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There are auto loan secrets that the professionals do not want you to know, and knowing them can literally be the difference between saving a bundle or paying far too much. There are four secrets that you really need to know about auto loans if you want to get the best deals.
Secret #1: Do Not Shop Locally For a Vehicle
Shopping locally for a vehicle is like limiting yourself to shopping for your food at only one store and not bothering to price match. Sure, you are probably getting what you want, but you are almost certainly paying far too much for it. The savvy shopper knows to go online and look for vehicles from coast to coast via the power of the Internet.
Leveraging the power of the Internet allows you to shop from coast to coast with a few clicks. Shopping nationwide helps you save a great deal of time and money because you do not have to deal with pushy salespeople, waste time looking through the local newspaper of Craigslist, etc.
Secret #2: Do Not Buy When There Are Big Sales
Big sales are certainly publicized well, and banks know that they are coming. From a lender’s perspective, this is a great time to pick for prime customers. This means that banks and lenders are not necessarily trying to sign every single loan that crosses their paths, but rather they are looking for a modest number of better quality loans. Lenders see this as an opportunity to bolster the overall percentage of customers that are highly likely to pay on time versus those that are likely to pay only within the confines of their grace period or perhaps even later. After all, the second type of lender can be found in large numbers all year long, but well qualified buyers are harder to locate.
Secret #3: Avoid Older, High Mileage Vehicles
Lenders often look at both the age of the vehicle and the mileage on it when determining the length of the loan or whether or not the loan is a sound investment for them. The reason for this is fairly simple: older vehicles and/or vehicles with higher mileage have a higher tendency to turn into bad investments. People are more likely to walk away from their bad investments or otherwise fail to pay on time, and that is the very thing that lenders want.
Simply put, older vehicles tend to break down more frequently and more mileage tends to put vehicles into a similarly unreliable state. The result could very well be a vehicle that is expensive to operate and may eventually be the cause of major life changes such as the lack of employment or being expelled from college due to the inability to arrive on time, which in turn is due to a vehicle that is simply not reliable.
Secret #4: You Can Shop For Lenders Nationwide…From Your Chair!
The final secret that lenders do not want you to know…well at least the local lenders…is that you can shop from coast to coast for lenders. There are literally hundreds or even thousands of lenders that have zero local presence but are more than willing to lend to you if the circumstances are right. Best of all, opening up the competition like this has certainly leveled the playing field and increased competition. Your bank may offer some nice incentives like upgraded accounts, but ask them what happens when the loan is sold as so many are over their course.
Bonus Secret: Shopping For Insurance
Remember that insurance rates are also variable and something that can be shopped nationally. Anyone that truly understands that a penny saved is a penny earned will place a lot of value on saving even more. Do so by shopping for insurers coast to coast too!
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