How To Refinance An Upside Down Car Loan

If you need to find cheap refinance for a car loan that is “upside down” then it’s because your car isn’t worth as much as the amount you owe to the lender.  So it might be that you have a $10,000 car loan but the car is only worth $6,000 meaning you are effectively out of pocket by $4,000.  The problem with cars in general is that as soon as you drive out of the showroom the value of the car takes a knock.  The problem is made worse if you have bought a brand new car because most of the depreciation occurs in the first 3 years.  So it’s no wonder that so many individuals find themselves with an upside down car loan.  The Power Information Network says that roughly 38% of people who trade in an old auto so as to buy a new one find they owe more than what their car is worth.

If you want to go ahead and refinance an upside-down car loan you will want to look at a number of different factors.  First of all there is the term of the loan.  If you have a 3 year loan you might want to have it extended to 5 years.  You will ultimately be paying more interest, however because it’s over a longer period of time your monthly repayments will be reduced to a more affordable amount.

Of course, if money is really tight you are possibly better off just keeping your current car until you have paid off the loan.  You might even want to see if you can pay it back faster.  There are other methods of refinancing too.  Think about taking out a home equity loan as these kinds of loans are normally a lot cheaper because the interest rate is lower that a car loan.

When applying for any loan, make sure you find out what information they will need.  Normally when it comes to vehicle refinance you will need 2 or more pay stubs or a couple of years tax return if you are self employed.  It will make things easier and quicker if you are prepared with this sort of info.

Talk to your current lender to see if they are able to give you a better deal on your loan.  Whether it’s to extend or reduce the loan term, reduce the interest rates or whatever.  You don’t necessarily have to find a new lender.  Of course, you should explore all the options by contacting different lenders to see what deal they can offer.

If you have bad credit then you might find it even more difficult to get the loan you are looking for.  It might surprise you to know that the bad credit you have may not be your fault.  Frequently people have bad credit because of mistakes on their credit reports.  This is why it’s always recommended to get copies of your credit reports before applying for any kind of loan.  Go to annualcreditreport.com and make your application.  When you get your reports go through all the details to make sure they are correct.  If there are any corrections to be made, contact the appropriate credit agency and tell them.  You never know, by doing this you could increase your credit score.  It’s certainly worth a try.

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