What are the advantages and disadvantages of refinancing?

I can’t answer all of your questions for sure, but I will post as noone else has…..

Focus on how much out of pocket you will ultimtately pay. How much have you spent thus far in fees and payments. How much will you spend in fees and payments if you refinance? Is the total acceptable to you?

Too often, a commmon pitfall is for people to only focus on “what is my payment each month?”. You might be able to lower your payment each month, but if you are ultimately paying more for the car (in total) than you ever expected to….you have been suckered.

Remember, each time you refinance, you “reset” the clock to zero in regard to how many months of payments you owe. If you are 8 months into a 5 year/60 month loan and refinance for another 5 years, you will ultimately have paid on the car for 68 months.

I wouldn’t see why it would hurt your credit….and you can get the loan from the same bank or another….

Whether you can or want to refinance depends on your current credit situation. If you want to lower your payments because you have too many debts, that could indicate a problem that will cause the finance company to reject your application.

If your current loan has a pre-payment clause, such as the rule of 78, you will find that you have to pay a penalty to pay it off ahead of time.

To refinance a car, the loan companies consider it a used car, and the interest rates and loan to value amounts are lower. In other words, they will only loan 80% of the accepted value of the car.

You can seek a refinance at any bank or credit union. Check around for the best offer, and talk to several different loan agents. You can get some good tips and ideas to help you with your choice.

The disadvantage is if you do it to pull out money, which in this economy I doubt is there. Whatever you do, you must know your home is not an ATM.

The advantages, if you can refi at a lower rate (rates are realy low right now), and with less principal, you will save a lot on interest.