Car dealerships deal with economy Watch Video See Photos Read Comments
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Used car lot owner Carlos Hinojosa said his business is good thanks to the credit crunch.
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By Mary Avila
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 at 7:37 a.m.

Read more: Local, Economy, U.S. Economy, Car Dealerships, Cars

Businesses are having a hard time getting credit. Home owners are being told they can't get a mortgage.  And now it's becoming difficult to buy a car.

New car dealerships are having trouble selling their inventory because of tighter credit restraints and the falling U.S. economy.

So where does that leave consumers?

Action 4 News spoke to used car company owner Carlos Hinojosa.

He said consumers are coming to him.

Customer Ericka Valencia said times are tough and she's looking to buy a small economy car with cash.

Hinojosa said his business is booming because of consumers penny pinching.

"It's used car lots like his that offer in-house financing that consumers are now looking into," he said.

Hinojosa said dealerships that provide in-house financing offer no big credit checks and hassle free-payments.

Although consumers don't have to deal with loan companies, they get what they pay for and may be out shopping again for another car in a few years.

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5 Comments on this Story
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used car for son

Posted by Mary Molina, Weslaco - Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 9:59 a.m.

I would like to buy a used car for my son to go to College. If anyone is selling a cheap but good running condition small car, pleASE EMAIL ME THE INFO.

Shop around

Posted by Car Dealer, RGV - Friday, October 10, 2008 at 12:37 a.m.

There’s car dealers doing in house financing all over the valley you just have to shop around to find a good dealer. Interest rates vary from dealer to dealer you have to take in account that 95% of the customers we sell to have zero credit its big risk. Dealers have to deal with people giving a down payment and not paying a single pymt afterwards. Why do you think nobody lets you have a car with $500 to $1000 down anymore? Because there plenty of people out there just wanting a car to make a quick buck passing the sarita check point. We have to select our customers carefully. We’ve been in the business over 20yrs so if you want a good deal follow some tips.
1. Have your pay check stub with you it helps a lot, self employed you say? We start thinking twice.
2. Have a good down payment $500 to $1000 isn’t going to get you much. New car dealers do $0 down we don’t. A good down payment ranges from $1500-$2500 for a good car.
3. The more you give down and the higher your mth pymt the lower your interest will be.
4. Most in house dealers sell with No Warranty but if you ask nicely most cut you a break when you need repairs. We get discounts on parts and keep labor costs very small when possible. We want you to have a good running car so you can keep working and paying us. It’s no good to me if the car is sitting at a mechanic shop for a wk or two and then you cant pay us.
5. Most dealers are very understanding when it comes not being able to pay and do cut you breaks. Just don’t take advantage of it if you do that’s when the repoman starts coming around.
6. Our good paying repeat customers usually get there 2nd or 3rd car with very low down payments and low monthly payments.

Now all dealers don’t work like this but if you shop around you’ll find them. The longer they have been in business the better there well know and have been in business so long for a reason. A lot of new dealers come and go fast.

Car dealership deal with the Economy

Posted by Nellie Pena, Weslaco - Thursday, October 09, 2008 at 11:11 a.m.

I FEEL THAT YEAH PEOPLE WITH BAD CREDIT OR NO CREDIT DO GO TO THE IN HOUSE FINANCING AND ITS GOOD THAT THERE ARE PLACES AS THIS, BUT I ALSO FEEL THAT THE DEALERSHIPS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SITUATION BECAUSE THEIR INTEREST RATES ARE OUTRAGEOUS(PAST 18%) AND THE DOWN PAYMENTS ARE OUT OF THIS WORLD....COME ON YOU WANT BUSINESS THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE DOWN PYMTS OR HIGH INTEREST RATES THAT YOU CHARGE.

action 4-car dealership

Posted by nellie castillo, harlingen - Wednesday, October 08, 2008 at 7:31 p.m.

there's only one disadvantage when buying from an in-house financing car lot; you have no choice but to pay whatever they want for the car (overpriced) and most of the time with no warranty

anonymous

IN HOUSE FINANCING

Posted by OLIVER NO LAST NAME, HARLINGEN - Wednesday, October 08, 2008 at 10:21 a.m.

ALL I WILL SAY IS IF YOU REALLY NEED A CAR AND YOU CANNOT FINANCE WITH A DEALERSHIP OR ANY BANK BECAUSE OF YOUR CREDIT OF COURSE PEOPLE WILL GO WITH THE IN HOUSE FINANCING. I WOULD!! SO ALOT OF TIMES THANKS TO THEM FOR HELPING AND SAYING YES TO PEOPLE WHERE OTHER PLACES TELL THEM NO!!

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