Financing

Get a Free Online car Loan Approval - Good or Bad Credit, That’s Okay, We can Get You Accepted! Family Auto Centers, with locations in Raleigh, Sanford, Asheville and Waynesville, North Carolina, helps people with all credit situations. The finance experts at Family Auto Center help people with all types of special finance needs drive their dream car home. Request a free, secure credit approval today, regardless of where you are in the car buying process! Use this easy, guaranteed secure, auto loan and get started with purchasing your car today!

Finance Tips

How Much can I Afford?
Consider your financing options, and review your budget before buying a car, or truck. Clearly, affordable monthly payments are the goal, with "affordable" being the key word. When you purchase a vehicle from Family Auto Centers, you may be required to make a down payment. The amount of the down payment usually depends on which vehicle you buy and the type of financing available to you. A good way to figure out what payments are affordable is to look at your current take home pay and see how much is left after you pay all of your bills, and then make a careful estimate of your monthly new car budget. Car budget estimates should include your monthly payment, the cost of driving (gasoline, maintenance, parking, tolls, etc.) and your auto insurance premium. If all those costs add up to equal, or less than you’re left over take home pay, congratulations! You can afford a new car. Maintenance and repair costs can be kept at a minimum by getting regular service checkups.
Three factors that will determine your monthly payments
Amount of the loan - The vehicle purchase price and the financing charges for your loan, will determine the amount of the loan. The smaller your loan amount the lower your monthly payments will be. Making a down payment on the vehicle will bring down the purchase price, and should decrease you monthly payments because the loan amount is lower.
Length of the loan - Typical auto loan lengths have terms of 2, 3 or 4 years. While lengthening the loan term will give you smaller monthly payments, it won’t reduce the total amount of your loan.
Interest rate - Almost all auto loans carry fixed interest rates. The fixed interest rate is set in advance and remains the same throughout the loan. As a result, the monthly installment payments are the same each month. Lowering your fixed interest rate can yield lower monthly payments.

Finance Terms

Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
The interest rate you agree to for the duration of your auto loan with your chosen lender is the Annual Percentage Rate.
Loan Collateral
The assets you own are your collateral for your auto loan. Collateral is often your home, or another vehicle you own. The collateral is a security measure for the lender in the event the borrower defaults on their car loan. When purchasing, or leasing a vehicle, the vehicle itself is stipulated as the collateral for the loan.
Credit Report
Your personal credit history is recorded by different credit bureaus and is a detailed report of your credit behavior for the past 10 years. This report is used by the lending institutions to determine your credit worthiness for consideration of a loan, as well as for determining your eligibility for lower interest rates and greater loan amounts.  Family Auto Centers reports the credit bureaus so that as you make you payments, you create a good track record and improve your credit.
Down Payment
The money you pay up front toward the purchase price of a car is your down payment. Often the value of your trade-in vehicle can be used as a down payment. The down payment can be cash, or trade-in allowance, or both, and usually represents the difference between the loan and the purchase price. Larger down payments will decrease your auto loan amount, and Typically yield lower monthly payments on your loan.
Equity
The value of the car minus any money that is stilled owed on the car. Equity represents the amount of the car, or truck that you own outright.
Installment Loan
A loan that is paid back in monthly incramements.
Interest
The charge that you pay for the privilege of borrowing money and repaying it over time.
Lien
A lien is a claim of ownership generated from a debt. A lien will be held on the vehicle's title until the loan is satisfied, or the lease term has ended, and the vehicle has been purchased outright. The lien is cleared and the title is transferred to the owner of the vehicle when the loan payments are finished. This is a security measure that lenders take in NCse the borrower defaults on the auto loan.
Loan Term
The length of time within which you agree to repay the loan. A loan term of 24 months means that you agree to pay off the loan within 2 years.
Monthly Payments
The amount of money the borrower pays towards their loan every month is considered the monthly payment. When leasing a car or truck, the monthly payment is called the "rent charge" for the vehicle.
Pre-Qualifying
When you apply for a loan, or financing for a specified amount and do not make a commitment to take the loan, this is called a pre-qualified loan. The lender has agreed to make the loan and the borrower simply has to decide whether to buy the car.
Principal
Loan amounts consist of two parts: The amount of money you would like to borrow and the interest on that amount. The principal is the amount of money that you would like to borrow, not including the interest.
Total Cost
The entire amount you have agreed to pay to the lender for the specified contract, including all charges, fees, registration, taxes, and interest. The all-inclusive amount must be disclosed prior to signing the agreement, according to federal regulations.