Getting Ready To Finance Your New or Used Car

Time to get ready for the financing homework before we head out to the dealer. Ok you have decided on a new or used vehicle and you should have all that information gathered, you know the aproximate price of the vehicle you want to buy and finance.

A. Lets start with your credit since it is one of the most important parts. Do you know your credit score, you should. With all the Identity Theft and the imortance of credit today everyone should be keeping track of their credit (people that don't make our job easier).

Getting a Copy of Your Credit Report
It’s a good idea to check your credit report, which you can do every twelve months for free. 
In some situations, such as when you are denied credit, you may be able to obtain additional copies for free. In other situations, if you would like to obtain a credit report more often than once a year, you can do so for a small fee by contacting any of the three major credit reporting agencies listed below. Many dealers use Trans Union as the primary report for your auto loan but can also pull the other bureaus if they need to.

 I subscribe  to the Triple Score watch that monitors my credit at all three agencies 24/7 and I am alerted everytime my credit is run and everytime there is something that may impact my credit standing.  I actually was able to avert someone that tried to steal my identity. Get Equifax Score Watch Now!

 Ok, you know your credit score, and have your report. How is it, how are you doing. If you have a credit score of 680 or higher you can usually qualify for the best financing rates. Now if you have a relationship with a bank or credit union I would suggest you give them a call or visit. Tell them you are considering buying and financing a vehicle and you would like to see what they can do for you. If you do not have a relationship with one of these you could go to Capital One Auto Finance  (they do a good job and work with most dealers) or Eloan.com (they also do a good job) and apply for an auto loan. You will get your answer very quickly via email and sometimes while you are online with them. They will give you a competitive rate based on your credit reports and any stipulations to your loan.

Now you have an Interest Rate, Term, Down Payment and Credit Limit. Now you can do some calculations because you have all the variables needed to figure out a payment and term. If you have figured out what is affordable and acceptable lets go to the Next Step B.