For the most part, buy here pay here car dealers are seen as the less than reputable step children of the used car industry. Like all situations there are some earned truths and some unearned fallacy’s associated with this particular view.
Good things about buy here pay here car lots
Yes! Surprisingly there are good things associated with buy here pay here car purchasing, and it boils down to the perspective of the buyer, and the reputation of the dealership.
The actual reasons a car becomes a buy here pay here car is simple. In a bankers eyes, it no longer has loan value. In other words either it’s outside the age range, or mileage limits set by the banking industry when it comes to loaning money to purchase it. But age and high miles doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad car or a bad deal. All buy here pay here cars will be older with high miles, so a potential buyer will have to look the car over and ask themselves, has the car been maintained? Does it appear to be in good shape? My driving needs considered, with proper maintenance and care, will this car last the life of the loan?
Another good thing about buy here pay here is that it can reflect positively on your credit thereby establishing, or potentially re-establishing it.
For example, take a young person that’s new to the job market with no credit history and absolutely can’t find a cosigner to help them the first time they’re trying to finance an automobile. Buy here pay here not only allows them to get a car it also establishes their first bit of credit! IF! HUGE IF HERE! If the dealer they’re buying from actually reports their payments to the credit bureaus.
In a nutshell, bad things happen to good people all the time, and face it. Life can hand us some really bad things that can cause a person with otherwise good credit to wake up almost over night and have less than desirable or even really bad credit. With buy here pay here this person “no matter how dire the situation” can still purchase a car. When you absolutely have to have transportation to get to work and back and a conventional dealership won’t touch you because of credit or payment history, it’s still possible to find a buy here pay here lot that may finance you.
We say “may” because most buy here pay here lots will not finance you if you have a consistent history of repeatedly welching on all of your creditors. It may sound shocking to the uniformed, but there are people who’s history’s are so bad they can’t even get a buy here pay here car.
Now for the bad things about buy here pay here
- Buy here pay here car loans always have higher interest rates attached to them
- Buy here pay here cars normally have “high mileage ” over 120,000 or are older cars
- Buy here pay here car payments are normally due weekly or bi-weekly instead of monthly
- Buy here pay here cars have tracking devices installed on them so that they’re easier to repossess
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502-498-5573
And Then The Ugly side of buy here pay here
It’s sad but true that there are business’s that prey on the economically disadvantaged, and telling ourselves otherwise is simply trying to maintain a state of ignorant bliss in the face of factual evidence.
Here’s the truth, most buy here pay here car dealers are ruthless. If you get late on payments they might even call and tell you that they can refinance it for you if you’ll willingly come in to do the paper work. Sounds innocent enough right? Then when you get there you discover their real intent is simply to take the car from you. Afterwards, there you stand wondering how you’re going to get home. The truth is, 1 in 4 that purchase a buy here pay here car end up defaulting on the loan. Then the dealer repos the car and puts it back up for sale.
There’s also the situation where the true “industry sharks” have attorneys on retainer with the sole purpose of suing their previous buy here pay here customers that have defaulted on their loans. And this negatively affects the customers credit even more. They go so far as to follow them for years from job to job filing lawsuits and garnishing wages and what have you..
And last but not least, there are the young kids just starting out that use buy here pay here to establish some credit and get a car at the same time only to find out at the end of their loan that the dealer never reported any of their payments to the credit bureaus, and that purchasing the car has done nothing positive for their credit. And that’s just sad.
Is there any hope?
Yes there is! There are buy here pay here car dealers that truly have your best interests at heart. How can you spot them? It’s not hard! They will do more than buy here pay here loans, and will bust their butts to get you financed through a secondary lender, and only use the buy here pay here as a last resort. They’ll also make sure the car is in the best shape possible before delivering it to you. In addition they’ll speak to you about the importance of proper maintenance because of the age of the car. Beyond that, they will be able to prove to you that they report to the credit agencies and will want you to know that they do.
Are they doing this because of any altruistic feelings on their part? Possibly yes.. But I would be more inclined to think that they want your business now and in the future.
Look at it this way. You’re in a position where you have to use buy here pay here to get a car, be it bad credit or maybe even a lack of credit. So lets say the car lasts you the life of the loan and making all of the payments on time to completion you discover that your credit score has improved enough so that you can get a bank loan at a much cheaper interest rate on your next car. Will you visit the lot that made you the good buy here pay here deal, and sold you a good car? Chances are good that you will go back and let them finance your new purchase on a much better car. It’s called relationship building. And a good car lot will practice this whole heatedly.
If you’re in the Louisville KY area and need a buy here pay here car contact me. I work for the best buy here pay here lot in Louisville and we’re white hat guys here. I’ll treat you with respect and help you get a good car that will get you on the way to establishing or re-establishing your credit today!
Call Us For A Car Today!
502-498-5573