You have probably heard the term ‘buy-here pay-here.’ It’s generally used as a descriptor in marketing, which leads a lot of car shoppers to assume buy-here pay-here is a good thing. If you’ve seen dealerships advertising themselves as being a buy-here pay-here dealership but aren’t exactly sure what that means, or if it’s a good thing, we’re here to help.
Here at Easterns Automotive, we do our best to inform our customers about all aspects of the automotive world. We encourage you to watch the video above where Joel Bassam, the Director of Marketing for Easterns Automotive Group, breaks down the differences between a traditional car dealership and a buy-here pay-here lot.
How Does a Buy-Here Pay-Here Lot Work?
At a traditional car dealership, financing is secured through a partner or bank. At a buy-here pay-here lot, the financing is completed by the dealer.
While that might seem like a small difference, it greatly impacts the consumer experience in negative ways.
Shopping at a Buy-Here Pay-Here Dealership Won’t Improve Your Credit Score
Some people assume they won’t qualify for credit anywhere except a buy-here pay-here lot. Since buy-here pay-here dealerships allegedly help people who can’t qualify for financing through traditional dealerships and auto lenders, they often charge extremely high interest rates to their customers.
Paying higher interest rates is sometimes inevitable when you’re building or repairing your credit, but in order for your payments to positively impact your credit report they must first be reported to the credit agencies. A lot of buy-here pay-here dealerships don’t report to the three credit bureaus, so making payments on time won’t be positively reflected in your credit score.
Isn’t Getting Financing from the Dealership More Convenient?
Not necessarily. A buy-here pay-here dealership might also require particularly high down payments to reduce their risk exposure when “financing” their customers’ vehicle purchases.
Getting a vehicle through a buy-here pay-here lot in Washington DC or Baltimore isn’t just financially burdensome, it’s also logistically inconvenient in the long run. Many buy-here pay-here dealerships require shoppers to deliver their car payments to the dealership monthly or in some cases even weekly.
Reduced Selection of Vehicles and Loans
The interest rates offered by buy-here pay-here dealerships are often extraordinarily high. You likely qualify for a significantly better rate at a traditional used vehicle dealership even if your credit isn’t perfect.
If you’re worried about your credit (or lack of it) preventing you from purchasing a vehicle, contact Easterns Automotive. We specialize in helping everyone, even people with less-than-perfect credit, find a legitimate auto financing solution.
Unlike at a normal dealership where your auto loan and vehicle purchase are separate, these two transactions are combined at a buy-here pay-here dealership. That means the dealer determines how much financing you qualify for and which vehicles you’re “allowed” to choose off their lot.
At Easterns Automotive the vehicle you choose to purchase, your choice of auto loan and your vehicle purchasing method are entirely your decisions.
Some buy-here pay-here dealerships are forced to offer their own financing because they sell cars that can’t be financed through normal channels. Auto lenders generally won’t loan money for the purchase of vehicles past a certain age or for a vehicle with known problems. At a buy-here pay-here dealership they can get away with selling customers lower quality vehicles since the auto lenders aren’t involved.
That means the vehicle selection on a buy-here pay-here lot generally won’t feature many high-quality, reliable cars, trucks and SUVs.
Why is Easterns Automotive in Virginia and Maryland Better?
When choosing the right auto financing or vehicle purchasing method for you, remember that at Easterns Automotive Group, your job is your credit.
Because we do our financing through secure and reputable financing partners, making full on-time payments will gradually improve your credit score! If you’re relying on car financing as one of your tools for improving your credit, Easterns Automotive can help.
We also offer convenient monthly payments that can all be done online. You can even setup autopay, so you never have to worry about paying late.
Lastly, Easterns Automotive has a HUGE selection of cars, trucks, SUVs and more. When you are shopping for your next vehicle, you want selection – and at Easterns, you will find it, every time.
