Finance Questions

Archive for September, 2009

Question: What car dealers do you recommend to buy a nice used car in the Orlando FL Area?

Looking for a 300Chrysler 2008 or 2009 for about $16000 or less and finance.

Answer: CarMax is a great place to buy a car. Go to carmax.com to see their inventory.

I don't think you're going to get a 1 yr old 300 for that price. Maybe an LX with some high miles. A 2007 or 2008 is no problem for $16k.

2003 Infiniti FX35 JOURNEY SUV 38K MILES FOR SALE ORLANDO USED CAR DEALER

Question: has anyone had a car financed through acc consumer finance?

THEY ARE A Finance Company FOR CARS, WITH PEOPLE WHO's CREDIT MIGHT NOT BE SO GREAT. THEIS CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS. THE PEOPLE TALK TO YOU LIKE YOU ARE NOTHING. IT'S CRAZY. SO, IF YOU ARE NEED TO GET A CAR DON'T GO THROUGH THEM. THEY ALSO, PUT IN A BOX IN YOUR CAR SO WHEN YOU START IT IT MAKES THREE BEEPS. IF YOU ARE LATE WITH YOUR PAYMENT THEY CAN TURN YOUR CAR OFF. THEY ARE LOCATED IN SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA

Answer: ACC Consumer Finance clearly deals in the subprime market, and lenders in that market often tend not to be very gentle, so I don't want to sound like I am endorsing them.

But to give the Devil his due, I have checked several complaint boards dealing with auto financing, and ACC's name doesn't come up. But some other lenders, like Washington Mutual, are poster children for abusive practices.

As to the reminder box that they put on your car, that's not a totally bad idea. Those devices go by a number of different names. PassTime is the one I am familiar with. First, subprime lenders don't put these reminder boxes on everyone's car, only on those of borrowers who have a long history of missing payments.

So if you look at it as a device used to give reminders to people who need reminders, then they are not horrible things. In fact, when you consider the alternative - - repossession of the car in the middle of the night - - they might actually be a very good thing. They save the borrower from a repossession that could be nasty, very inconvenient and very expensive.

So I would suggest thinking differently about the reminder box than about the fact that the clerk was nasty. There really is no reason for the latter, even in subprime lending. But the reminder box strikes me as the better of two possible outcomes for people who need them.

Healthcare, Consumer Finance and Immigration Reform....NOT!