A car is a utilitarian vehicle. It gets you or your family from point A to point B. A vehicle may be necessary for standard transportation or it may be essential to a person’s job or livelihood. In many cases of young men, and now young women, purchasing a car is like a rite of passage – and may well be a badge or status symbol. People go to purchase a car, to compare models, brands and features and durability of car, SUV and truck models. Overall Most people do not purchase their vehicle outright. Most people finance their car – even though they may not think of it as taking out a loan. It’s a case of car payments as part of the family or personal budgets. Towards the end of the vehicle’s life when repair and maintenance costs become a larger factor people often turn to getting a new vehicle – and in essence renew their auto finance loan. Yet few think about financing their vehicle – whether it is a first vehicle or replacement auto. Its only when they sit down in the dealer’s office , or at the bank , credit union or finance company that they are forced to deal with the considerations of financing their vehicle. On top of that, in terms of negotiation stance, they usually in rather poor position. Having no vehicle or a vehicle that runs very poorly, is on its last legs so to speak. Time and the desirability of their automotive vehicle trade in are definitely not on their side.
What are basic tips to help out the car buyer when it comes time to purchase and finance that next new or used automobile – be it car, truck or SUV?
First of all have your credit report checked for accuracy. Next take the time to consider and explore all the loan sources available to you before you buy and sign on the dotted line. It may be the dealer, it may be the bank. However if you take the time to explore options before the final event – you may find that you have additional options available to your recourse. On top of that if you take the time to prepare ahead you may be able to smooth over any problems that the bank or finance company just needs information, documentation or reassurance. This could save you money by shaving off few points. On top of that because you may have option ‘a”, a new lender in the auto finance realm may appear and sweeten the pot to entice you with a lower offer and reduced car payment amount.
Take the time and effort to evaluate your purchase incentive options. For example dealers may offer cash rebates or a discounted financing rate or rates. It’s a case of one or the other usually, but not both. You may come out ahead by selecting the rebate and applying it to your actual purchase price on the spot, and then proceed to take out a personal low interest loan rather than the dealer’s rate offer. Just as on a trip to Mexico it never hurts to pack a calculator as a quick financial reference and financial negotiation tool. Indeed a laptop with financial calculation programs as well as providing for basic record keeping on deals and auto product research can be an invaluable record keeping tool. Seasoned industry expert Winnipeg Manitoba based William Simpson points out as well that for many , a low tech standard paper notebook or scribbler can do just as well for many of the technologically challenged.
It’s all a matter of pre-call and pre purchase research and follows though. Be thorough and consistent in your automotive purchase procedure as well in researching your auto finance of next automotive vehicle – be it new or used- be it a car, truck, SUV or even motorcycle.
