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Car finance refers to the various financial products which allow someone to acquire a car, including car loans and leases.
Car finance refers to the various financial products which allow someone to acquire a car, including car loans and leases.
Car financing started with the General Motors Acceptance Corporation circa World War 1. [1]
The most common method of buying a car in the United States is borrowing the money and then paying it off in installments. Over 85% of new cars and half of used cars are financed (as opposed to being paid for in a lump sum with cash). [2] Roughly 30% of new vehicles during the same time period were leased. [2]
There are two primary methods of borrowing money to buy a car: direct and indirect. A direct loan is one that the borrower arranges with a lender directly. Indirect financing is arranged by the car dealership where the car is purchased. Legally, an indirect “loan” is not technically a loan; when a car buyer obtains financing facilitated by a dealership, the buyer and dealer sign a Retail Installment Sales Contract rather than a loan agreement. The dealer then typically sells or assigns that contract to a bank, credit union, or other financial institution. Usually, the dealer knows in advance which financial institution will buy the contract. The borrower then pays off the financial institution the same as for a direct loan.[ citation needed ] Typically, the indirect auto lender will set an interest rate, known as the "buy rate". The auto dealer then adds a markup to that rate, and presents the result to the customer as the "contract rate".[ citation needed ] These markups have been the focus of some regulatory scrutiny because they can cause variations in interest rates that are not correlated with credit risk. [3]
Roughly half of new cars in the U.S. are financed by the captive financing arms of car manufacturers, such as the Ford Motor Credit Company. [4] Captives have a smaller share of the overall car financing market (new and used cars), along with banks, credit unions, and finance companies. A small number of cars are financed directly by the dealership at "Buy Here Pay Here" dealers, which cater to customers with subprime credit. Buy Here Pay Here financing accounts for 6% of the total financing market. [5]
Car financing options in the United Kingdom similarly include car loans, hire purchase, personal contract hires (car leasing) and Personal Contract Purchases.
In 2016, Toyota was found guilty of racist lending practices. [6]
Dealer financing is an option automobile dealerships offer to customers purchasing a vehicle. It is a significant source of profit for dealerships, with estimates suggesting that 78 percent of all cars are financed through this method. However, dealer financing may not always be the most advantageous option for buyers. Studies have shown that the average per-unit finance cost can be higher when financing through a dealership than independent lenders. For example, one study found that the price increased by $674 when dealer financing was used, potentially due to additional products or services (an average of 4.63 add-ons per deal) in the financing package. [7]
A lease is a contractual agreement between a person who owns the property (lessor) and a person who gets to use it during the term of the lease (lessee). Usually, car leases allow the lessee to drive the car for a certain number of miles for a certain number of years. The lessee pays a fixed monthly payment for the privilege of driving the vehicle, and when the lease ends, the lessee returns the vehicle to the lessor. The lessee pays only for the value of the vehicle for the term of the lease. Lenders calculate lease payments based on the vehicle’s residual value, or what they estimate the car will be worth when the lease is over. [8]
Spot delivery (or spot financing) is a term used in the automobile industry that means delivery a vehicle to a buyer prior to financing on the vehicle being completed. [9] Spot delivery is used by dealerships on the weekend or after bank hours to be able to deliver a vehicle when a final approval cannot be received from a bank. [9] This method of delivery is regulated by many states in the U.S., and is sometimes referred to as a "Yo-Yo sale" or "Yo-Yo Financing". [10] [11]
In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money.
In the United States, a car dealership is a business that sells cars. A car dealership can either be a franchised dealership selling new and used cars, or a used car dealership, selling only used cars. In most cases, dealerships provide car maintenance and repair services as well as trade-in, leasing, and financing options for customers.
An asset-backed security (ABS) is a security whose income payments, and hence value, are derived from and collateralized by a specified pool of underlying assets.
Closed-end leasing is a contract-based system governed by law in the U.S. and Canada. It allows a person the use of property for a fixed term, and the right to buy that property for the agreed residual value when the term expires.
Ford Motor Credit Company LLC, d/b/a Ford Credit, is the financial services arm of Ford Motor Company, and is headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan.
Ally Financial Inc. is a bank holding company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered at Ally Detroit Center in Detroit, Michigan. The company provides financial services including car finance, online banking via a direct bank, corporate lending, vehicle insurance, mortgage loans, and other related financing services such as installment sale and lease agreements.
