Down Payment is an essential element of your auto loan that determines loan terms and interest rates. You may have come across dealership advertisements that suggest that you can avail an auto loan with little or no down payment. However, is it possible to avail an auto loan with a minimal down payment of $500? Understanding the importance of certain elements can help you answer if $500 can work as a down payment or not.

$500 or More: How much Down Payment is good enough for your New Car?

The following factors will give you a clear understanding on down payment and if $500 is enough for putting money down or not.

1) Credit Score

Lenders and dealerships play an important role in determining the amount of down payment. Many dealerships want to help you to build a good credit score. Bad credit auto loans are a great way to build good credit, especially when your credit score is not perfect. Therefore, you will find dealerships that will provide you with bad credit auto loans on a down payment of $500. However, if you wish to obtain an auto loan from a dealership, you may have to opt for captive financing and you can lose out on other attractive deals in the market. So, it is essential that you check the auto loan contract in detail to find out whether it suits your needs or not.

2) Bad Credit Car Buyers

A low down payment amount is risky for bad credit auto buyers. You should aim for a high down payment if the FICO score is less than 670. Lenders view a down payment as a means to analyze your creditworthiness. Additionally, more the down payment, less the negative equity you carry. As the loan amount reduces with a big down payment, your monthly payments will become affordable. This will ensure regular payments and thus improve your credit score.

3) The Right Amount

Putting $500 of money down may get you approved, but it will not take you far. You will be faced with a big loan amount. The appropriate amount of down payment will differ from lender to lender. However, you should at least put down $1000 or 20% of the car’s value. A decent credit history can make $500 of down payment work. However, if you are dealing with bad credit, it is best to try for more. If there is no way in which you can make a big down payment, you can opt for no money down auto loans. The auto financing program will enable you to seek loan approval without a down payment. Before submitting your loan application, make sure your lender offers no down payment financing options.

Down Payment on Your Next Car: Do the Best you can

A hefty down payment will reduce the overall amount that you borrow from the lender. This will help you to make lower monthly payments and you will be able to enjoy a reduced loan term. Additionally, the interest rates will go down because of your creditworthiness. Save money for a couple of months so that you can put money down easily. There are many benefits to making a down payment, but if you cannot manage it, do not worry. It doesn’t make sense to make a down payment by putting your financial condition at risk. Seek no money down auto loan and buy your new car.

The constant challenge for the most beneficial vehicle loan rates is crucial at present as the economy is going down the tube. People in many states, especially Florida, Nevada, California, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio are facing enormous housing foreclosures and job losses. How can you possibly discover the lowest cost auto loan rate if you live in one of those states and have a foreclosure as well.

Spending months trying to locate as many lenders as possible and getting quotes from each of them does not seem realistic when you are desperate to buy or refinance your vehicle. However, as much as the best car loan rates depend on the lender, there are certain other factors involved that will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

The overriding question is how to help yourself get the best car loan rate. The first thing to do would be to get your most recent credit report and credit score from one of the big three credit reporting agencies. Your credit score is one of the primary determinants of the interest rate the lender will charge you for a car loan. If your score is 600 or lower, you will be paying a higher interest rate than someone who’s score is 725. If you have recently defaulted on any loans or credit cards, you’ll find that your friendly neighborhood banker won’t be quite so friendly when you go in for a car loan. If you have multiple small balance credit cards, you can try paying them off as quickly as possible, before you apply for a car loan. Each card you pay off will help boost your credit score.

Maintaining a healthy credit score is of the utmost importance when seeking any type of loan. If your score is already dinged you can try to purchase a good, solid used car versus a brand new car. This will lessen the amount you have to finance and keep your monthly payments lower.

Another way to get the best interest rate would be to get a secured car loan. In a secured loan you have to pledge collateral equivalent to the loan amount. This collateral can be any asset that you may have, such as stock, bonds, jewelry, antiques, your home (which I wouldn’t suggest), and any other valuable property that you own, free and clear. Some lenders, that specialize in bad credit auto loans, will even allow the car that you are financing to be pledged as collateral for the loan. Secured loans have to be dealt with carefully, as you may lose your collateral if you default on the loan. Though you may obtain a lower interest rate with a secured loan, you also are taking the risk of losing whatever asset you pledged.

The other option for a car loan is an unsecured loan where no collateral is required by the bank. These are difficult to obtain if you are sitting on a bad credit report. Secured loans are much less risky for the lenders as they can take possession of your pledged collateral in case you default. Because of this, most lenders are willing to give secured loans at a lower rate of interest and to consumers with bad credit problems.

There are now many online lenders that specialize in bad credit auto loans. Do your research, be prepared to fill out an application with honesty and you may be in a new or used vehicle before you ever thought possible.

Nowadays, an increasing number of US residents have been struggling to pay their monthly installments on car loans. While the numbers are low, they are increasing at a fast pace. However, the loan applicants have been experiencing a lot of problems as far as making monthly payments is concerned. This is happening more since the Great Recession.

As a car buyer, you may want to make sure that you can afford the loan. The car should be something that you can easily afford, and it should also meet your budget. This will keep you out of trouble in most cases. If you want to get the best deal, we suggest that you follow the 5 tips given below.

1. Check your credit reports

First of all, you should get your credit report from the three agencies: TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. Actually, you should check the three of them since you have no idea which one your desired lender is going to use. Moreover, this will also give you enough time to correct your mistakes.

Aside from this, you should check your credit rating because your credit rating will be used to set the rate of interest. If you have good credit rating, you will be able to get a loan at a considerably lower rate of interest and vice versa.

2. Shop around

We suggest that you shop around when looking for the best deal. In the same way, you should look for the best deal as far as applying for a loan is concerned. The majority of people don’t do it. Most of them don’t do their homework before going to a dealer.

According to the Center for Responsible Lending, 80% car buyers make their financing decision at the dealership. Probably it is the convenience or the attraction of the ads offering low rates of interest. Keep in mind that you can get the lowest rate of interest only if you have very good credit scores.

If you want to get started, we suggest that you get in touch with community banks and credit unions. Usually, they offer the lowest rates of interest on car loans.

3. The shortest loan

Since the prices of cars have gone up, the car loans are being granted on higher interest rates so that the total amount of the car could be paid in lowest monthly installments. So, nowadays, you can finance your car for up to 9 years. The monthly payments will come down with an increase in the number of installments.

Here is the catch: if you choose a higher rate of interest and you decide to make payments for, say, 5 years, you will be paying more for the car in the long run than if you had chosen a shorter payment period. So, you should choose a shorter period for payments as this will help you get out of the loan faster.

4. The monthly payment

Some people assume that they are good to go as long as they afford to make the monthly payments, but this is not a good assumption. As a matter of fact, this is a terrible mistake.

So, before you apply for a car loan, make sure you keep these 4 factors in mind.