I should have never bought my Prius...

10% interest?!?! When did you buy it?

 

Where did you go to get your loan? My Credit Union's rates are 3.5% for a new car and late model used car loan.

 

Used car rates aren't as good as new car rates...but 10%?!?

 

9.9 pct?
Was that a loan from Vinnie, on the docks?

 

Sounds like a bad credit situation.

 

i was lucky enough to get mine at 4.9% from tfs
now the lowest from toyota i hear is 5.9%

my credit union wanted 7-9% i forgot
capital one blank check autoloan congratulated me for securing a car loan
but when the blank check showed up it was only for 15,000.00 at 9% so i threw it out

the toyota dealer had some sign posted saying they wouldnt take drafts

 

There is a price point for gas where you will get your money back. Unless something changes you'll see that $6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or $12 a gallon gas (some people are already seeing $5 gas) they're predicting by 2012. Actually, my guess is $8 is the most the economy can take. If no one is working, we'll all be walking so there won't be many folks to pay more than the $8!

 

Try to refinance your car loan. Many banks and credit unions are desparate for loan business due to the economy. My credit union is offering 4.79% New or used, original or refi. up to 72 months. Shop around.

Oh and don't worry, gas will go up and then you'll feel better about giving your money to the bank instead of the terrorists. I know I do.

 

you guys got out luck....my credit is the pits....i got a 14.6% rate!!!!!!

im gonna refinance asap!

 

If your credit is the pits and you got 14.6% you are not going to get a much better rate if you refinance ASAP. You need to first fix up your credit rating and then refinance. Turning around and trying to refinance immediately after getting a 14.6% loan is not going to get you a better rate as your credit will still be crappy. Pay on the loan for at least 1 year and show them you can make the payments timely, this will help boost up your credit rating, then try to re-finance. Just a suggestion as you would be hard pressed to find a better loan given your current credit situation.

 

Refinancing is good. Paying it off is even better if you can do it.

Tom

 

Yeah, sounds like the OP was upside down on his/her old car which leads me to agree it was probably a credit situation. I can relate. I finally dug myself out but I was in a similar situation several years back. Unfortunately holding on to the Malibu probably would have been the wisest financial move.

A word of warning about refinancing. Be sure you are actually transferring the LOAN. When I was in the same situation I received an offer to refi my car at a significantly lower rate so I jumped on it. A few weeks later my title showed up in the mail. They didn't take on my loan, they actually paid it off which made it impossible to trade in later. If you are upside down this is a bad thing.

 

Can you explain how this works? How does it keep you from doing a trade-in? I haven't been in this situation, so I am curious.

Tom

 

I don't think it necessarily prevents you from making a trade as it makes it more difficult to cancel out a debt in with a trade in.

 

Right, it doesn't make it impossible but it's essentially the equivalent of paying off the car with a credit card, so on a trade you would be asking the new lender to take on a debt that is something other than a car loan which is not something they are accustomed to doing. It's not a bad thing if you intend to hold the car until it's paid off or you are OK with selling privately, even at a loss, down the road.

 

Bohous,

Now I'm confused. If you have your title (because the 2nd lender paid off your car), then when you go to use your car as a trade in towards another car purchase the dealer will deduct the trade-in book value of your "free & clear" trade car off of the purchase price of the replacement car you are buying (or you can try selling it to Carmax & using the cash/check you get from them as a down payment on the newer car). You will still have to make payments to your 2nd lender then, but your new lender will only be financing the decreased purchase price of your replacement car (brought about by using the trade-in car & its free & clear title).

I may be wrong, but I don't think a lender would want to finance the purchase price of a new car PLUS the remainder owed on a car that is traded in (especially if more is owed on the original loan than is the trade-in value the dealer is offer'g to give you). In that case I would probably sell the car privately (or to Carmax) & use that money to pay off as much of the "buy-off" loan as possible (especially if the loan rate is higher than the rate your new lender will be charging you) & try to get financing from the new lender for the entire replacement car purchase.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

I got a 4.5% rate and its on 15k. Sounds like you have a bad credit problem not a bad prius problem.

 

I got 3% financing when I bought my car in February 08.

 

Why is so much in USA?

My Prius is loan for 0,5% here in Germany (but actually here it cost 26.000 EUR)

Andreas