Car loans hard to come by, forcing used car salesman to make adjustments
5:44 p.m. Thursday, October 2, 2008
Five months ago, it was high gas prices. Now, the crumbling economy is to blame for the lack of business at Andy Flint's used car lot.
He's lost about one-third of his business since this summer.
“It's just difficult you know, very challenging right now,” Flint said, owner of A.B. Flint Motor Co.
Banks are tightening up on loans, so unless you have near perfect credit, a buying a car is almost impossible.
After nearly 30 years of business, Flint said he never thought that would be an obstacle to selling cars. And if they do have the credit, he said customers aren't buying cars because they're trying to save money.
“You've got more of a need buyer, people that have to have a car,” he said.
That means Flint has to get creative, and maybe even lose a little money to bring in customers. And he’s doing just that by offering a three-month, 3,000-mile warranty on each car.
Deals on interest and offering discounts are what some car makers are doing to combat the credit crunch.
And Flint said the government's $700 billion bailout won't have an immediate impact on our economy.
“As a small business owner and I get myself in trouble, who's going to bail me out?” he said. “You have these big executives making these big bucks and they kind of walk away scot-free.”
In the meantime, Flint says he'll tighten up his expenses and stay in contact with previous customers to get by, anything it takes to sell a few cars.
If you have less than perfect credit and need a car loan, Flint said you can increase your chances by having more money to put on a down payment. He said also having a trade-in will help. There are other financing alternatives, but Flint said they usually come with high interest rates.
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