Whoever said that an auto loan is a bad thing? Sure, a car payment is an annoying payment to have to make every month, but to be honest, it can be a good thing from time to time. The key to making your auto loan work for you is to have a good loan from the beginning, and know what you are getting into. A lot of people think that dealerships are sneaky, greedy, and are out to take advantage of you. Do your research people, you have to know what you are getting into!
An auto loan can do a lot of good things for you assuming that you got decent terms. Like any other payment, it helps build your credit history, and makes things easier for you when you go to get your next loan. Since a car loan is typically over a span of five years, just one loan can help establish a very good credit history.
Sometimes it is cheaper to just buy a car that you will use for awhile. There is no sense in buying a car just because it is cheap, and if it keeps breaking down, it isn’t worth the extra headaches. My first car was an ’88 Excel, and it was only 500 bucks, so I bought it. However, it wasn’t really worth all the troubles that went along with it. I had to replace the gas tank, brakes, battery, clutch, and just about everything else.
When I went to buy my next car, I wasn’t going to buy anything that didn’t have years of use left in it. Although the payment was a pain sometimes, the fact that my car worked, and that I didn’t have to spend every other weekend fixing some part of it was a good thing. That peace of mind was well worht the monthly payment that I had to make.
A lot of dealerships will ofter loyalty bonuses, and other incentives to buy. Between the money you can save from being a previous buyer, plus all the relationships you can make with the staff at a dealership, you can really save yourself some cash when you go to buy your next car. When I bought my first car, I got more money for my trade in because my father knew the people at the dealership from when he bought his first car.
Most people just assume that a car loan isn’t something worth carrying. A bad loan is never good, so if you have been burned by bad terms, then yes I can understand that position. However, there are good reasons to get a loan for your car, and above all build your credit up. You get what you pay for, and if you can pay for the car yourself you have either saved for a long time, or aren’t really buying a quality car. Buyer beware!