• Family Sedan: Toyota Camry Hybrid ($29,052)
  

38 miles per gallon (mpg) overall fuel economy, which is better than some smaller hybrids.

• Affordable Family Sedan: Hyundai Sonata ($21.800)
  

2012 Hyundai Sonata is a more affordable alternative to the Camry Hybrid

• Family SUV: Toyota Highlander (38,578 – 47,255)
  

Consistently ranked near the top of its class in road-test scores and above-average reliability. The V6 version gets 18 mpg and the hybrid model tops all SUVs at 27 mpg.

• Family Hauler: Toyota Sienna (V6) ($35,810)
  

According to Consumer Reports, the Sienna is a “versatile minivan” that can carry up to eight people. It offers “lively performance,” “decent” fuel economy, and a “comfortable” ride.”

• Pickup Truck: Chevrolet Avalanche ($47,435)
  

Consumer Reports recommends getting the optional backup camera to compensate for a large rear blind spot.

• Sporty Car: Ford Mustang ($28,880 – 43,880)
  

This sports car offers a surprising 24 MPG on its 3.7-liter V6 version and 22 mpg on the V8 version.

• Sports Sedan: Infiniti G ($34,225 – 37,225)
  

Consumer Reports indicates that this is the best sports sedan, based upon its “agile handling, blisterig acceleration, and comfortable, well-crafted interior.” The car has won this category for the past six years.

• Small SUV: Toyota RAV4 ($24,405 – 30,238)
  

23 MPG from an SUV

• Small Car: Subaru Impreza ($21,345)
  

27 MPG is quite impressive for an all wheel drive vehicle

• Green Car: Toyota Prius (26,750 – 28,217)
  

The Prius’ 44 overall mpg is the highest fuel efficiency of any five-passenger, non-plug-in vehicle the magazine has tested. The 41 mpg of the new Prius V wagon also tops its class. The car also has “excellent” crash-test results.

Each of these cars is the best in their category according to the latest information that was just released by Consumer Reports. It’s not surprising to see several Toyota models on the list. In fact, a Toyota model won five of the 10 categories. The cars and trucks on this list are reasonably priced in today’s marketplace. Most every vehicle on the list is priced between $21,000 and $45,000.

If you are in the market for a new car, you may want to look at these vehicles as your starting point. If Consumer Reports thinks that these cars are the class of their respective categories, they are definitely worth considering. While they may be priced reasonably, most people will still need to consider financing a car or truck that they are buying.

In today’s marketplace, financing a car is an incredibly good idea. There are many great financing options at some of the lowest rates in history. As with the housing market, interest rates on car loans is near all-time lows. Besides talking to the new car dealer, we suggest that you look at several different options. You may be able to find car loans that offer no money down. When you couple that with a low interest rate, and four or five years to pay, you can have yourself a very low monthly payment for your new vehicle.

If you are in the market for a new car, you should definitely investigate Consumer Reports’ list of top cars of 2012 as your starting point.

source: abcnews.com

Top Cars 2012 is a post from: Financing A Car

Top Cars 2012 is from Financing A Car

You need to make sure that you get the best possible terms on your car loan by doing your homework. You will need to know what your credit rating is. You also need to obtain a pre-approved car loan. Having a basic understanding of arithmetic is also very helpful. It is also important to have a history of making your payments in a timely manner. It is also helpful to have some money towards a down payment for the car.

How to Finance a Car Step 1:

Obtain a Copy of Your Credit Report

Request a copy of your credit report. You can get this from a variety of websites, including MyFICO. Most of these websites will provide you with one free copy each year. Auto loans are based on your credit rating, so you will want to make certain that your credit rating is as strong as it could be.

It is highly advisable to have at least 15% available as a down-payment. So if you are buying a car that costs $25,000, you would need to have $3,750. Likewise, if you were buying a used car that costs $10,000, you would need to have $1,500 available for the down payment. By having a down-payment of at least 15%, lenders will be more willing to loan you money, and your financing costs will be diminished.

How to Finance a Car Step 2:

Get Pre-approved for a Car Loan

Before walking into a new or used auto dealership, you need to have your financing in place. You can get this from various websites, or by visiting a credit union, bank, or other lender and tell them that you would like to buy a car and would like to be pre-approved.

If you are financing a car, I recommend using one of the many internet based services for this. One of the best is MoneyAisle.com. They have numerous lenders who will compete for your business. They have a very easy to use website. All you need to do is enter some very basic information, then almost instantly, they will find you the best rates for you, based upon your credit rating.

How to Finance a Car Step 3:

The APR is Critical

When comparing various auto loans (or any loans for that matter), you need to pay attention to the APR, which stand for Annual Percentage Rate rather than focusing on the monthly payment that yo would be making. Provided that you are able to make the monthly payment, it is more important to have a low APR than to have a low monthly payment.

