Different between unsecure and secured car loans

February 26, 2009 by admin  
Filed under car loans

What is the real difference in cost and conditions between car loans that are secured or a unsecured personal loan and how that difference affects their finance and their repayments. The car loans terms can be only minor, but is superior when the true cost of each is taken into account.

Understanding secured and unsecured car loans in detail can be useful in saving money but, let’s first have a look at the a range of components that determine the cost of your loan and of your monthly repayments. The coat of the finance is the total you repay less the loan amount borrowed. Hence, let’s say you are repaying $20,000 at 12% interest rate over 36 months; you will pay back at the rate of $664.29 per month. That would total a repayment of $23,914.44, and the cost of the loan would be $3,914.44 plus any set-up or administration fees. A online calculator will helps you get car loan payments for free online.

Hire Purchase

An substitute to a car finance would be a hire purchase (HP), where you hire the car over the repayment period and receive the title to the motor car with your final payment. Until then the car belongs to the HP company.

Secured Car Finance

However, most loans are either secured or unsecured, and not all lenders offer unsecured or personal loans so let’s consider secured loans first. Secured car finance is one whereby the lender offers the loan with the car as security. If you fail to make payments, the lender can sell the car to recoup their money. With a strong application it is still possible to get secured car finance when a used car gets older, often 7 years, but the car finance term or loan term may be requested to be shorter than the standard 5 years or not at all by using your home or some other form of security. These however are not strictly classed as car loans. It is generally the car that is the security.

Car Loans Extras

Secured car loans can include on-road expenses such as the registration, insurance to protect you against disability,death or unemployment and comprehensive auto insurance as part of the financing deal. Loan insurance makes sure that the finance is paid off in the event of your death during the loan period, and comprehensive car insurance is needed to make sure that the car is in good condition should it be needed to repay the lend in the event of you defaulting on your payments.

This might all sound like doom and gloom, but these are conditions you see with most secured car loans, not only car loans. You can normally have a secured car loan over one to five years, and the interest rate will be lower than that for an unsecured car finance where the lender charges extra to compensate for their added risk. If you put deposit or trade amount off the finance this will lower the repayments, or a shorter term, whichever you prefer.

To reduce payments a balloon might be a valid option, which is like a deposit in reverse, payable at the end of the period. This is popular by those whose income will increase over the period, and they will be in a better financial position to pay a lump sum in 3 - 5 years time. This too results in either a cheaper repayment per month or a shorter repayment term.

Car Loans Interest Rates

If you are buying a used car, your car loans interest rates can be priced very differently according to the loan company and the age of your car. Many will charge higher car loan interest rates, and the current credit problem has changed the outlook of many lenders to unsecured car loans in particular. Many no longer offer unsecured loans due to the increased risk in the current economic climate.

Car Finance Rates

However, they are still available, and some online brokers can put you in touch with a choice of lenders that are still willing to offer you an unsecured car loan. In addition to the car finance rates, you should also compare the fees charged, since they can involve a considerable outlay for you before you get the loan.

The most important differences between secured and unsecured auto loans, therefore, can be summed up as:

Secured finance are cheaper to repay, with usually lower interest rates.

Secured loans demand fully comprehensive car insurance, while unsecured loans do not.

Both finance packages could require death insurance cover for the finance, but secured loans are more likely to.

You can sometimes include comprehensive insurance, registration and other costs in the secured loan, but with an unsecured car financing you must include the the outlay on top of the amount borrowed.

Fees for unsecured auto loans can be significantly higher than for secured car finance.

Not all lenders will offer unsecured auto loans.

There few doubts that if your vehicle is young enough to be given a loan with the car as security, then that should be your option. You might be able to arrange a secured finance for an older car with your house as security, but you will have to make sure to maintain the loan repayments since lenders are becoming unsympathetic in the current economic climate.

Getting a Cheap Car loan or Car Finance

February 12, 2009 by admin  
Filed under finance

Inside Tips on Getting a Cheap Car Loan

So, you’re looking for a cheap car loan? But how exactly do you go about working out the difference between what you can afford, and what any loan will actually cost you? Is it better to find a car first, and then look for the finance to cover it, or is it best to work out what you can afford as far as repayments are concerned, and over what period, and then go shopping with a clear budget in mind? Whatever you choose to do, it’s certainly important to know your budget first. Whether you sort your loan out before looking for a car, or go shopping first is up to you, but knowing your financial commitments is important.

But for many people, trying to work out exactly what you can afford, and how much a loan will really cost, is not an easy task. Looking for a new car is fun; working out your finances is not. Which is why it’s important to have a few tricks up your sleeve, and here at http://www.carloancalculator.net.au we think we can offer you some of those tricks for free.

The first thing to think about is your budget. It’s important to think about what you can realistically afford, before starting to commit yourself to a particular brand of car, model, size or style. Keep an open mind to start with, and let the budget start you on your way. Obviously you’ll need to know hoe much you’re earning, and how much you can afford to put by each month for the car. Bear in mind that buying a car is only the start of your financial commitment to a new vehicle. There will be the taxes to pay, insurance, maintenance costs, fuel – not to mention any repairs needed if something goes wrong. These costs should be considered carefully, as often people tend to ignore these when working out how much they can afford each month. Remember, faster, sportier cars are going to cost a lot more to insure.

Once you’ve worked out how much you can afford to pay each month for the cheap car loan itself, the next step is to use a finance calculator to help you turn that into a final sum that will be your bottom line when shopping for a car. As you may have already noticed, we have a very simple to use calculator on http://www.carloancalculator.net.au, and this will allow you to enter your monthly payment amounts, and work out how much you could be looking at, as far as a loan amount is concerned.

You’ll be able to play around with the figures a bit, such as seeing what difference it makes if you have a shorter loan, such as three years, or spread the payment out over a longer period of time, such as seven years. Experiment with lower and higher monthly payments, although make sure you don’t exceed what you can realistically afford. Once you have done this, you’ll have a much clearer idea of how much you could be looking to pay each month, over what sort of period, the interest rate you’re likely to expect to pay, and what that all translates to in terms of a sum of money with which you can buy your new car.

The next trick is having someone on the inside able to take those figures and work on them a bit to make sure you get not only the cheap car loan you’re after, but one which is specifically tailored to you. For example, there are car loans available which include a number of extras, either good things or things to be aware of. For example, you may have used our calculator to work out that you’d like to pay a certain amount each month over a period of seven years. But did you assume that you could overpay sometimes, pay the balance off early and cut down that time should things work out for you? Be aware that some loan companies will charge you a significant early settlement figure, which could upset your calculations. Late payment fees and other charges need to be considered.

This is why using a broker, such as Finance Ezi, will allow you to get a cheap car loan with no hidden extras. You might also be interested in some of the other benefits which can be included, or arrangements which can be made. For example, perhaps your cash flow isn’t the same all the year round, but varies with the seasons. Finding a car loan which has the same payment every week, fortnight or month might be all right for some, but in your case, it doesn’t make the most of how you earn your money. In this case, brokers like Finance Ezi will be able to work out an arrangement where your payments vary throughout the year. Interest only and deferred payment schemes are also available, and these can all make a big difference.

So if you’re looking for a cheap car loan, get your finances sorted out, use a loan calculator like the one on this website, and use http://www.Financeezi.com to help get the best deal. After that – enjoy your motoring!