Cranston Auto Loans

You will need to understand some basic key terms before you can adequately compare Cranston auto loans.

You will need to understand some basic key terms before you can adequately compare Cranston auto loans. Here is a glossary of some critical car financing terms.

  • APR: annual percentage rate. This is somewhat similar, but not identical to, your Rhode Island auto loan interest rate. APR paints a more complete picture of how much the loan will cost you each year because it includes hidden fees and penalties that interest rates don’t reflect.
  • Balance: how much of Cranston auto loans remains to be paid. With each monthly payment, your balance will diminish.
  • Down payment: When you purchase a vehicle and get a Rhode Island auto loan through the dealership, you will typically have to make some kind of cash down payment. This payment is then credited toward the price of the vehicle. For instance, if your car costs $20,000 and you make a down payment of $4,000, you would finance the remaining $16,000 of the price.
  • Financing: Financing a vehicle, with Cranston auto loans, for example, means you borrow money to pay for a car as you drive it, either with loans or a lease. The alternative to financing a vehicle is paying cash outright for it, in which case you would own the vehicle the second you handed over the cash. With financing, however, the bank owns the vehicle until the balance of the loan is paid off.
  • Interest rate: The fee the bank or lending institution charges for the service of allowing you to borrow money. Interest rates are expressed as a percentage of the loan’s balance.
  • Sales tax: The percentage of the purchase price of the vehicle that you pay for state sales tax. The amount of this tax will vary from location to location.
  • Term: The length of Cranston auto loans. The term is typically expressed in number of months. Common terms for Rhode Island car loans are 36, 48, and 60 months.
  • Title: The legal document that provides information about the vehicle and its owner. The title will be retained by your lending institution if you finance your car until the loan is paid in full.

If you have any questions or inquiries, please visit our auto loan Frequently Asked Questions page.