Recently my bank, USAA, with who I absolutely love doing business with offered me a deal to refinance my car with a new car loan at a reduced interest rate. So, of course, I pounced on it. I would be lowering my interest rate by almost 1% and moving another loan back to my favorite bank.
But, when I called, I was a little shocked at first when my monthly payment actually rose by $4 per month instead of dropping. I was expecting my car payments to drop since I was reducing my annual interest rate on the car loan from 4.38% to 3.59%. But, I still took the offer and car refinance loan. And, here’s why…
I Cut Off Two Loan Payments When I Refinanced My Car
One of the main reasons that I actually did not lower my car loan monthly payment is because I cut off two of my loan payments. I currently have 38 more payments to make on my car with the car manufacturer’s lending company. When I applied for my new car refinance loan, I only asked for a 36-month note.
Slicing those two months off of my car payment will save me hundreds of dollars. So, instead of receiving a monthly discount because of the car refinance, I’m receiving a lump sum type of savings by reducing the total number of payments I have to make on my car loan.
Brought All My Accounts Under One Roof
I love my bank. How many people can truly say that? Not many, no matter what popular commercials say. I have banked with USAA, a financial institution that handles insurance, banking, investments, and other financial services predominately for members of the military, veterans, and their families. I have banked with USAA for over 13 years now, and it has been an incredible experience.
One of the biggest incentives to a car refinance loan with my bank, besides the reduced interest rate, is that it brings this loan back to a financial institution that I know, love, and trust. I’m not a big fan of using a car manufacturer’s financing arm, but at the time when my wife and I bought our car, they had the best interest rate on new cars.
Now, I’m very glad that I can bring my loan back to my bank where I can see it every day all on one computer screen when I log into the bank’s homepage. I have over 12 different financial products with USAA and love it! Check out J Money from my favorite personal finance blog, Budgets Are Sexy, who talks about how he loves having over 16 different accounts with USAA!
Stretching Out the Loan with a Car Refinance
I have seen many of my coworkers take out similar car loans to refinance their notes, but one of the biggest mistakes that people make is taking out a longer-term than what you currently have. For example, since my current car loan has only 38 more payments left to make, it would be foolish to get a car refinance for a term longer than those 38 months.
You can stretch out your loan for another four years or more and greatly reduce your total monthly car payments, but you will wind up paying a far greater total amount for your loan as interest builds up through that extra year. Plus, cars depreciate severely in value. Adding one additional year on your car loan that is not needed will only hurt your ability to resell your car after your loan is paid off.
You could find yourself severely upside down on your car loan should you total your car before it is paid off because you are paying less on the loan every month while it continues to depreciate.
Refinance Your Car with MotoRefi
If you don’t bank with USAA like me, there are other options to refinancing your car loan. I also really like the team at MotoRefi for auto refinancing as well.
MotoRefi has car loan rates as low as 1.49%. They can offer these low rates for car refinance because they work with some of the best local lenders to find the best rates.
The process with MotoRefi is very simple and completely online. You can pre-qualify on their secure, fully online website without even having to get off of the couch. And, you don’t have to give them your social security number to start the loan process and to pre-qualify.
Customers who refinanced their car loans through MotoRefi saved an average of $101.02 per month on their car payments. Wouldn’t it be great to have an extra $100 in your pocket each month?
There is more to refinancing car and other loans than simply saving money on your monthly payment. I found this out when I refinanced my car loan. While lowering your interest rate is very important, it is also imperative to continue with the same length of your current loan when you refinance to a new one.
Saving money every month does not have to be your goal when receiving a car refinance and refinancing your car loan. There are other ways to save your money. You can save money on car insurance too which will help you each month. One resource is Youi Insurance. You can look to save money on car repairs at the repair shop.
Have you ever refinanced a loan and then been surprised at the ultimate result?
Awesome deal, Hank! I’ve been consolidating financial accounts for awhile now. I used to open up new bank accounts and investment accounts each time I found a nice bonus. The $50 here, and a $100 there was nice, but it left me with a couple dozen accounts with low balances that I seldom used. It’s been a long process to consolidate them, but it’s been nice for the peace of mind!
Yeah USAA! Rock it out!
Financing a car using car loan is really a big deal but it is easy for you to get it if you don’t have any bad credit history and if you are willing to pay your credit every month.
Of course if you repay in fewer installments the actual cost can go up even if the interest goes down!