Auto refi not a savings driver
Cutting out a string of cafe lattes could easily save you $15 or $20 a month. So could cooking pasta instead of grilling a couple of nice steaks.
What kind of dough could you save on your car payment?
Would you refinance your car loan to save a Jackson each month? Over time, sure, the savings could add up to a couple Benjamins for a full year for many car owners.
But is it worth it?
Credit unions, as well as some banks, are promoting the idea of reducing your rates by refinancing your car loan.
The idea sounds intriguing now that used-car loan rates are at attractive, single-digit lows.
These days, many people are looking to save some coin wherever they can to cope with gas around $4 a gallon and rising food prices.
A few folks may even turn to refinancing the car, instead of the house, as a way to tap into equity in the car and pay down higher-rate credit card debt or remodel the house.
Banks and credit unions want you to refinance because they want your business. Think of the car refi as harkening back to the days when banks handed out free toasters to snag new customers.
“As any lender today, we’re looking for qualified borrowers,” said Robert L. Kudla, senior vice president of lending for Michigan-based Co-op Services Credit Union, which is open to anybody.
Low car loan interest rates are eye-catching. But if you’re borrowing a few thousand dollars, you are not going to save $50 a month if you refinance a car loan.
Take a $10,000, 48-month car loan.
The payment would drop by about $18 a month if you went to a 4 % rate from an 8 % rate.
A couple of key variables will influence the new-car loan rate:
Your credit score. Many times to get the best rates, you’re going to need a score of 720 or higher.
Your car’s age. If you’re driving a 2003 model, you’re looking at a higher rate. But if you’ve got a model of 2008 or younger, you’d get a lower car loan rate.
Ohio-based Huntington Bank said recently that its lowest and highest rates for a 36-month loan for a 2003 model year were about three-quarters of a %age point higher than those for a five-year loan on a newer used car.
“It’s all going to depend on the customer’s credit score,” said Steve Korody, a consumer loan specialist for Huntington Bank.
Korody noted that some consumers who have 20 % rates on their credit cards, though, are able to refinance that car, tap into the equity and pay off credit card debt at a lower rate. Essentially, you’re consolidating credit card debt on the car.
You would need to be disciplined, close a credit card and not build up more credit card debt for that kind of strategy to work, Korody said.
Some consumers could have a better credit score or be able to borrow at a lower rate than they could a few years ago during the depths of the recession.
Banking executive Hank Risley said many consumers are saving about $20 a month or more refinancing a car loan.
“Twenty dollars? I guess it’s not dinner out for two,” he said.
But he noted the savings add up and would amount to nearly $1,000 after four years. How some consumers really save, he said, is when they pay off a credit card or another loan at 20 % or higher when they refinance a car loan at less than 5 % and borrow against the car.
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