You can obtain a lower payment by extending the payments over a longer period of time. However, we strongly advise that you try to limit your car loan to 3 or at most 4 years. If you financing a car over 5 year or more, you will be paying so much in interest, you may wind up owing more money than the car is worth. This becomes extremely important if your vehicle gets wrecked or stolen.

How to Finance a Car Step 4:

Making The Deal With The Dealer

Make sure to tell the dealer that you already have your financing in place. Then, negotiate the price for the car. DO NOT LET THE DEALER COMBINE THESE TWO TOPICS. Once you have negotiated, and agreed to the price, show the dealer’s credit desk the pre-approved loan that you have. Ask them if they can beat those terms.

How to Finance a Car Step 5:

Crunch The Numbers

Make sure to crunch the numbers before you agree to any financing plan. If the dealer offers you a choice of 0% financing or a cash rebate, you will need to do the math to determine which option is the better deal for you.

How to Finance a Car Step 6:

Make Timely Payments

You have purchased the car. Now make sure that you make your monthly payments in a timely manner. If you are late in making your payment, you will incur additional fees and penalties. You will also adversely impact your FICO score which will hurt your ability to get credit for other things, such as credit cards, other car loans, or home mortgages.

As amazing as this sounds, the average car loan is for 98% of the cost of the vehicle! This is truly amazing. Fewer and fewer people are willing or able to pay cash for their new or used vehicles.

Now you have a basic understanding of how to finance a car.

How to Finance a Car is a post from: Financing A Car

How to Finance a Car is from Financing A Car

People will spend hours, days, weeks, and even months researching just about every single aspect of their car purchase. And with good reason, buying a new or used vehicle is among the largest investments that a lot of people make. So putting in the time and effort to check safety records, repair instances, test driving several cars, and seeing which car is right for you is a very smart thing to do.  People put lots of energy into this portion of the purchase, but most folks do not give the financing aspect a second thought.

Since most people purchase their vehicle on credit – either out of choice or necessity, you can imagine that this is a sizable industry. As a matter of fact, the debt market for personal vehicles is enormous. In fact it is so large that the auto manufacturers make almost half of their profits from the financing deals that they make to when people buy new or used vehicles. So when you buy a car, you really need to think about how you will pay for your new wheels. For many people, the dealership is their lender of choice. Unfortunately, getting a car loan from the dealership is rarely the best choice for a vast majority of potential car buyers.

So how to car dealers make money from financing a car? They usually are able to borrow money at very low interest rates and then turn around and loan money to prospective car buyers at significantly higher interest rates. They then make their money on the differential in the interest rates. This differential can be quite significant.

It is quite possible that the interest rate that you are receiving from the auto dealership could be quite reasonable. But if you do not do your own due diligence, how will you ever know if the deal that is being presented to you is a reasonable deal.  Therefore, it is extremely important to do your own research, and arm yourself with as much information as possible.

One of the most common ways of financing a car is to just walk into the dealer and accept his or her terms. When you walk into the dealership to buy your new or used car, you should know what the best possible financing deal exists for your own personal situation. Remember, everyone’s interest rate is determined based upon his or her own credit rating.

If you are financing a car or refinancing a used car, here is the most important to know:

What is your credit rating?

Your credit rating is determined based upon your prior financing history. If you have missed or been late on one or more credit card payments, you credit rating will be lower than those people who have always paid their bills on time.

Your credit rating will directly impact what interest rate you can obtain. The lower your credit rating is, the higher your interest rate is likely to be. You should know what your credit score is.

Click here:  Find out what your credit score is………..

Obtain quotes from lenders.

Your car dealership would be more than willing to finance a car – new or used – for you. After all, they make nearly half of their money through vehicle financing. Before you walk into the dealership to purchase your vehicle, you need to have a better understanding as to what type of financing deal you are eligible for.  The best way to do that is to approach as many lenders as possible and see what they are willing to offer you.

A good place to start is with the bank where you do your day-to-day banking. You may also want to check with your credit union, if you have one. Credit unions tend to have good interest rates.

You should try to check as many lenders as you can. Remember, the lower the interest rate, the less you will ultimately be paying for your wheels.

Obtain quotes from many lenders

Before financing a car or other vehicle from the dealer, consider MoneyAisle.com. Money Aisle is an auction website. Their service will allow you to obtain bids on your new or used car loan from a huge group of lending institutions that might be interested in acting as your bank for your vehicle purchase.

This service is incredibly easy to use. In seconds, you will know how much money you will have to pay each month on your car loan. It is so simple. All you need to do is enter some very basic information into the system, and it will then rapidly search its vast array of lending institutions (banks, credit unions, etc.) to see which lender would be most willing to make you a deal.

All you have to do is enter the following incredibly basic information: the zip code where you live, the manufacturer and model of the car that you want to buy, and an estimate of your credit rating. The press the “Start Auction Now” button. That’s it! Instantly, you will see the best deals available to you.

