Beyond a Bad Credit Car Loan: The Additional Costs of Driving a Car

By:Mike Hamel

score below 620, you will be in the bad credit category. You can still get a car loan; you’ll just be charged a higher interest rate.

To offset the higher interest on a bad credit car loan, you need to do all you can to keep your payments as low as possible. Having a decent down payment or trade-in will help. Experts recommend putting at least 20% down to keep from getting upside down on your car loan. You can also extend the term of the loan. This will lower your monthly payment but you will pay more money in the long run.

If you are buying a new car, never pay sticker price. The sticker price or MSRP—manufacturer’s suggested retail price—is what the dealer wants you to pay for the car or truck. It is several hundred dollars higher than the factory invoice price, which is what the dealer paid. You can look up factory invoice pricing online. Remember, the less you pay for the vehicle, the less you have to finance with your bad credit car loan.

Besides your bad credit car loan payments, here are a few other financial figures you should be aware of:

Depreciation

Depreciation is the difference between the MSRP of a new vehicle and what it’s worth at a later date. If you buy a new car for $25,000 and it depreciates $3,700 the first year, that’s almost 15%. On most cars, the rate settles down to between 7% and 10% annually after the first three years. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the average life span of a vehicle is about 13 years. Even if you keep your car only half that long, you will still have it for several years after you have paid off your bad credit car loan.

Tags and Taxes

The purchase of a vehicle is subject to sales tax, unless you live in Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire or Oregon, since these states don’t collect sales tax. You will also have to shell out for title, registration, tags and emissions fees. These can add up to several hundred dollars depending on what you buy and where you live. You can roll all these up-front costs into your bad credit car loan.

Insurance

Liability insurance is required in order to register a vehicle. Collision and comprehensive insurance is required by your lender to cover their investment. Your insurance rate will depend on the year, make and model of your vehicle and the deductibles you choose on your coverage. Other factors that influence your insurance rate are: where you live, your gender, your age, your marital status, and your driving record.

Fuel and Maintenance

In 1950, when AAA began doing their annual analysis, the composite cost of driving a car was 9 cents a mile, and gasoline sold for 27 cents a gallon. The composite cost per-mile in 2006 is 52.2 cents. That’s almost $8,000, if you drive a medium-sized sedan 15,000 miles. And this figure doesn’t reflect the recent hikes in gas prices. Nor does it include car loan payments.

Pre-approved Car Loan

One last piece of advice; get your car loan before looking for a car. Being pre-approved for your financing sets a realistic limit on your search. Knowing how much you can spend will also save you the embarrassment of finding a car and then discovering you can’t get the financing.

Pre-approved auto financing can be secured quickly and easily online. One site specializing in bad credit car loans is www.fastcarfinance.com. They offer a no-obligation, free loan quote. Seeing how much you could be qualified to borrow is a good way to start shopping for the car of your dreams.

Digg del.icio.us Blink Stumble Spurl Reddit Netscape Furl

Article keywords: bad credit car loan, car finance, online auto loan

Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

Mike Hamel is the author of several books and the Senior Writer for AIM Techs, an Internet marketing company that specializes in advanced SEM techniques and in developing sites like www.fastcarfinance.com/">Fast Car Finance.

Top Loans Articles
1). How To Do A Credit Card Debt Consolidation By : Nicky Pilkington Credit card debt consolidation allows you to pay your current debts in 3-6 years. Under a debt consolidation plan, terms and conditions change. The purpose of debt consolidation is to speed up your paying time and at the same time makes lower monthly bills.
2). Deciphering Your Credit Score By : Lee Dobbins Your credit effects many parts of your daily life, but do you know what your score is?
3). Selecting The Best Potential Equity Refinancing Package By : Emanuele Allenti Regardless of what commercials claim, many home equity loans have transaction charges, point fees, closing costs, and other charges attached. Few lenders offer borrowers option for refinancing; however, the lenders bury the stipulations in the fine print.
4). What Is A Low APR Credit Card? By : Nicky Pilkington Shopping had never been lousy since the advent of credit cards. Since then, people had always been indulging into various cashless shopping due to the convenience of the credit card.
5). How Do You Accept Credit Card: Let Me Count The Ways By : Nicky Pilkington Nowadays, everything seems to revolve around plastics. That is, more and more people are finding credit cards as the most convenient way to shopping, whether it is online or not.
6). Intro to Pay Day Loans By : Jeffrey Cash Payday loans are relatively small, short-term, unsecured, consumer loans. Consumers apply for payday loans through the Internet, with loans ranging from $100-$500. If approved, the loan amount is then wired overnight into the applicant’s checking account.
7). Sallie Mae Loan Consolidation Explained By : Ken Charnely When your student loans get the best of you and you’re wondering how you’re ever going to get out from under all that debt, take a look at loan consolidation. It may be the answer to a number of your problems.
8). How a Government Loan Can Repair Your Credit By : Dagmar Wilson There are government loans available that help people start a new business, loans for single parents, loans for education and so on. The government offers loans to the special individuals and often has 0% interest or low interest against the loans.
9). Read the Fine Print of Mortgage Indemnity 100% Equity Loans By : Emanuele Allenti Indemnity is an insurance applied to equity loans, which covers the lender in the event the borrower should default on the repayments. The indemnity is usually applied when the home equity is lower than the amount owed on the pending mortgage.
10). How Credit Card Points are Earned By : Nicky Pilkington Credit card companies offer varying benefits and promotions to entice their customers to use their credit cards not only in their everyday purchases but also for major buying decisions.

