2 Things Car Buyers Must Do Today

Photo of Austin Smith
By Austin Smith Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
2 Things Car Buyers Must Do Today

© 24/7 Wall st

Key Points:

  • Seek 0% financing on less popular car models to save on interest.
  • Compare rates from car companies, banks, and credit unions.
  • Total cost savings: 0% vs. higher rates can save thousands over time.
  • Also: Investors believe they’ve found ‘The Next Nvidia’, unlock the stock picks for free by clicking here now. 

Douglas and Lee discuss the rising interest rates for car loans and offer advice on how to shop smartly for the best deals. They suggest looking for cars that aren’t selling well, as they often come with attractive financing options, such as 0% interest for 72 months. They highlight specific examples like Subaru’s Solterra and Ford’s (NYSE: F) | F Price Prediction Mustang Mach-E, which offer 0% financing on certain models. They also advise not to assume that your bank offers the best rates and to shop around, including checking with credit unions and the financing arms of car manufacturers. The key takeaway is to thoroughly compare financing options to save money in the long run.

Transcript:

All interest rates went up.

And just if you bought a car, you found out that interest rates on cars went up.

So we’re going to suggest to people that they be more careful shopping for car loans.

And I’m going to give you some examples.

Look for cars that aren’t selling well.

Now, they’re not selling well either because they’re crummy cars or they’re just not selling well because there isn’t demand for them and they’re fine cars.

Maybe they’re ugly or the paint jobs are bad or whatever it is.

I’ll give you an example.

Two examples.

And they’re EVs.

Subaru, which makes phenomenal cars and wins all the awards for car quality.

They really do.

Called the Solterra.

It is their EV.

If you really want a Subaru and you say, well, I want an EV and I love Subaru, 0% financing for 72 months.

Now, you can’t get that rate on the gas-powered Subarus.

But if you said, I’m interested in EV and I really want one from a company that’s got a sterling quality reputation, Tesla’s charging sort of normal interest rates.

They’re charging six up to 10, depending on your credit score.

So you want to look at, you’d want to look at the Subaru and the same is true with Ford.

Ford is trying to get rid of their Mustang Mach-E’s, their EV crossover, whatever they call it.

If you buy a 2024 market, there’s some interest rates on it.

If you will take some of the 2023 new ones off their hands, 0% financing for 72 months.

So my first piece of advice is this.

If you’re looking for a car, see who’s offering 0% financing for whatever number of months it is.

If it’s within your price range and it’s the type of car you want, be it a pickup, SUV, sedan, sports car, whatever, look really, really hard at whether or not a 0% financing deal is good for you because I’ve got to tell you something.

The difference in car payments between 7% and 0% over 72 months, if you’re buying a car for $50,000, it’s $10,000.

So that’s piece of advice number two.

The next piece of advice is don’t always assume your bank has the best interest rate.

I bank at Chase.

I have a very good credit rating.

Chase wants over 7% to loan me money to buy a new car.

Okay, so yeah, it’s not used as a warranty, everything.

I’ve been a customer there for many decades, and it’s like, nope, 7%.

Very often, the car companies themselves, which have these financing arms, they have them because they want to make money on the money they loan out.

So they, you know what? 3%.

And they, you know, offer you 5.5%.

So shop.

Don’t just shop cars.

Shop interest rates.

Yeah.

Interest rates based not just on the interest rate itself, but the number of months involved.

Yes.

Banks and credit unions.

Leasing a car or paying cash.

But you just mentioned a very good one.

If you’re a member of a credit union, very often they offer the lowest rates available for almost anything you can buy that bears an interest rate.

So look at what the car companies want to offer you.

Look at whether or not you’re willing to take a car that may not be the most popular car in the world, but it still falls within sort of the range of what you want to buy and you can get 0% financing.

Look at your bank very carefully because they are not your friend when it comes to car loans.

No.

And when I said stay away from the credit union, I mean, stay away from them until it’s a last resort.

You know, go to the car companies, see what they’re offering.

And even if it’s not 0%, it could.

Photo of Austin Smith
About the Author Austin Smith →

Austin Smith is a financial publisher with over two decades of experience in the markets. He spent over a decade at The Motley Fool as a senior editor for Fool.com, portfolio advisor for Millionacres, and launched new brands in the personal finance and real estate investing space.

His work has been featured on Fool.com, NPR, CNBC, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, AOL, Marketwatch, and many other publications. Today he writes for 24/7 Wall St and covers equities, REITs, and ETFs for readers. He is as an advisor to private companies, and co-hosts The AI Investor Podcast.

When not looking for investment opportunities, he can be found skiing, running, or playing soccer with his children. Learn more about me here.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618