Refinancing a Car Loan - Why Is It so Popular All Of A Sudden?

Typically, lenders have always only tried palming off refinancing offers on unsuspecting homeowners . They tell them that if they would only agree to a refinancing deal, they could easily lower their payments. A lot of the time though, their persuasive arguments are just a lot of hogwash. Well, apparently, homeowners are beginning to wake up to this fact. Thus the banks are beginning to try to push refinancing car loan just the way they did home refinancing in years past.

And it's a real hit with car owners, too. More and more, car owners who have bought their cars through a financing deal are trying to see if they can take the banks up on their offer and rework their terms. Car refinancing applications are up by around 30% this year over last year.

In fact, the banks are finding that they're getting more people interested in refinancing existing loans that getting applications for new car loans. Refinancing a car loan is such a popular thing these days that lenders who have traditionally never got themselves mixed up with the car financing business, are trying to jump in now.

It is somewhat understandable why all these car owners would be interested in refinancing a car loan right now. They are looking at how they borrowed to finance a car a year or two ago when interest rates were over 7%. Interest rates today are at just 6% today, they're wondering why they shouldn't take advantage of it through a refinancing deal. You might think that 1% doesn't sound like a big deal; why would people not want to go to all this trouble for that? It's not just the 1% though. Anyone who's bought a car a year or two ago, chances are that their credit rating wasn't that good then. Refinancing a car loan today, they have a chance to take advantage of their improved credit. They'll get better rates.

So this is all a wonderful idea, right?

Well, maybe it is for some people. But you do have to understand that if you bought a new car today, you would get a 5% interest rate. And there are some dealerships that offer 2%. You might do even better for yourself if you bought a new car instead of flogging that old dead horse.

Lenders apparently, want to take your attention away from the fact that if you bought a new car, you would get a much better deal. They just advertise how refinancing a car loan saves you money, so they get to charge you a little more interest than they would if they just sold you a new car loan.

Dealerships love refinancing deals because it helps them get people into the dealership so they can talk to them. They hope that they can talk them intobuying a new car from them not long from now.

Pay Off Car Loan Early. You Don't Want a Loan on Something That Loses Value

You know, when they advertise a new car on TV and they talk about soaring feelings and total freedom, then don't really tell you about how unfree it feels to be tied down to a car loan for years. A car loan does make a lot of sense to people in various life situations. But the thought of how you're committed to paying something off for years before you will own it can be less than liberating. Sensible people don't really mind a loan for a house. Most often, houses rise in value. A car on the other hand, loses value everyday. To them, to pay off car loan as early as possible is what makes sense. Where's the point paying interest on something that loses value?

It isn't just a matter of principle. You save wads of cash by not paying interest on a car loan. Often, you end up paying as much in interest as you would to buy the new car itself. Just imagine what you could do with that kind of money if it was yours.

There are other ways in which holding onto a car loan can cost you dearly. When you have a loan, you're credit score takes a beating. I for instance, had a credit score of 820. After a new car loan and three months of paying everything on time, my credit score was 800. When you have loans, your credit score doesn't like it. If your credit score is around 700 to begin with, a 20 point did can be fatal.Another reason to pay off car loan early.

Okay, so you're convinced. You need to pay off car loan early. So how do you do it?

One way would be to not pay it off immediately if you can't afford it, but to try to shave a few months off, by paying a little extra. Say that your car payment is $325 a month. Try to pay $350 a month instead. Or if you can afford it, try to pay $400 a month instead. You'll take a full year off your payment schedule. That's real savings in your pocket.

The secret is to make a few little changes just like this one that you won't notice outright. It makes things less painful. Make one extra payment one time every year for instance. It doesn't have to be a fixed time. Any time you get a little extra money – from a tax refund or a bonus or something, use it for this. Before long, you will find that you've taken quite a bite out of your car loan.