In fact, you will see the best deal available for different loan durations. That is, you will see how the interest rate and much you would have to pay for a three year loan, and four year loan, even a five or six year loan, if they are available.

Today, Money Aisle has more than 75 lenders competing for your business. In the near future, they expect to increase the number of lenders to more than 200! The more lenders that are available to compete for your business, the better the deal you will get.

MoneyAisle.com will allow you to conduct your own auction to get bids from numerous lenders. If you are financing a car or refinancing your vehicle, you need to know what you credit score is, and then contact as many lenders as you can to find out what terms they are willing to offer you.

Financing a Car – Banks Compete For Your Auto Loan is a post from: Financing A Car

Financing a Car – Banks Compete For Your Auto Loan is from Financing A Car

Obtaining a loan for a new or used car could be steep. You must learn all the aspects. You need to know where to look funding. You can find loans yourself by speaking with your financial institution or credit union. You may also be able to find vehicle lending options online by yourself. Alternatively, you could let the car dealership provide their own in-house financing for you or these people might possibly help you obtain funding from an outside third-party.

There are basically two distinct forms of loans. There are simple interest loans and also front-loaded interest type loans. A simple interest loan is advantageous. This kind of loan calculates the interest on your entire loan and then breaks the interest repayments that you have to pay into equal month-to-month installments. Front-loaded interest lending products are a better option for the lender since the interest that you pay is more significant at the start of the loan and then tapers off at the ending of the term. Naturally, you ought to try to look for loans that offer simple interest.

Unless you want to pay for the entire purchase with money, There are numerous resources available to help you understand and handle vehicle financing. You need to determine whether your loan is going to be authorized, and at exactly what rate you will end up getting. If your credit rating is not too good, it would be in your best interest to fix your credit rating prior to applying for a loan. The higher your credit standing, the lower your interest rate might be. The lower your interest rate will be, the less your monthly payments and your overall costs shall be.

Financing a car, is to some degree like obtaining a home mortgage. There are a lot aspects to take into consideration. Generally, the automobile dealer will attempt to merge all of the purchase aspects into a single deal. Those components of the deal could contain the cost you are paying for the new auto, the trade-in valuation on an older car, the interest on the loan, various financing conditions such as term, as well as various fees. The dealer would like to join all of the aspects of the deal into one package deal for various reasons. The two primary issues are that they would like to have you finance your car loan through them. This allows them get more income from the interest charges and fees. One other reason is that by merging everything together, they have a much better chance of confusing you and adding unneeded costs into the package. They are going to attempt to concentrate on the payment per month which you make. They might suggest lowering the payment per month by stretching the length of the loan. Regardless of whether you finance your car through the dealership or not, be sure to handle all facets of the deal independently. Do not permit the car dealership control your situation.

Be cautious if a person tries to convince you that financing a car is a better deal as compared to paying cash for it. Even though the premiums may be reasonable, collectively, you will be paying a lot more for that loan than you would if you were to pay cash for it. The only method in which financing would be less expensive than paying cash is if you can put the money to work for you and make more money on it than the interest rate that you would have to pay for the loan.

Some auto dealers will attempt to prove to you that financing is cheaper. In fact, they may provide you with some software application which misrepresents the “savings” of financing versus paying cash for a auto. The computerized cost comparison seems to “demonstrate” that you could save money by financing at one rate of interest and investing the cash not spent in a certificate of deposit (CD) at a bank at a lower rate. The only way that you could come out ahead in this scenario would be by borrowing at a lower interest rate and investing the cash at a higher interest rate.

If every month you invest an amount equal to the car payment, the total you accumulate is going to be more than the valuation on the CD described above. In the long run, paying out interest on a loan will in most cases cost you more. The only way it will cost less, and therefore be a superior deal for you is if you can invest your money at an interest rate which is higher than the loan rate. This is extremely unlikely.

There may be occasions when financing a car makes more send than paying cash, even if you happen to have the funds readily available. Perhaps you want the money for other reasons, such as paying for other goods or services. Some other reasons might be just so that you can maintain a better cash flow, or to create a savings account for such things as household emergencies or college tuition. Financing could also offer you the opportunity to obtain an even more expensive auto than you could otherwise. Under a few circumstances, if you finance a car which develops serious problems, you may not need to continue making payments. In some circumstances, you can create a bidding war amongst lenders and have banks compete for your money. Thus, financing a car or other vehicle, could make sense, regardless of your financial circumstances.

Finding a loan is something which must not be taken lightly. You must make sure you are not being taken advantage of. Look for lending options yourself. Ask your financial institution or credit union. Look at web sites. Ask the car dealership. Compare and contrast interest rates and terms from a variety of loan companies before financing a car, truck, motorcycle, or any other vehicle.

Financing A Car is a post from: Financing A Car

Financing A Car is from Financing A Car