ABC's of a Great Car Loan

In the internet age, finding a new car loan is easy. The interest rate which you generally pay depends on the information which you are able to collect. If you are not able to get the right information, then you will have to pay higher interest rates. The interest rates you pay depend on the credit "tier" you fall into. The best rates are usually given to Tier A and Tier B customers. On five year loans, the Tier-A customers are usually charged interest of 6% to 7%. It totally depends upon your credit score that which tier you fall into. You can get your credit report once a year from the three big credit bureaus.

More and more car buyers are looking for a way to lower their monthly payments. People are doing it by taking car loans that allow them to pay for their car over six or seven years instead of three to five years. According to a recent study, six out of every ten new shoppers are opting for long term loans. These loans have certain kinds of risks which include:

They may have higher interest rate than a short term loan.

Since now you have to pay less money each month, more of your payment consists of interest.

Now for the entire life of loan, you will have to pay more interest over the loan. For example, if you take a loan of amount $20,000 for six years at 6.75 percent, then you have to pay a total of $4,378 interest. While if you take the same loan for 4 years, then you need to pay $2,545 interest which is computed at six percent.

As you are giving more interest each month, you are paying less of the loan amount.

It is very common to repay more than the car amount in the first two years of a car loan, as the value of a new car drops in this period. But before taking a long term loan, consider the following ways which will help you lower down your monthly car payments:

Get pre-qualified. By this you may get a better interest rate and lower monthly installments.

Consider a home equity loan. It allows you to borrow money at a lower interest rate, since the loan is secured by your home.

Be sure to find out the long term cost of the loan before sign off the deal.

You should buy only what you can afford. Never take the car loan which you cannot pay back. It might get you in tensions. You know that there are several options available for you and you are the only one who has to choose the best out of them which will actually help you get a new fabulous car.