And make sure that you do not do the opposite of the extra payment, too. Most lenders will give you a payment holiday once or twice a year as if they're being nice to you. They'll send you a letter that says they can just skip a payment once or twice a year and you'll be happier for it. Don't do it. It only prolongs your loan with them, and it makes you pay more interest to them in the end.

How to Become a Car Salesman - Learning the Fraudulent Tricks of the Trade

People in general don't admire car salesmen in the used car trade. They see them as greasy, unreliable and unpleasant people. And yet, there are plenty of people out there who would like to know how to become a car salesman.

Well, if you're one of those people and you would like to know how to become a car salesman in the used trade, you will have to know beforehand the kind of unpleasant tricks you will have to pull on your customers. Here are some of them. Try to see if in the end, you still feel like it.

The first thing you need to to as a used car salesman is, you have to get customers to come into your lot to look at cars so that you can pull a few devious tricks on them. How do you get them there? You get them there with a few devious tricks, of course.

What you will do is, you advertise a few sought-after brands of car at very cheap prices. Of course, people are going to come in because they are going to wonder how you're selling such great brands at such cheap prices.

Once people step onto your lot, you show them the cheap cars, and you tell them that really, those cars are a terrible bargain because there's this, that and the other thing that's wrong with them. And then, you'll upsell them to what youreally intended to sell them all along. Once they're there, and once you've seen the lemon that a low price can get them, they will  psychologically feel a lot readier to trade up. That's the trick you have to pull.

There's another thing you have to do once customers get to your lot. You have to lowball them - give them a price that's very, very low. But you won't sell the car to them at that price. You will insist that they shop around and see if they can match your price. Once the customer wastes his time shopping around unsuccessfully, he'll come back to you. Only now, you'll say that those prices have been revised. Your customer will be so exhausted at this point that he'll just buy whatever you offer him.

Whatever car the customer seems to be interested in, you want right away to step up and say that you drive the same car or your wife does. If you're feeling a little extra sentimental, you have to tell them that your mother drives that car. Of course it's all lies. And even if it is the truth, you're only driving the car because you work at a used car dealership and you got that car for free.

If the customer seems a little bit unwilling to buy, what you do is, you offer the car to the customer for couple of days, just to get a feel for her. When you're hoping for is that when you're being so nice and generous, the customer will feel bad about returning ist just walking away.

That's how to become a car salesman in the used trade. You have to have no conscience.

What do you know about Car Cleaning Products

When asked about their most prized possession, many people will name their cars which some have gone to the extent of naming. It therefore follows that they would want to take great care of their cars and what other way is there to do it other than by use of the best car cleaning products. The latter are very important as they help people’s cars to remain in great condition.

Apart from the normal car cleaning products there are those that are also used for giving your car a finish that can only be termed as show quality and among such products is detailing clay. If you have just bought a car then you need to first know about the polish and solution that are used for car cleaning. You will need to wash the car regularly and the polish can be used several times each year so as to ensure that the car has a good protective layer.

The best time to apply the polish is just before winter when salt is known to splash onto the paintwork of the car and this can lead to its corrosive properties damaging the car. As regarding car cleaners you might need to get car shampoos that can be washed off easily. Cars are prone to get stains or pranksters can decide to spray it with graffiti and in such instances it might be wise to get stain and graffiti removers.

Another of car cleaning products that you should be aware of are the stain protectors and these are normally used on car fabrics. These will be very helpful in preventing permanent stains from getting to the seats in case something is spilled on them. There are products that are specifically made for cleaning the windows of the car and these help them to remain clear not to mention the fact that they are safe to use. There are products whose main task is to ensure water slips off your car’s windows thereby reducing the risk of stains.

As for the upholstery you can use products that can be used for the dashboard as well. The metals found on the wheels should be cleaned using particular products to ensure that they shine. When looking for products to clean their cars, many people concentrate on the beautiful results but hardly do they think of preserving their cars. You should also look for the products that will help to preserve your car and among these products is wax.