Rent-to-own, also known as rental purchase or rent-to-buy, is a type of legally documented transaction under which tangible property, such as furniture, consumer electronics, motor vehicles, home appliances, engagement rings, and real property, is leased in exchange for a weekly or monthly payment, with the option to purchase at some point during the agreement.
Nuvell Financial Services was a subsidiary of GMAC that originated subprime auto loans. In March 2009, the company was shut down by its parent.
A novated lease is a motor vehicle lease which has been novated, that is, the obligations in the contract have been transferred from one party to another.
Leaseback, short for "sale-and-leaseback", is a financial transaction in which one sells an asset and leases it back for the long term; therefore, one continues to be able to use the asset but no longer owns it. The transaction is generally done for fixed assets, notably real estate, as well as for durable and capital goods such as airplanes and trains. The concept can also be applied by national governments to territorial assets; prior to the Falklands War, the government of the United Kingdom proposed a leaseback arrangement whereby the Falklands Islands would be transferred to Argentina, with a 99-year leaseback period, and a similar arrangement, also for 99 years, had been in place prior to the handover of Hong Kong to mainland China. Leaseback arrangements are usually employed because they confer financing, accounting or taxation benefits.
Vehicle leasing is the leasing of a motor vehicle for a fixed period of time at an agreed amount of money for the lease. It is commonly offered by dealers as an alternative to vehicle purchase but is widely used by businesses as a method of acquiring vehicles for business, without the usually needed cash outlay. The key difference in a lease is that after the primary term the vehicle has to either be returned to the leasing company or purchased for the residual value.
Auto auctions are a method of selling vehicles based on an auction system. Auto auctions can be found in most countries and are usually exclusive to licensed automobile dealers. In a few countries, such as Japan, auto auctions are well known and used by most residents.
Bill Heard Enterprises was a company based in Columbus, Georgia. Founded in 1919, it operated a group of automobile dealerships, primarily in the Southern United States. At its peak, the company operated dealerships in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Arizona and Nevada. By 2008, Bill Heard Enterprises was the 11th-largest automobile dealer in the United States, the largest in the state of Georgia, and the largest dealer of Chevrolet automobiles.
In the used car market in the United States and Canada, buy here, pay here, often abbreviated as BHPH, refers to a method of running an automobile dealership in which dealers themselves extend credit to purchasers of automobiles. Typically, purchasers of cars at BHPH dealerships have poor credit history, and loans have high interest rates. BHPH can provide options for those unable to meet credit standards elsewhere.
DriveTime Automotive Group Inc. is an American used car retailer and finance company. It is based in Tempe, Arizona, and sells and finances cars to customers around the nation. The company was formerly known as Ugly Duckling and was renamed DriveTime in 2002. It also spun off Carvana and GO Financial, SilverRock Group Inc, and Bridgecrest Acceptance Corporation. As of 2018, DriveTime had approximately 145 locations in the U.S. and 3,800 employees.
In house lending is a type of seller financing in which a company or broker will help a customer obtain a loan at their place of business to purchase any product or services. When using in-house lending, one does not have to rely on a 3rd party company or business to complete the transaction.
Credit Acceptance Corporation is an auto finance company providing automobile loans and other related financial products. The company operates its financial program through a national network of dealer-partners, the automobile dealers participating in the programs. The company operates two programs: the "Portfolio Program" and the "Purchase Program". Through these programs, the company can advance money to automobile dealers in exchange for the right to service the underlying consumer loans and can buy the consumer loans from automobile dealers. Credit Acceptance reported annual revenue of $1.49B for 2019.
RoadLoans is a direct-to-consumer auto lender operating online and specializing in subprime auto loans. Established in 2000, RoadLoans finances and services new and used car loans as well as offering auto refinance options.
Ijarah,, is a term of fiqh and product in Islamic banking and finance. In traditional fiqh, it means a contract for the hiring of persons or renting/leasing of the services or the “usufruct” of a property, generally for a fixed period and price. In hiring, the employer is called musta’jir, while the employee is called ajir. Ijarah need not lead to purchase. In conventional leasing an "operating lease" does not end in a change of ownership, nor does the type of ijarah known as al-ijarah (tashghiliyah).
Spot delivery is a term used in the automobile industry that means delivering a vehicle to a buyer prior to financing on the vehicle being completed. Spot delivery is used by dealerships on the weekend or after bank hours to be able to deliver a vehicle when a final approval cannot be received from a bank. This method of delivery is regulated by many states in the U.S., and is sometimes referred to as a "Yo-Yo sale" or "Yo-Yo Financing."