Bad Credit Auto Loan: A Few Steps For Smart Borrowing and Shopping

For those with a slow credit who want to purchase a car the need for financing can sometimes be a blockage. Smart borrowing and smart shopping requires proper preparation. Bad credit auto loans are not easy to obtain if you do not know where to look for them and how to get them. Following are some tips and basic words of advice to get the best deals possible.Stay Away From Unscrupulous DealersI will never get tired of providing this piece of advice: avoid going to a dealership to obtain financing. Dealerships are meant to sell you a car or other vehicles not to sell you a loan. Chances are that the financing is done through a third party and the dealership is only an intermediary. Therefore, by getting a loan through a dealership you are adding a third party to the contract thus increasing the costs associated with the transaction and as usual, you are the one paying for it.Moreover, if you already have the money or the loan approved when you contact dealerships to obtain your desired car, you are standing at a better position and thus, you are able to negotiate better terms on your purchase. This is another good reason why you should avoid contacting a dealership for finance and find a suitable lender instead.Credit AssessmentYou should know your credit situation prior to applying so you know where you stand when you address the lenders. Even if your credit is poor, you need to know how bad it is to be able to negotiate with lenders efficiently. Otherwise they may convince you that your credit score is too low to obtain a competitive rate when you could get a lower interest rate with another bad credit auto loan lender.Bad credit can be an obstacle but it can be avoided by resorting to bad credit auto loan lenders. These lenders will approve you for a bad credit auto loan even if your credit score is below 600. After (and only after) you obtain pre-approval you should start looking for your desired car. That way you will be able to obtain a much better deal on your car purchase that will compensate partially the highest costs of financing that you will have to cope with.Take Into Account Additional CostsWhen deciding the loan amount that you will need, take into account that there are additional costs that you may need to include. These costs comprise insurance related costs, administrative fees (loan and car purchase), intermediary fees (dealer, financial intermediaries), fixes or improvements if you purchase a used car, etc.These additional costs can increase the amount of money you need significantly and that’s why it is important that you prepare a budget first to avoid running into a cash shortage problem at the time of the purchase. As you can see, all the drawbacks that bad credit implies can be overcame by getting yourself ready before applying for a bad credit auto loan and before purchasing your desired vehicle.