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Auto Refinance

Mark Cappel
UpdatedMay 25, 2007
Key Takeaways:
  • Consider refinancing your auto loan if you have a high interest loan.
  • Shop around to find the best interest rate you can.

I owe $21K on a 2001 Cadillac Seville STS with a 19% loan. Can I refinance this to a lower rate?

I am in a upside down car loan i have a 2001 Cadillac Seville sts and owe $21k on it it has 44k miles on it and im getting killed with the interest on it which is 19% (yes at the time i was desperate). Now i need help finding a company that will help refinance my loan. do you know of any company that will help. i have one years worth of credit and a credit score of about 670 any advice would be greatly appreciated, and anywhere that you could send me to that would refinance my car for a lower interest rate would be a miracle.

Many consumers agree to unfavorable loan terms when financing used vehicles because they are, as you say, "desperate." In our society, many people are unable to carry out their day-to-day activities, such as going to work and taking their children to school, without owning a vehicle. As a result, consumers in a financial bind are often forced to pay high prices and interest rates to finance a car, because without it their financial situation would be even worse.

Your description indicates that you found yourself in a similar situation when you agreed to a 19% interest rate on your auto loan. Many used car dealers make huge profits by financing cars for people with credit problems, convincing buyers to finance over-priced vehicles at bloated interest rates.

The good news is that you may be able to refinance your current auto loan at a lower rate, potentially saving you thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. Based on your current credit score as stated in your question, it sounds like your financial situation has taken a turn for the better since you first financed your vehicle. A 670 credit score places you in the "moderate" credit score range (you are not "prime" but you aren't really "sub-prime" either, lenders would call you "Alt-A").

A 670 score is not a particularly bad score, and it should be good enough to allow you to qualify for an interest rate a lot lower than 19%. An auto loan refinance basically works the same as a home loan refinance — your new lender will pay off your old auto loan, leaving you with a new loan with the same balance as your old loan, but with a lower interest rate. To find out more about auto loan refinancing, read the article at Auto Refinance Advice

The Bills.com Savings Center, available at the top of most pages on Bills.com, is a good place to start your search for a lender willing to refinance your auto loan. Given your credit score and your current interest rate, I am hopeful that you will be able to find a lender able to help you lower the interest on your current auto loan.

I hope this information helps you Find. Learn & Save.

Best,

Bill

Bills.com

4 Comments

llavender, Apr, 2010
Thanks so much for the detailed information. I'm thinking of getting an auto refinance loan, but I didn't really have any idea how to do it… Your article provided so many helpful resources and it's great! It saved me a lot time in searching, and I'm look into it now. My friend also told me something about bill consolidation, which she said might save me some money in paying off interest, so I'm looking in to that as well. But anyway, thanks again for the information!
BBill, Jan, 2009
thank you.
kkrish, Jan, 2009
This happens in many places,where people are desparate to buy a car with any amount of interest, but after that they feel the brunt of it.
bbritney, Jan, 2009
This is very interesting article. Car Loans