The Cars That Sub-Prime Borrowers Are Buying

Dodge AvengersQuick question: what cars are sub-prime borrowers buying? The answer may be surprising.

Carfinance.com wanted to know this very answer. Rather than following my example and randomly asking the internet, they put together data between October 2012 and March 2013. What the conclusion they found in that window of time was that the people who make their auto purchase as sub-prime borrowers are buying completely different cars than those in the top-selling slots.

The top three selling midsized sedans in the US is the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, and the Nissan Altima. These three didn’t even break the top ten for sub-prime. So what was on the list then?

Topping it was the Dodge Avenger followed by the Kia Forte and Kia Optima in second and third respectfully. It’s clear from looking at the full list of the top ten that people suffering from credit issues and other financial complications are looking for small or midsized sedans. At least in the new category they are.

Used tells a different story. The top seller in that time period was the Ram 1500. The Dodge Charger came in at the fourth slot. A wide range of vehicles are on the list, but trucks were more numerous than on the new list.

Are you having credit issues and are looking to purchase a new or used vehicle, such as the Avenger or the 1500? Contact us at Bayside Chrysler Jeep Dodge. We love to say yes! We’ll work with you to put you in the car best suited for you. Don’t forget to like and follow us on Facebook as well as Twitter.

Increase of Auto Loans Tied to Employment

ID-100144096A recent study done by loans.org has pleasant news for the auto industry.

The website ran a study that combined both employments records from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Quarterly Report on Household Debt from the Federal Reserve. They looked for a correlation between auto loan debt and employment rate. Here’s what they found: between the third quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2013, auto loan borrowing rose as unemployment went down.

I can’t say I’m too surprised by that finding. Less people unemployed means more people have income. More income means that people are going to buy more things. That’s not a terribly conclusion to come to without doing a lick of research. Still, it’s nice to have numbers to prove something that should most definitely be true.

Another thing to note about the correlation between employment and auto loans is that there could be a number of people that were on long-term unemployment. If the people in question were subjected to those harsh conditions, they may have had to stretch to make their lively hoods work. That means ignoring the need to purchase a new car and relay on a broken down model frankenstein-ed to survive as long as possible. Now that they have reliable income again, it’s time to replace such a vehicle.

The economy has been shown to be improving and families have found themselves needing financing to replace aging vehicles. Thankfully as the market has bounced back along with the buyers, so have the auto loans. They are easier to obtain today than ever. Business is booming for the industry.

If you need a car, now is the perfect time to stop in to Bayside Chrysler Jeep Dodge and sit down with us as we work to put you in the vehicle you need.  We provide the Queens area with top quality customer service and want to work with you to satisfy your car-purchasing needs. We love to say yes! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more financial advice and monthly parts and service specials.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What’s Keeping Used Vehicle Sales so High?

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We’ve written about in the past about how the used market has seen a major uptick in late of sales. A major factor for the New York area is because of the impact of Superstorm Sandy. When the hurricane came through and wrecked havoc on the city, it hurt many car owners who found themselves the morning after without their vehicle and were forced back into the market. Nationally, there are even more factors at play. For example, one is that people have reached the end of their vehicles life and no amount of repair and wishing is going to keep it on the road. It’s time for most drivers to get into the dealerships.

Tom Webb is an economist at Manheim and he took at look at used retail sales. He found that in the first quarter of 2013, used-vehicle sales were 12 percent higher year-over-year while most other industries are slowing down. He believes that a big reason is because how available financing has been for vehicles.

“On any given day,” Webb says, “there are literally hundreds of thousands of vehicles with owners who would like to trade up to get something a little bit better if they could do so with an affordable monthly payment. Given the availability of retail financing, a natural changeover of those vehicles over time will occur.”

What I find interesting is that numerous blogs and other speakers have, at lengths, informed me that the recent surge of the market has been due to the age of the vehicle, as I mentioned earlier. While certainly a part of it, Webb sees things differently. He believes that people coming in wanting to trade-up being the biggest reason why the used-vehicle sales are staying as high as they are.

Other markets are in flux at the moment because of the recent rise in payroll taxes and fluctuations in gas prices. Yet while these spending segments dip and slump, used-vehicles are seemingly impervious. Webb even says so himself, “To a certain extent, the used-vehicle market has been impervious to these factors in terms of retail sales activity.

The point of Webb’s study was to show that used-vehicle sales will hit an all-time high before 2015. What I took away was that he identified some great reasons why vehicle sales have maintained a positive upswing in the face of major economic issues impacting consumers. Financing has been made much easier to obtain and it definitely looks to be helping.

If you’re in the market for a used or new vehicle and need to look into financing, that’s where Bayside Chrysler Jeep Dodge comes in. We offer the best customer service to work with you to help you get into the car you need. We love to say yes, so contact us today and let’s get started in making sure you drive away satisfied with your purchase. Make sure you like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for more financial tips and monthly service offers.

Image courtesy of nongpimmy / FreeDigitalPhotos.net