Advertiser Disclosure
The credit card, banking, and other financial offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us – for example, when you click a link, are approved for a product, or open an account. This compensation may influence how and where offers appear on the site, including the order in which they appear on category pages. It does not influence our evaluations, ratings, or opinions, which are ours alone. We do not include every bank, credit card company, or offer available in the marketplace.
Buying, leasing, maintaining, and fueling a car, plus EVs, rideshare, transit, and bikes. Get where you’re going for less.
A dealer’s trade-in offer leaves room to recondition and resell your car at a profit. Before you say yes, look up your car’s private-party value and get an instant cash offer you could take instead. Accept the trade only if the offer, plus any sales tax it saves you, comes close to a private sale’s price.
Trading in a car you owe more on than it’s worth doesn’t erase the gap. Roll it into the next loan and you pay interest on a car you no longer own. Keep the one you have until you owe less than it’s worth, and extra payments toward the loan get you there sooner.
Before you visit a dealership, get a car loan pre-approval from a bank or credit union. A dealer who arranges your financing can mark up the rate the lender approved and keep part of the difference. Walk in with a pre-approval, and the dealer has a rate to beat.
Your car loan’s rate reflects the credit score you had the day you signed. If your score has climbed into a higher range since then, or the dealer arranged your financing, get refinance quotes and take one that beats your rate. Keep the new term no longer than the months you have left.
When you buy a car, negotiate the out-the-door price, the total with taxes, fees, and add-ons included, and leave the monthly payment out of it. A dealer can meet almost any payment by stretching the loan, which hides a higher price. Get written totals from several dealers and compare those.
If you finance a car with little down, gap insurance covers what you’d owe beyond its value if it’s totaled or stolen. Buy it from your auto insurer, where it usually costs less than the dealer’s version and carries no loan interest, though the payout may be capped. Drop it once you owe less than the car is worth.
By the time your tire-pressure warning light comes on, a tire can be 25% low. Well before that point, an underinflated tire is less safe and wears out faster. Check every tire with a gauge once a month, and fill each to your car’s recommended pressure, not the maximum on the sidewall.
Before your lease ends, compare the buyout price in your contract against what the car sells for today. If the car is worth more, keeping it beats handing it back and the gap is yours. If it is worth less, return it and walk away.
If your lease is ending and the car is worth more than the payoff, get a Lease End quote before you set foot in the dealership. The service costs you nothing, and its average buyout rates undercut typical used car loan rates at every comparable tier. Compare it against your own credit union.
A new car loses value fastest in its first years, so let the first owner absorb that drop. Shop for cars two to three years old that still have the factory warranty on the engine and transmission. Line up your loan first, since used-car loans usually carry higher rates than new-car loans.
End of content
End of content
