Archive for July, 2011

What Can I Do With The Negative Equity In My Car?

My clients often ask what they can do with the negative equity in their car. I thought I would share my answer that I give them with you, just in case you may have had the same question pop up in your life. When you owe more than what you car is worth it is referred to as being upside down in your car loan. Every new car that is driven off the dealers lot automatically has instant negative equity. Cars never increase in value, no matter how long you hold on to them.

You have several options for getting rid of your car with less than perfect equity.

Dealers take trade-ins like this every day. However, you will want to take a close look at all the numbers and see if it makes financial sense for you to trade your vehicle in to the dealer or not. You may find it is better for you to keep your car and pay it off.

If you have good credit you may be in a position to buy another vehicle, and roll your negative equity into the vehicle you are buying. Keep in mind that the negative equity didn’t go away by magic. You just rolled it over into another car loan. You still have to pay it off.

One way to help get rid of less than perfect credit is to put a larger down payment on a new car that you want to buy. By doing this you will help eliminate some of the negative equity so you won’t have as much to rollover into your new loan. If you’re looking at a new car, shop around and find one that has rebate incentives with low or zero interest. Some of the manufacturers rebates can help offset your negative equity.

If you’re like most people today you are strapped for cash, and have a hard time coming up with any extra cash. That’s why it can be beneficial to look for the manufacturer rebates.

Take a look at your potential interest rate. If you are paying a high rate of interest on the car you now have, you may be able to save some money by rolling over your negative equity into a car with a lower interest rate.

Be careful about rolling over your negative equity into a new car loan. This practice of always rolling over the negative equity has gotten a lot of people into deep financial trouble. Ideally you should always set up your car payments so you can pay the car off faster than what it is depreciating. Financing your car for 60 months or longer only helps the lenders.

If you find yourself with negative equity in your car, it may be beneficial for you to speak with an auto broker about helping you get out of your upside down loan. Auto brokers are known for working with people instead of just trying to sell them a car today.

Coleman Thermoelectric Coolers: What Are Your Options?

There are 3 basic Coleman thermoelectric coolers to choose from. They are all designed to travel, yet some are smaller, and therefore better suited for certain situations where you don’t need a full-size electric travel cooler.

The Coleman Hot Cold Thermoelectric Cooler
The Coleman Hot Cold is set apart from other Coleman thermoelectric coolers by the fact that it can keep items both cold and hot. It’s very useful if you’re traveling to a potluck or if you just want to keep a hot lunch in the car for your family’s next road trip. Switching it from hot to cold is simple, so this is a very easy to use cooler.

This cooler is quite large. It will hold at least forty-four regular-sized cans, and it may also pack in some extra food, too. It can be used in an upright position, like a mini fridge, or as a traditional chest cooler, and it comes with dividers to make it easier to organize. This cooler can hold enough food for your family to have three meals plus snacks for an entire day of traveling!

The Coleman 40-Quart Thermoelectric Cooler
The 40-quart Coleman thermoelectric cooler holds a little less than the Hot Cold cooler, though it can also be used in the chest or upright position which is convenient. This slightly smaller electric travel cooler fits easily into a car or truck, and it’s popular with over-the-road truckers who want to keep healthy meals and snacks on hand for their long days on the road.

The 40-quart is also the Coleman thermoelectric cooler that has a convenient shelf-divider and molded handles that make it easy to move around if you’re using it for camping or plan on moving it from one spot to another in the car often. This cooler, like many Coleman products, has been known to last for years, even with constant use, according to thermoelectric cooler reviews. You may need to replace the fan, but this is easy to do, and you’ll appreciate how long the rest of the cooler will hold up.

The Coleman 19-Can Cooler
This smaller thermoelectric cooler is perfect for trips where you just want to keep a few drinks or some smaller snacks cool in the car. It’s great when you have a baby along, since it’s got plenty of room to keep bottles at the proper temperature. The Coleman 19-can electric travel cooler has a handle and can only be used in a chest position. However, it’s slim enough to fit onto a car’s seat or behind the front passenger seat for easy access.

This is one of the Coleman thermoelectric coolers that are popular mainly for its size, since it’s very versatile. People who travel a lot for business can keep lunch and a few snacks in this cooler, but it’s also large enough to pack a lunch for the average-sized family, too.

Discover How Bad Credit Affects Your Car Loan

Bad credit has a huge effect on your car loan and the interest rate that you will get. Depending how bad your credit is you may not even qualify for the loan. There you are sitting at the dealership, buying the car of your dreams. You feel like you are on top of the world. You have saved up $3,000 for the down payment, you paid all your bills on time last year and you just got a big promotion at work.

What happens next is something that you never dreamed of happening to you. The car salesman comes back out of the finance department, shaking his head, and with a sad look and says, “I’m sorry sir, you don’t qualify for this car.” You are in shock! How can that be? You paid your bills on time, you have a cash down payment and you just got a promotion.

A bad credit score can affect your car loan in a number of ways.

Bad Credit Scores And Your Car Loan.

A bad credit score can affect the interest rate you pay on a car loan, and it can also affect whether you get the loan or not. When a lender is looking at your credit they don’t just look at what you did recently, they take a hard long look at your past. They can go back as far as seven years to see if you qualify for the loan.

Lenders and banks use your credit scores, or FICO credit scores to determine if they will make a loan or not. Lender wants to make sure that you’re going to pay back your loan. Credit scores are based on several different areas, including pass history payments, how many inquiries you have on your credit report, the credit limits on your credit cards, what types of credit you have, how long you have had credit, and how much debt you carry.

Now let’s take a look at the example above. You could have had a nice raise, with cash for the down payment and paid all your bills on time in the last 12 months. But, what did your credit history look like before that? Did you miss any payments on your credit cards, or were you late with the payments? Did you co-sign for a loan for a friend? If you did, this loan would show up on your credit report and be figured in on your income to debt ratio.

Before you go out looking for a car and think you’re going to get a great deal, check your credit report first. You may be surprised at what you find.