New Loans Articles
1). Home Equity Loans as a Source of Funds By : Gerald Greene For many Americans home equity loans have become a frequent source of additional funds. This has worked out well for many borrowers in a raising real estate market. However, how would they fare if the market boom of recent years is over?
2). Secured Loans – An Overview By : Joseph Kenny A secured loan is one of the most basic loans you can get. These types of loans are typically only given when collateral has been secured. Many lenders see secured loans as being a safe investment, and they are often given to customers who apply for them and have some form of collateral. The collateral for these loans could include your home or car.
3). Credit Card Debt Consolidation Loans By : Connie Barker Credit cards can be both a blessing and a curse. While they are very nice to have and can come in handy when an emergency arises, they can also get one into a lot of financial trouble. This kind of financial trouble is not all that easy to get out of. Most people consider credit cards to be a free money spree of shopping and that is where the problem lies in most cases.
4). Getting A Loan With Bad Credit By : Connie Barker Mortgages, credit cards, personal loans, refinance loans and auto loans, if you have bad credit you can still get any one or all of these types of financial assistance. Many lenders these days are realizing that the days of a perfect credit score are over for the average person. These days, life happens and because of this more and more banks and lenders are taking a more compassionate approach to lending money or approving credit cards.
5). Fulfill All Your Dreams With A Guide To Secured Personal Loans By : Amanda Thompson Everyone has some dreams. You might dream of having your own house or owning a car. You want to make your daughter’s wedding a rememberable moment. But lack of funds has been stopping you from doing so. If you find yourself in a similar situation, you should opt for secured personal loans. Secured personal loans are capable of meeting all the requirements of a common man.
6). Transform your dreams into reality with personal loans UK By : Amanda Thompson Today with a rise in the living standard of people, inadequacy of funds has created a problem. Just because you are short of money does not mean that you should be deprived of the basic necessities of life. Living a comfortable life has become the prime necessity for the UK residents nowadays. Opting for personal loans UK would be a wise decision if you are working day and night to fulfill your wishes.
7). Take hold of your finances with consolidation debt rate By : Alex Jonnes Consolidation debt rate is the rate of interest that a borrower is charged on a debt consolidation loan in order to get rid of multiple debts. The interest rate however varies from lender to lender. Your credit score also determines the rate of interest charged on the loan. Credit score as rated by FICO is a three-digit rating that is based on your financial history.
8). Take hold of your finances with consolidation debt rate By : Alex Jonnes Consolidation debt rate is the rate of interest that a borrower is charged on a debt consolidation loan in order to get rid of multiple debts. The interest rate however varies from lender to lender. Your credit score also determines the rate of interest charged on the loan. Credit score as rated by FICO is a three-digit rating that is based on your financial history.
9). Achieve Everything With Bad Credit Personal Loans By : Peter Taylor Loans in today’s world are a great help to people in fact it would be almost impossible to think of a world without giving and receiving of the loans. Loans are a great help to people these days as well and one of the popular options is that of the personal loans. Personal loans are a greater help to people who have had bad credit history i.e. people like: • CCJs • IVAs • Defaults • Arrears • Late payments • People who have filled for bankruptcy People with these profiles are considered to be ones who have bad credit history.
10). Plug The Gap With Bad Credit Bridging Loans By : Peter Taylor If life went smoothly and all things actually according to plan then it would all be so wonderful. But life is full of surprises and things rarely go as initially planned. A requirement can crop up anytime it could be one related to finances or one which asks us questions relating to other factors of life. A proper way to deal with unexpected financial difficulties is by bridging loans.