next year, a sign that lenders are likely to remain stingy with their loans for some time. Credit information collector TransUnion says that the delinquency rate (borrowers that are 60 days late or more on their auto loans) is expected to reach 0.86 percent by the end of 2009, but will probably rise to 0.92 percent at the end of 2010. “Our forecast indicates we will see auto loan delinquencies drop in the first and second quarters of 2010 due to many factors such as... 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.  You have no way... more »