Car Loans Are Uglier Than Ever

The economic conditions of everyday life in South Florida have never been worse, at least not for as long as today’s working adults can remember.  The price of some groceries has decreased since its peak, but overall, grocery receipts are still as painful to look at as they were during the worst days of the pandemic.  Paying for groceries and other necessities wit buy now pay later (BNPL) has become so common that people have added a BNPL minimum payments treadmill to their list of financial woes; those who are lucky enough to also have a credit card are stuck on both the credit card minimum payments treadmill and the BNPL minimum payments treadmill.  Telling people to eliminate unnecessary spending sounds woefully naïve, because we have been doing that for years, and now we are just as broke as ever.  If you could give up your car you would, but everyone knows that public transportation in South Florida is so scarce that trying to get to work without a car would take you all day, even if it were not for the 90-degree heat.  Unfortunately, car loans are one of the most debilitating symptoms of financial long COVID.  If a car loan is the cause of a disproportionate share of your financial stress, contact a Plantation debt lawyer.

The “Sell It Just to Repossess It” Scam

Financial long COVID has caused Floridians, and Americans in general, to adjust their expectations about what counts as an affordable car loan.  In 2021, consumers were paying thousands of dollars above the sticker price for new cars; used cars were even less available, because people who had used cars that still functioned were utterly unwilling to part with them.  Interest rates have gotten higher and repayment terms have gotten longer, but like the proverbial frog in the pot of boiling water, we are unable to pinpoint exactly when it became too much.

Even in today’s automotive finance dystopia though, car loans that are outright scams are hard to miss.  A prospective buyer walks into a car dealership and applies for a loan to finance a modestly priced car (by today’s standards, anyway) such as a Nissan.  The dealer says that the buyer doesn’t qualify for that loan but does qualify to finance some other ridiculously expensive ride, such as a Benz.  The APR is 75 percent, but buyers today are so used to ridiculously expensive loans that no one bats an eye, if they are even able to take their eyes off of that lovely Benz.  Unsurprisingly, the buyer quickly defaults on the loan, and the dealership happily repossesses it.  That was the whole point.  It is the motor vehicle equivalent of real estate agents selling five Miami mansions to that South Beach stripper in The Big Short.

Work With a Debt Lawyer About Avoiding Unaffordable Car Loans

A South Florida debt lawyer can help you strategize about old and new car loans in today’s inhospitable financial climate.  Contact Nowack & Olson, PLLC in Plantation, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

milled.com/isharshakov/scammy-car-loans-swENmVqLeLCGi0-n