Auto financing remains favorable to consumers

With consumer spending on the rebound, auto dealers are hoping they will begin to see some of the activity that boosted retailers through the holiday season. That hope is buoyed by interest rates remaining at all-time lows, according to Bankrate.com. Unlike traditional bank loans, auto loans are pooled from numerous lenders and incorporate promotional items, making comparison shopping more possible for consumers, writes Cathie Gandel for Bankrate.com. Qualified borrows - those with strong consumer credit reports - can still attain loans rates at near zero, Gandel writes. However, she adds that consumers whose credit reports were damaged by the recession can still attain favorable rates because of vitality in the subprime auto loan market. "According to Experian Automotive, the arm of the credit reporting company that reviews the car industry, the share of new vehicle loans going to 'credit-challenged' buyers was up 12.7 percent in the third quarter of 2010 compared with the same period a year earlier," Gandel details. Furthermore, lending could increase considering an Experian Automotive report that showed the average amount of financing on a new car increased by $2,530 to $25,273 in Q3 2010, Bankrate.com reports.