Borrowing
How car loans are built, what they cost, and what you sign.
36, 48, 60, 72, 84 months: one loan, five terms
The same $28,000 loan at five lengths, side by side, with the case made at the foot of each column.
Before you co-sign a car loan
Co-signing, set out as numbered I-understand-that clauses, each with a plain explanation.
Buy here, pay here lots, examined
Seven claims from the banners on a buy here, pay here lot, and what each one usually means once you sign.
Car title loans
A car title loan, read like the warning label on a box: contents, directions, side effects, alternatives.
How a car lender reads your credit report
Your credit report, one section at a time, and what a car lender is looking for in each.
How an auto loan payment is built
Same payment every month, a different mix inside it: interest versus principal, drawn to scale.
How interest rate moves change what you pay
The same $28,000 loan at five rates: the payment bars barely move, the interest bars triple.
Loan-to-value on a car loan
One ratio, what you owe against what the car is worth, read on a meter with zones marked.
Paying a car loan off early
A decision tree for paying off a car loan early, opened one branch at a time.
Reading a retail installment contract
A specimen car finance contract with numbered callouts, starting with the federal disclosure box.
Rolling negative equity into the next car loan
Three cars, one carried balance, climbing a step at every trade. An illustrated staircase.
Sorting out the car after a separation
Whose name is on the title, whose is on the loan: four combinations, and what each one means when a couple splits.
The add-ons that end up inside your car loan
Eight common add-ons, each with two prices: the menu price and the financed cost.
What a car loan preapproval actually is
An imagined skeptic grills us on car loan preapprovals: what they promise, and what they don't.
What happens if you miss a car payment
Day 1 to day 90 after a missed car payment: how it usually escalates, and what to do at each stage.
Why the day you pay your car loan can matter
Simple interest on a car loan, one day at a time, and what paying early or late really moves.