Among the best places to buy car cleaning products is car dealer shops and the best thing about buying the products from these places is you will be advised on how to use them. The internet can be a good source of these products as well but before you steel for a particular store you should first conduct some product comparison.

Sidestepping Car Salesmen Tricks

When what's left of your car loan is worth a lot then what your car is worth - when you are upside down on your car loan, to use the lingo - it can be very difficult to  sell that car and and then to buy a new one. At this point, you will come upon one of the more infamous car salesmen tricks out there - a salesman at the dealership offers to pay off your old car just like that. He will pay it off no matter how much money it is.

You might feel like taking them on their offer. You know that there are car salesmen tricks out there that you have aware of, but what could possibly be fishy about this, you wonder.

Well, what's fishy is the that car salesman doesn't intend to pay it off at all. What they actually do is that they assess how much they will lose if they take your old car and sell it and then use the money to pay off your loan. Whatever they have to pay out-of-pocket, they will surreptitiously add that sum of money to your new car loan. And they'll never tell you about it. So it's a very bad deal.

There have been plenty of car dealerships - Hyundai dealerships in particular - that have been sued by the FTC for this. The dealerships for their part, claim that they haven't done anything wrong. But they promise that they won't advertise in this fashion ever again.

You need to be sure that you don't ever fall for this kind of cheap trick by the car dealerships. The first thing you need to be able to do to sidestep these car salesmen tricks is that you need to know if you are upside down on your car loan.

To do this is pretty simple. You just need to look up Kelley Blue Book, find out how much your car is worth on the market now, and then look at your loan documentation to find out how much you owe still. If what you owe there is more than what you car is worth according to Kelley Blue Book, you may consider yourself upside down. This isn't the end of the world.

Most people are upside down. It's only a problem if you need to buy a new car. If your existing cars and in good enough condition to give you any service there's no reason to care. All you need to do is to keep driving the car until the car is worth less than what you owe on it. And then, you can sell it to everyone else.

It's always a very bad idea to combine buying a new car with selling your old car and getting financing for the new car. Doing three things at one time can turn out to be hugely complicated. It gives the dealer all kinds of ways in which to hide deceptive activity.

The Many Ways There Are to Get Affordable Car Insurance

When your job and your life are going according to plan, it may not really seem like a huge deal that you shouldn't look for affordable car insurance. The time you have to take to find it can seem like such a waste. When things are tight though, for whatever reason, it can no longer seem that way. It can seem like every dollar that you spend on your car insurance is money thrown out the window.

You might be tempted then, to go with the cheapest car insurance offer that you ever come by. But what happens if you really do need to put in a claim and they give you the runaround?

It might seem like a runaround isn't really that bad when you're just paying for the insurance and and you don't really have a car problem to worry about. Consumer experts though know how terrible it can be when you're out of the car and your insurance company doesn't seem to care. They warn you against it.

Remember - you aren't just paying for car insurance because the law requires you to. You're doing it also because your life depends on it. If you're really tight and you really need to find affordable car insurance, try not a sacrifice on the quality of your insurance. Instead, try to find out ways in which you can legitimately cut down on the price of your insurance even if you stay with a great company.

For instance, have you considered getting pay-as-you-drive insurance policy that only charges you as much premium as you drive? Also, it's possible that your state - California and New Jersey among many - may have special affordable car insurance programs for people with low incomes.

Apart from that, there are few other legitimate things you can do. You can plan for it before you buy a car. You can look on the Internet for information on what models are the cheapest to insure. You can also depend on your car loan vendor to give you a bit of free insurance. They always do that.

And then, if you're confident that you're a safe driver and there isn't really much that can happen to your car, take out a policy with a very high deductible - the highest they will allow. Take out a policy that offers you the option of taking out a $1000 deductible. It just means that when you have an accident, you'll probably pay a lot more. But as long as you don't have an accident, this is way cheaper.

