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0% auto financing means an auto dealership will give a car-buyer an auto loan without interest. While there is usually a down payment involved, the buyer will not have to pay interest on the amount borrowed. That’s right: 0% auto financing will provide a loan free of interest payments. This could seem like a great deal. But buyers need to know when zero percent financing works for their benefit and when it works against it.

Why zero percent auto financing is difficult to get: credit scores and loans.

Zero percent car financing is difficult to acquire because it’s usually offered to such a thin slice of qualified buyers. In order to qualify for any car loan, even one with zero percent, a borrower needs to have a good credit score. Only buyers with nearly spotless credit ratings can qualify. And even those buyers with some very slight tarnish on their credit scores could be refused.

Select vehicles and options often erase the 0% financing option.

Zero percent loans are only often offered as a financing option for the dealer’s choice of vehicle. Slower-moving vehicles are often tagged with the 0% financing incentive to move cars off the lot. This works fine for people looking for vehicles that aren’t selling well. But for buyers looking to buy a more popular vehicle, or for those searching for specific vehicle options, zero percent financing may not apply. While a dealer may be happy to provide someone looking for a car with, say, leather seats instead of cloth seats, the loan that previously didn’t have any interest may suddenly find itself coming with interest charges.

0% loans often discredits manufacturer’s rebates.

Auto dealers will often offer a 0% percent option to attract potential buyers to a dealership. When a buyer looks to capitalize on a manufacturer’s rebate as well as the 0% financing, the dealer tells her it’s one or the other. But this can sometimes work to the benefit of some borrowers. If your credit score doesn’t qualify you for the 0% auto financing, you can search out the manufacturer’s rebate and still save yourself money.

When it is time to buy your next vehicle, you have many auto financing options available to you. You can either finance your auto through a local bank or credit union, the dealership itself or with a pre-approval from an online auto financing company. There are several advantages to each one of these and several things you should also look out for.

The best auto financing that you can get is through your local bank or credit union. Their rates will be lower than financing your auto directly through the dealership or manufacturer. As a general rule of thumb, most banks will finance a new car at a lower interest rate and over a longer duration. Used cars, those models that are two years and older, usually get financing for only 36 to 48 months and with interest rates that are a few percentage points higher.

There are a few things you will want to think about before financing your vehicle through a dealership. First, make sure the financing the dealership is offering you is the best available financing you can get. In other words, make sure you have checked all other options. Next, be careful about all of the extras that come bundled with your vehicle purchase. The dealership or manufacturer is already getting the interest for financing the vehicle for you, so turn some of those extras into freebies since you have decided to finance through them. Whatever you do, don’t let the dealership convince you that you are getting a great discount from any factory rebates. These rebates go directly to the dealership so they will already get that money. Make them give you an additional discount towards your purchase as they will make it up later in the financing.