Question:

Should I make a down payment when I purchase a new car?

Down Payments

Obtaining a loan for new auto financing is usually pretty simple, and in many cases the lender won't even require any type of down payment on the new car at all. This may leave some borrowers to wonder if they should even bother putting down any money when purchasing a new car. Of course, giving a sizeable down payment when you purchase the car will result in a smaller loan, possibly amortized over a shorter period of time. This can result in lower interest rates.

One the other hand, if you have high-interest credit cards, it may make more sense to put the money towards the cards in an effort to pay them off, since your new car loan is probably at a lower interest rate than the cards. If you are in the position of simply not having any money to put towards a down payment then your question is answered, although you may want to think twice about buying a brand new car if you can't scrape one or two thousand dollars together for a down payment.

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