Insurers love to give you discounts. Lots of them. And they are a great way you can get affordable car insurance. If you have a short commute, if you are over 55, if you are retired, if your car has safety features like theft alarms and so on - you get cheaper rates. Make sure that you take advantage of every discount possible.

If Your Car Won't Start

When you tell someone that you’re having trouble getting your car to start, invariably, they'll tell you, "Maybe your batteries are dead - did you leave the lights turned on all night?" Well, there's certainly a lot of sense to that question. The thing is though, if your car won't start, there's a lot else that can be wrong with it. Let's take a look, shall we?

When a car won't start, the most depressing way for it to do that is to just not do anything at all when you turn the key. There's not a peep out of it. Actually, that should be one of the less depressing scenarios for you. If there's not a peep out of it, it's most likely the battery. In fact, it's probably not even the battery - it's probably just the battery cables. Take a look under your hood to see for cables or battery connectors seem corroded. That should be a particularly cheap part to replace.

A slightly more alarming situation is when you try to start the car, and all you hear is a click.  While this could conceivably still be the battery cables or corrosion somewhere, most likely, it means a dead battery. This should be a somewhat more expensive replacement. But it could also possibly be a loose contact.

Sometimes, the car will crank, but it won't start. Or it will start, but then promptly shut down. If your car won't start even after it cranks, you need to check the fuel line to your engine. If that checks out, you need to check to see if your spark plugs are connected properly.

If the engine does start but then it dies, you can help the situation by checking to see if your carburetor and choke system are in reasonable shape. If yours is a more modern fuel injection system, it's off to the old garage for you.

But for some of us, the car does start well on most days. When it's raining or cold though, something seems to happen to it. It's possible that there's moisture in your distributor cap.  The distributor Is the point that supplies power to the spark plugs. Open it and check to see if there's any moisture inside. You need to evaporate any dampness you see there. To do that, you can get some evaporating aerosol at a car supplies store.

Of course, there's good reason why people will offer the dead battery answer any time someone complains about how their car won't start. If your problem is indeed a dead battery, all you need is a set of jumper cables. Using these, you connect your battery to the battery in someone else's car, and you're done.

That Really Is a Car Pressure Washer That You Using, Isn't It

They make pressure washers for different kinds of purposes. Some of them can be very high pressure models, meant for use on concrete surfaces. Models that do very high pressure like that are certainly not suitable for use on a car. You could actually cause damage to working car parts or plastics this way. For car cleaning and detailing, what you're looking for is a car pressure washer.

You're probably wondering - could you really cause damage to a car using not a purpose-built car pressure washer, but an all-purpose one?

You know, think about it this way - the window seals on your car are rated for a certain amount of pressure. If you aren't careful, a stray blast from your pressure washer could really hit your window seals, and rip the rubber right off. Not to mention, it could shatter the glass. If the stray blast were to hit a windshield wiper, it would blast the wiper right off. After all, we're talking pressure that's meant to scrape dirt off concrete.

A purposebuilt car pressure washer typically uses pressure that's no greater than about 800 pounds per square inch. Sometimes, to clean really stubborn dirt, you could raise the pressure to about 1500. But that's about it. Any higher, and you would probably blow a hole in the plastic of the bumpers. Even if you didn't do that, even if you were careful to keep to the metal parts of your car, you could still cause damage to the finish.

You're not going to run a distilled water line to your washer, are you? Water does contain impurities. At very high pressure levels, little particles of grit in the water would knock bits of your paint work off. In short - never make the mistake of using a general purpose pressure washer device to wash your car with.

Let's say that you have a  pressure washer device lying around. You don't really know if it's meant for cars or not. How do you find out?

You could check out the pressure rating of course. It shouldn't be any greater than 1500 pounds per square inch. But there's another way to know, too. The more pressure a washing device puts out, the more water it's going to use up. You don't typically want anything that uses up more than a gallon a minute. Anything higher than that, and your talking concrete washing pressures.

If you were to use a purpose built car pressure washer, you could actually get a steam washer. You will find steam washers do a far better job.