Here at Universal Auto Selma, we want to give you all the advice on buying a used car no matter the situation. Whether it was naïve decisions, bad timing, or unstable financial status that caused your bad credit you can always take measures to improve and get around the limitations of having a weak credit rating. Bad credit has many downsides and restrictions, but that should not stop you from purchasing a car.
First step is to read your credit report very carefully every twelve months. Just because your lender tells you that you have bad credit, that might not always mean you are not eligible for an auto loan. Check your report for the activity that has caused for a weak rating and whether there is something out of the ordinary that might have caused for low credit. We live in an advanced era and anything from credit fraud to hacking is not a surprise anymore. If not, you can analyze what is the cause and implement new techniques and habits to help build your score once more.
Step 2 is to do more researching for a dealer that has a “bad credit option”. Not all dealers see bad credit as a red flag and take into consideration that not everyone is perfect. Some dealers offer in- house financing with more flexible credit requirements. They try to help bad credit score buyers because they want to sell more cars, and that would be to your advantage. The online dealer network websites do not help with the loan process but only lead you to the right dealer for you and your credit score.
The third and most important step in this process is to save for a down payment. Having a lower credit score means that you will have a higher down payment at the beginning of the agreement. Due to the high risk of lending the money and the bad credit history, that is why the down payment is more important. The down payment can be either from $1000 to anything above that depending on the car and lender. So start saving money as soon as you can and get a step closer to something you didn’t think was possible. Included with this step is to set aside a realistic budget covering both payment and interest charges. If you are not financially stable enough to take on an auto loan, it can damage you score much more than it already is. The cost you must consider in the budget is principle monthly payment, interest charges, sales tax, insurance, and registration fees. The size of your monthly payment will depend upon the principal amount, the interest rate it charges, and the duration of the loan term. Longer period loans will have lower monthly payments but will have additional interest charges which will result in higher overall cost of the loan. If you’re not able to work out the calculations precisely yourself, you can use many auto-loan calculators available online.
Bad credit is not the end of the world and it should not become a wall that prevents you from purchasing a used or new car. Take into consideration all factors and make sure you keep on track with all your responsibilities. In no time, you can be enjoying a new car and help rebuild your credit score at the same time.