When you walk through the door of a dealership, car sales representatives are hoping for one thing: to sell a car to make a profit. But in order to do so, a few factors must be on the bargaining table—good credit, valid ID, down payment (or a trade-in car), a basic understanding of financing, and (most importantly) a reliable source of income. For self-employed workers, the latter may be harder to prove than the average salaried employee. Any self-employed worker who makes at least $400 has to file a 1099 form to pay self-employment taxes. While that means they’re making

General Asset Protection (GAP) insurance can help protect you from the risk of an outstanding balance on a loan for a car you no longer have due to it being totaled in an accident or stolen. This outstanding balance is often referred to as a deficiency balance and it is not something anyone wants to be stuck with. But, what if your GAP insurance no longer applies because you’ve paid off a good portion of your loan balance already? Or, what if you sold your Chrysler? or traded it in for a different vehicle? You may be entitled to a

When the vehicle payoff letter appears in the mail, it’s one of the best feelings for car owners. It’s proof that you can finally cross those monthly auto loan payments off of your list, and get the title to your car in your own name.  However, if you paid off your vehicle loan earlier than expected, it may not be such great news for the lender.  Paying a loan off early reduces the amount of interest the lender gets to collect. To discourage you from doing so or to profit in the event that you do choose to pay your

“They don’t make them like this anymore.” That’s a common saying you’ll hear about older cars versus newer models. Depending on which side of the vehicle argument you’re on, a high-mileage car may be the way to go. According to Consumer Reports, a high-mileage car can last as long as 200,000 miles. How? High-mileage cars don’t always mean poor quality. Depending on how the prior owner took care of an older car, its condition may even rival that of a car with a four-digit mileage. But how do you finance a car with thousands of miles on it? And what