Unfortunately, our nation’s fighting men and women are significantly more likely to be thwarted by poor credit than civilians, and many are tempted to buy a car from one of those corner used car lots that advertise: NO CREDIT CHECKS. However, these are not always the best option. In fact, the best place to look for military auto loans may be a financial institution that caters specifically to military personnel such as USAA or the Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU). These institutions have long histories of treating customers fairly, unlike your run-of-the-mill used car salesman.
Getting a regular auto loan is preferred to financing your car right out of the daelership. Although this on-site financing is convenient and time-effective, it usually costs more. These types of dealers cater to those with less then good credit, and the reason they are able to do this is there is no 3rd party bank or credit union doing the financing for them. They in turn are able to sell and finance you the car you’re purchasing. So you say that sounds alright. Well it is alright except that these types of businesses typically charge high interest rates when granting auto loans for military personnel. In fact, the Obama administration has been pushing the formation of a financial protection bureau specifically due to maltreatment of military members at some car dealerships. If you cannot get approved by a military-centric bank or credit union such as those listed above, you might consider finding a used car in the local classified or on Ebay.com before jumping into the sales process at one of these corner lots.
Always make sure to review a Car Fax history report before buying. If you do find a car at an inhouse financing lot then do not finance it if you can help it.
