Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General want to refinance my SVT...

ok - so i have about $6.5K left on my loan @ 8.9% (ok - maybe TMI)

who do you guys deal with that does good refinance loans? my brother suggested e-loan.com and they're offering 6.35 percent (which i think is pretty good)

do you guys have any recommended lenders?

look further into the refinancing before you go through with it. keep in mind that loans are front-end loaded with interest, meaning you will have to start all over again with interest on a new loan. even if the rate is lower you may end up paying more interest by refinancing. check out this amortization calculator , it will give you a breakdown of how much of your money goes to interest and how much goes to principle for each payment. just put your info in, and click "show amortization schedule". my suggestion: see exactly how much you owe on your loan, and what your total would be including interest. then see what your total would be including interest, if you refinance. then go with whichever is lower.

also, if possible, you should take out a home equity loan and pay off the car loan with that. you can write off the home equity loan at the end of the year.

I got 7.5 in Feb of 2k!

Try a Credit Union!

I feel bad for you guys!

-Andy

What kind of loan do you have? Is the loan simple interest (the amount of interest you pay each month on the loan stays the same for each payment) or do you have a mortgage type (you pay the most interest on the first month of the loan and the last payment you will pay hardly any interest)? Both loan types the payment amount will be the same but the amount of interest you pay per month will change for a mortgage type loan. If the loan is simple interest then yes it would be a good idea to refinance with a lower interest rate loan. If the loan is a mortgage type and you are about half-way through the loan, then it will probably not be a smart to refinance since you have already paid most of the interest on the loan already and all you are now paying is the principal.

Most car loans are the mortgage type for the obvious reason, the bank gets most of the interest of the loan in the first half of the loan period. This is why some people are backwards on their loan since the first half of the loan they have been paying off most of the interest and the amount of principle they have been paying has not kept up the depreciation of the vehicle. Hope this helps.

yeah I got 7.490 thru my credit union in sept of 2000 on a 4 year loan.

errrr and Wiser I think most people call it upside doown not backwards on the loan.

I got 0.0% from ford credit last fall (post 9-11)for 48 months, I feel sorry for everyone :p

mine was 8%, 10,000$ 5 year

ends up being like 12,000 with the interest and taxes, its a 98, 73,000 km 2.5

payments are 211 a month

this is Canadian $$

I thought most car loans where simple interest - at least both of mine are (Ford Credit on my SVT and a bank for my wife's Maxima.)

Moxnix,

Where I am from the term backwards is most commonly used. I have heard the term upside down used as well. Maybe in Maryland the term upside down may be used much more. I do not know about Maryland.

Cpurser,

I have known only one person with a simple interest car loan. What was your interest rate on your simple interest car loans? Also maybe some states, like Louisiana, may only allow banks to offer simple interest loans. I live in Texas and most of the car loans that I am familiar with are mortgage type loans and banks here almost always only offer mortgage type car loans.

Virtually all car loans are identical. If you reduce your interest rate, you'll pay less.

I'd suggest refinancing at that 6.35% or so and make the same payment (make sure there are no loan covenants restricting early reductions of your principle balance) and you'll end up paying off your loan sooner.

Here's the approximate monthly payment for $6,500 at 6.35% interest rate:

12 month term - $561

24 month term - $289

36 month term - $199

This should give you some idea of how much you'd save each month based on your current payment and number of payments left.

I'd go check at your local banks and credit unions. They're usually competitive and might meet some published rates (like e-loan) to get your business.