Interest rate /car loan question

[lastlib]

5. Congrats on the new wheels!

Glad you got a better deal than the insurance guy offered!

Now that you have the loan, my advice is to pay as much extra on the principal amount right now as you can without cutting into your other obligations. Then pay extra on it any time you have a little spare cash. That will save you a HUGE chunk in interest, that will be in YOUR pocket, not the lender's. I did that with my last car purchase, and saved over $3500 in interest, PLUS cut the time I was paying on it from 60 months to 18. I effectively paid the first two years' worth of principal within two weeks of getting the loan, so I was essentially getting charged interest for the last three years' worth. Making essentially double principal payments after that cut the term of the loan to 18 months. It also does wonders for my credit score! I recently had a car salesman look up my credit score awhile back--when he saw it, he actually did a double-take, and said, "Wow. That's the highest credit score I've ever seen."

Remember--extra payment on principal!