I am sorry to hear that. Car loans are tricky because they do depreciate in value so quickly. I feel as though local credit unions are a hit or miss. I hope the next time you go, you will be able to get a lower rate and refinance.

I didn't have to do anything to become a member at my local credit union. The only thing I needed to do was to open up a savings account with $5. I did go and inquire about getting my interest rate lowered through their auto loan, but apparently they won't approve me for as much as I owe because they feel that there isn't enough equity in the car. I guess I'll just have to wait until I pay a little more of it off and try again.

Good luck, and let me know how it goes.

FrankN wrote: They usually do. In general they tend to be more friendly to smaller businesses

That's good to know, Frank. I was going to try to work with a smaller local bank for my business, but I may look into the credit unions around here, too. I just have to find one I can qualify for.

They usually do. In general they tend to be more friendly to smaller businesses

Need to add is that the tax structure of a credit union is different than a national association or state bank. If I remember right, credit unions receive a major break on federal taxes.

Credit unions are owned by their membership, so the break in the lending rate and the bump in the savings yield relate to the benefits of ownership. Members of a credit union share something in common, such as a profession, workplace or locale.

SAR1954 wrote: My advice, try your local credit union. I did that recently and refinanced 2 cars I have, (between me and my husband) and went from a 17% to 5% interest rate for both. Good Luck to you!

Credit unions are a great place to get loans. I have always had the best luck there. I don't know how they do it but they seem to have the lowest rates.

Did you ever end up refinancing your auto loan? I've been thinking about doing this with my auto loan because it is at 6% right now. I've been told that there are some loans where the rates are down to 2.39%. I would really like to get in on this and save some money.

My advice, try your local credit union. I did that recently and refinanced 2 cars I have, (between me and my husband) and went from a 17% to 5% interest rate for both. Good Luck to you!

Could anyone offer some advice? I'm looking to refinance my car loan. I am 10 months into a 6 year loan @ 16% interest. Yuck. I would like to refinance RIGHT NOW (while I have pay stubs that show higher income) My credit scores are around 740, 699, and 660. I have a paid collection that will fall off in November of the credit bureau w/ 660. My income is going down..Should I wait for that to fall off? My income is pretty low, yet it is still higher than when I originally purchased the car.