When Is The Right Time For A Car Loan?
Can you believe that somewhere into the twentieth-century, people would consider a horse-driven stagecoach as their ride of choice? Well, it's romantic and all but you just cannot compare it to today’s interior car upholstery, comfort, luxury, and function. All the same, let’s not dwell so much into the past. Today, owning a car provides you with much more than just your mobility needs. You can attend to an emergency situation at whatever time of day, travel at your convenience, and hey, brag a little? But it costs to own a car! The initial installment is perhaps the most expensive, not to mention that you’ll have to foot the car’s maintenance costs for as long as it’s under your ownership. Car loans are perhaps the most convenient finance options when it comes to purchasing a car. But the question is, when is the right time for a car loan?
1. After Establishing Good Credit
The first thing you need to consider before taking a car loan is having a source of income. Owning a car comes at a cost! As earlier established, there’s the initial purchase cost and then there are the regular maintenance costs. In addition to this, the financial advisors at MoneyExpert.com say that to qualify for a car loan, you need to have a good credit rating. This is because the first thing your lender will do is dig into your credit history to determine your ability to repay the loan. You, therefore, want to establish a good credit score before you can even think of a car loan. There is also the insurance aspect part of owning a car. You want to ensure that your ride is protected against theft, accidents, and fires, right? In this case, it’s best to insure your car before leaving the car dealership. All these will require financing, and these are all the more reasons to ensure that you have your finances in order.
2. Determine The Best Time Of The Year
The time of year you decide to take a car loan is also crucial. Seasons dictate the lender’s aggressiveness, especially when it comes to competing on market shares. Mid-year happens to be the best time to consider a car loan. This is when banks and manufacturers are up against time to make subsidy returns on the tough months ahead and as a result, car model prices tend to go down.
3. In Your Youthful Years?
Not many will agree that the best time to apply for a car loan is before hitting 50. Now, various factors can affect the overall cost of owning a car. For instance, if we consider the cost of financing your car insurance, age can play a huge role that ultimately will impact the insurance cost. According to most insurance providers, younger drivers are at a higher risk of being involved in an accident. It's for this reason that younger drivers will be forced to dig deeper into their pockets when paying for their car insurance policies. After a certain age, mostly after 60, car insurance costs tend to stabilize.
4. Are You Qualified For A Car Loan?
As earlier mentioned, your credit score plays a crucial role in determining your car loan application approval chances. Applicants who've been in their current jobs for a maximum of two years and earning a stable income are viewed as favorable candidates. Nonetheless, this doesn’t mean that if you're not in this category, your efforts are deemed dead on arrival. It only means that you'll have a hard time explaining your situation. Other factors that can affect your car loan application process include:
- Debt to income ratio
- Down payment
- Proof of identity and residence
- Your overall understanding of car loans
Fortunately, today you can qualify for a car loan even when with bad credit. All it takes is some research to find the best lenders who can offer pre-approval and give you a car loan on decent terms. But it's imperative that when dealing with such lenders, you have their required minimum down payment as well as meet other qualification criteria.
5. Patience! Patience! Patience!
Time is always your best ally when it comes to applying for a car loan. Waiting for that opportune time to buy your car can help save you a lot of money. It can be overly fulfilling knowing that you paid less for your cool ride. So if it means waiting for the right week, month, or year, it's your money and ultimately your means, not forgetting that unlike land or real property, car value depreciates with time!
The above are only pointers to help you in your car buying decision process and not a definitive or authoritative guideline. Because you also have the option to save up until you have the right figure to finance your car purchase. Most importantly, consider finding loans that attract a low-interest rate. This will help to bring down the overall cost of the loan.
