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Would a credit union be a better alternative for
you?
The
Early Show's financial contributor Vera Gibbons
compares banks and credit unions.
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Refinancing Your Car Loan
By Philip Reed, Senior Consumer Advice
Editor
As interest rates drop, people's thoughts
turn to refinancing — refinancing their home
loan, that is. What they don't know is that
refinancing an auto loan is easier to do,
and it can save you some serious money.
How much? Say you bought a new car six
months ago. And say there were a few dings
on your credit so the dealer told you that
your auto loan would be 11 percent on a
five-year loan for a $23,000 car. Your
monthly payments are $500.
Now let's say that you surf the Web until
you find a company that offers auto
refinancing. You could refinance the balance
of your car loan and lower your payments to
about $400 a month. That's a savings of
nearly $6,000 over the life of the loan.
Other examples could well be more dramatic.
In some cases, a new-car buyer could wind up
with an auto loan based on an 18-percent
interest rate. By refinancing at a
competitive rate, the monthly payments would
be slashed, and all it takes is about 10
minutes to fill out the application. |
