The Advantages of Getting an Online Auto Loan

Car shopping can be a dreadful experience for some people, and this dread, if compressed into a single named word, would probably be spelled S-A-L-E-S-P-E-R-S-O-N. Some people like the art of the haggle, while others hate it. Well for those who are not so inclined, there is a way to take control of the sales process before you even set foot anywhere near a car dealership – by getting your loan preapproved online. Here’s five reasons why:

1. Save time: Getting a traditional car loan without the superior advantage of the Internet means driving from lender to lender in order to receive several quotes for your auto and make sure you are getting the best loan at the lowest rate that your insurance affords you. Getting preapproved online takes just a few minutes and can be done all at once from the safety and comfort of your own home in your striped pajamas, if you like.
2. Save money: There is money to be saved over seeking a conventional loan when it comes to the gas you would spend (or bus fare), and the better odds that with hundreds of lenders vying for your attention and business online, that they will offer you the absolute lowest rates they can afford. In addition, some lenders now operate exclusively through the Internet, and their savings on the overhead of having a physical building to maintain can be passed on to you through their loan offerings.
3. Negotiate with confidence: You can walk onto a car lot either meek, and timid and scared, because you know you need that dealership and salesperson for something – financing for your car, or you can walk onto the lot strong and in control, knowing exactly what you want and how much you can afford and not needing them for anything. This allows you to negotiate the price your vehicle from a position of strength, rather than trying to settle on anything you think you can get approved for.
4. Save more time: Vehicle financing office – hours of talking and reading fine print. Need I say more?
5. Don’t fall victim to sales padding: Many of the shadiest vehicle salespersons out there will take advantage of the desperate when they come to buy a car using dealer financing. This advantage-taking can take several forms, such as lying outright and telling you that the lender requires you to buy an extended warranty or windshield VIN etching as a condition of your approval, to simply padding the amount of the interest rate offered to you. Lenders have to try to make up a little profit off of the time and energy that they put into getting a car loan for you, and generally they will do this by taking what the bank offers you – say a 5 year loan at 6%, and telling you that what came through was a 5 year loan at 6.5%. That extra money, which can represent thousands of dollars if your car is expensive enough, will go straight into their pocket.