FNTN

It looks like some good news is here for anyone thinking of buying a new car in the near future. A report from Bloomberg says that one of the biggest auto loan lenders, GMAC LLC, has been cleared by the government to sell government backed debt, with an extra $7.5 billion of rescue funds; meaning that getting an auto loan should be that bit easier very soon. The other piece of news, which will hopefully soon be converted into a reality, is that the proposals for a government backed auto scrappage scheme has recently made some progress.

Easier auto loans.

Although this latest announcement brings the total ‘bail out’ to GMAC to 413.5 billion it does at least mean that anyone wanting to buy a new Chrysler or GM auto, but needing an auto loan, will be able to go to a show-room with reasonable confidence of being offered an auto loan that has lower interest rates and flexible repayment terms. This is, of course, not only good news for buyers, but also for the auto manufacturers; as they can now once again compete more effectively with Ford and Toyota for business. Which, in turn, should also help new auto buyers to get an even better deal themselves in the show-room.

Auto scrappage scheme development.

Could an old wreck like this really be worth at least $3500 under the scrappage scheme?

Although still some way from being finalized the prospect of an auto scrappage scheme, for anyone prepared to buy a new car in the USA, took a step forward this week. With the government and the auto industry both compromising slightly a tacit agreement has been reached. It looks like private new auto buyers could get up to $4,500 off the ‘shield price of a new car, so long as the mpg differential between the ‘scrapped’ auto and the new one is more than 10mpg. There are a few variations around this proposed scheme; such as being eligible for a $3,500 allowance scrapping a car doing less that 18mpg for a new one doing better than 22mpg. There’s also some provision for allowances when scrapping light-duty and work trucks.