Consider this. If you have a loan on your car loan in the amount of $16,500 with an interest rate of 21% you will pay over $10,000 in interest over the life of the loan. Now lower that interest rate to 7% and you will only pay $3,300 in interest over the life of a loan. You will also pay approximately $100 less each month on your car payment. So it is definitely to your advantage to get as low an interest rate as possible on your car loans.

Refinancing a car loan is not a difficult process. You do not have to have your car appraised or anything like that. The decision will be made on the amount of the loan you currently have. Most lenders will not refinance anything less than $7500 and the amount of your loan should not be more than the value of the car. The lending institution that has the loan now will probably not refinance it, so seek a new lender.

If you want to check the current loan value of your car you can do so by visiting Kelly Blue Book online or NADA. This will help you determine if you car still has enough value to cover the value of your loan. Also look at your loan and see what the payoff balance is and the interest rate. If your statement does not show you the payoff balance, call the loan holder and they will tell you.

When you know what your situation looks like and if you think you are in a good position to refinance start looking into auto refinance rates and see what you can find that is better than what you have. Then you can begin the loan application process. Be sure and complete the application using all the same information that your current loan contains. If the loan is in your name, use your name.

The typical auto loan will either be 36, 48 or 60 months. On new cars they have begun to stretch this out even further to 72 months, but you won’t get that on a refinance. The shorter the term of the loan, the lower your interest rate will be. If at all possible, go with the shortest length of time as this will save you the most in interest. If you want to play around with different scenarios you can easily find an auto loan calculator on line.

If you are struggling to make ends meet, refinancing a car loan by extending the term of the loan can lower your monthly payments. This can only be done if value of your car supports the longer term and it is not the best financial move as it will end up costing you more money in the long run. But, if you need some wiggle room to pay off high interest credit cards, it may be worth it.

Auto refinance rates have never been better, well, at least not in a very long time. If you were not one of the lucky ones to get in on the no or low interest new car rates that were all the rage and are carrying a high interest loan, be sure and look into your refinancing options. It can save you a significant amount of money.