In their autumn years, automobiles can get a little harder to refinance. We like the shading of the autumn leaves to tones of red and orange, but when the same tones appear on our vehicle, we are perhaps not quite so delighted. And the banks and finance companies certainly take a dim view of the mature, well-rounded, well-travelled elder vehicle. High mileage auto refinancing is, quite frankly, a pain in the pitui.
The problem is that an ageing vehicle does not a good hostage make if push comes to shove. Flogging off the dead horse won’t do much to put a silver lining on the lender’s grey cloud if you default and their only asset is more scrap than security.
If you’re trying to refinance an older vehicle, or – Heaven forbid – trying to get finance to buy one, it can seem like an impossible or very expensive undertaking. Rest assured that you probably have more options than you think you have.
Top six links on high mileage auto refinancing:
1. A rant about the misleading nature of the (free AND paid) Google search results for “high mileage auto refinancing”.
2. Some of the options for high mileage auto refinancing.
3. More about options for high mileage auto refinancing – and some great photos.
4. An article about one of the lateral-thinking approaches to refinancing an older vehicle.
5. The difficulties of high mileage auto refinancing.
6. The Shaister Meister’s take on high mileage auto refinancing.
Photo: Darren Hester
I had trouble lately refinancing because my care was not worth as much as the bank wanted to see. Do I have any other options besides putting money in it to make it worth more? Nice post! Thanks.
Comment by rochelle@maine refinance — August 2, 2008 @ 4:16 am |
Thanks, Rochelle, glad you found it useful.
One strategy for your situation would be to get away from a traditional auto finance model, where the loan is secured by the vehicle. For example, you could consolidate your auto loan in to your mortgage, or do a cash-out refinancing of your mortgage and use the cash to pay off your auto loan.
That way, the lender is happy, because the loan is secured by property, and you are happy, because you are no longer upside down on your car loan.
Another bonus is that you will probably pay a lower interest rate, because you will be paying mortgage rates rather than auto loan rates.
Good luck!
Comment by markbennettsays — August 2, 2008 @ 6:58 am |
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