Car loan commercials on TV show these special incentives to entice us to go to the nearest dealership. These deals are so tempting they make us want to get that car right away, before the offer expires. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement with those amazing deals. But we may be way over our heads if we don’t know exactly what these deals are. Before you go to your car dealership, below are brief descriptions of common car loan deals.
Car Loan Incentives
- Recent Graduate Programs. Recent graduate programs are discounts that car manufacturers give to recent graduates. If you graduated within the last two years, you could qualify for the program. What makes this deal so attractive is you could get up to $400 off the price of your car loan. But there are a lot of conditions attached to this deal. Recent graduate programs are usually limited to certain car models and to certain dealerships.
- Factory-To-Consumer Rebates. Factory-to-consumer rebates are direct cash rebates from the car manufacturers themselves. This type of rebate is limited only to a few select models. And these models are usually the ones that are hard to move off the lot. When it comes to this type of rebate, most dealers would try to encourage you to use the rebate as a way to lower the sale price of the car. But it’s much better to take the rebate because your dealer could find ways to add to the sale price so you’ll lose that rebate. It’s best to just take the cash so you have the option to put it in your down payment or not.
- 0% APR. One of the biggest and most attractive car loan deals out there is the zero percent interest. What most people don’t know is that not everyone is qualified for 0% APR. There are certain conditions that have to be met before you could qualify. First, you have to have a credit score of 680 or higher. Second, you have to agree to a shorter loan term (24 to 36 months), which means your monthly payments could get really high. Third, zero-percent financing is limited to a few car models, so you may not get the car that you want if you want this type of financing. And lastly, once you qualify for this type of financing, you can’t get cash rebates.
Before going after these car deals, it’s still best to shop around and look at all the possible car loan terms you can afford. Sometimes, the more traditional car loan with the regular interest rate may end up being cheaper and more manageable in the long run. You have to be critical when it comes to car loan financing. Don’t be easily dazzled by car loan incentives and focus on the goal, which is to get the best auto credit deal for the car that you want.
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I could sure get the deal..