Prospective borrowers with bad credit often fall prey to unscrupulous lenders, but luckily they are few in number. Most people now understand that some lenders, especially those that deal in offering bad credit auto loans, take advantage of the borrowers ignorance. Most of this exploitation is done by artificially inflating the price of the car and the interest rate. This forces the buyer to pay often as much as three times the price that they would pay for a car under normal conditions.
Hence, the borrowers now approach lenders armed with knowledge of the vehicle they want to buy and the type of loan they want. Also, many times it is in the buyer's best interest to go for the best and try to buy a new car rather than a used one. Because new car deals get better incentives offered by the manufacturers and secondly because the dealers are pressured to increase sales of new cars all the time.
Shrewd borrowers watch out for unusually larger down payment, which can often be as much as half of the car price and the interest rates can be as high as 26%. This is dependent on the lender and exactly how bad your credit really is. Even with bad credit a person should never accept an interest rate that is more than about 18%. Another difference between those with good credit and those without is that people with good credit can often finance for as many as seven years. Those with bad credit will usually have to accept much shorter finance option such as two to four years.
The majority of traditional lenders will turn you away quickly as soon as they learn of your previous bad history or bad credit score without even considering that your circumstances are changing and you are trying to get back on your feet. However, there are specialist online lenders who offer bad credit car loans to those that have a poor credit history or previous financial difficulties. If your credit score is low, the likelihood of getting a super low rate is slim. Yet, there are ways to acquire a reasonable rate. Some people with bad credit are paying interest rates up to 20% on an auto loan. However, it is possible to lower this rate to 9% or 10%.
Such options tailor made for those with low credit scores or who have country court judgments against them or even mortgage arrears. Of course as you have a bad credit history you cannot expect to get the cheapest rates of interest or benefit from low interest deals but they will be able to search for the right deal for your circumstances. High risk or sub prime lenders offer the easiest approvals for individuals with poor credit. The ultimate goal is to get you approved for an auto loan. With this said, these lenders will diligently work to find the best auto loan financing package.
Finally, before completing and submitting an auto loan application, it helps to obtain loan quotes from up to five or six lenders. As pointed out above, although the majority of lenders are honest and offer the best package, there are a number of lenders who prey on those with low credit scores. They are aware of your limited options. Instead of helping, they attempt to get more money from you. Comparison shopping is the only way to recognize this scheme and avoid dishonest lenders.