Stuff You Might Not Know About With Loans.
When you’ve just about got enough money together but not quite or you need the whole lot to buy that new car, what are the options? Maybe you shouldn’t get the loan. There are some big items that we may need to take a loan out for. I’m thinking of a house, particularly. A new car is also one of those big items that do swallow a lot of cash. Being wary of over spending for that new car – or anything for that matter – is a good check for whether you might be able to hold off and save up the cash first before being to hasty in signing the dotted line for a loan.
Yes, you might want the car but if you saved up before you bought the car, then quite a large sum of money can be saved in interest payments that you would need to pay in a loan – making the new car cheaper to buy in the long run. It’s amazing how quickly interest can build up on a car loan.
If you are running on a tight budget, it is probably wise to hold off getting a loan because failure to meet the payments on a loan for a car definitely affects your credit rating in the future. A month or two of lower income or higher demands on your usable income (for example: a larger food bill, your rent goes up, car repairs…) means that it is a lot harder for people on a tighter budget to meet the demands of a car loan’s repayments. If you are already paying for rent or a mortgage, and your margins are tight, do think very carefully before applying for a car loan.
So, what happens when it all goes pear-shaped? Missing one of the loan repayments usually results in a late fee. Loan agents would usually give you a call and remind you that you were not able to provide the payment on such-and-such a date. In most cases, lenders would try to work with you and determine a new date when you would pay for the missed payment.
Digging yourself a deeper hole to get out of is when a payment has been delayed for 30 or more days. In the event where you were not able to pay the loan premiums for almost a month, lenders would be looking at this as a serious lapse and would most likely report this to credit reporting agencies.
As outstanding loan repayments continue to build up for 90 days or more, repossession of the vehicle is the final outcome. Money lenders would send an agent that would handle the repossession process. A lot of the time, police officers are involved to ensure that the re-possession process goes without a hitch.
Finally, lenders will usually resort to legal action when you are not able to meet the payment terms provided by the lender. After your car is sold on, the lender would sue you for not paying the amount you owe from the lending company. It gets really scary here because if you lose in court, you are required to pay the amount you owe, the penalties involved, and the expenses spent by the lender in seeking legal action. Ouch!
There are such things as manageable loans. Sometimes they really are necessary (like when your car has died and you need a new one). As long as the loan repayments sit well inside your means to pay them, you’ll probably be fine.
If you are finding it difficult repaying any car loan or multiple loans, here are a few tips to help:
- know exactly how much you owe
- stop using the credit card
- work out which loans are charging the most
interest and pay these ones off first - do whatever you can to retire any debt (for
example: taking on a second job and
using that income for paying debts off) - if you don’t have the cash for it, you probably don’t need it.
On a positive note: keeping yourself free of debt means that you are much more capable of saving up for things in the future. And remember, Private Fleet are committed to finding all new-car buyers the best deals around.
Level 2, 9 Help Street