While each year many people refinance their home loans, most people are unaware that they can also refinance their auto loans. Especially for those who had bad credit when they received their current auto loan, refinancing could be a great way to reduce interest rates and payments. How do you know if auto refinancing is a good idea for you? And how can you use auto refinancing to improve your current credit situation.
Refinancing an auto loan is similar to home refinancing in that your old loan is paid off in full and replaced with a brand new loan. If you had bad credit when you bought and financed your current automobile then auto refinancing could be perfect for you. The interest rate you receive today could be much lower than your current interest rate, leading to thousands of dollars in interest savings.
You may want to take advantage of auto refinancing if:
- Your current car loan is older than 1 year
- All of your car payments have been on time
- The value of your car is higher than the amount you still owe on the loan.
If these three things apply to you then the time may be ripe for you to refinance your auto loan.
Before you consider auto refinancing take the time to look into your credit report. Make sure your credit score is above 620 and that your credit report is fairly clean. You can access your credit report online and are entitled to one free credit report each year.
Next find out how much your car is worth. You don't need to have a professional appraisal done, but you should get at least a rough idea of the current value of your automobile. Most auto loan companies won't do a refinancing for less than $7500, so your car should be worth at least that much if you're thinking of refinancing. You can get a rough idea of your cars value by looking at either Edmunds Buyer Guide or the Kelley Blue Book. Use a critical eye when determining the condition of the car as you can be sure the auto lender will.
Once you have those two things in line then start researching lenders. Your current lender may be willing to do a refinance, but chances are you'll be able to get a better deal somewhere else. Get quotes from several lenders and compare the rates and fees and refinance the car as cheaply as possible.
While it may take a few hours of work to find the right lender when you're considering auto refinancing, the time spent will be well worth it. You can save yourself quite a bit of money each month just by doing a simple automobile refinancing.
