Golf Car Options Magazine Juy 2019 Golf Car Options Magazine July 2019 | Page 36

GolfCartfinancing
Are you looking to get golf cart financing instead of
paying for your golf cart outright? There are a few
different ways you can finance your new ride. You’ll
want to know your options since some can leave a
bad taste in your mouth. And if you’re not careful,
you could end up paying way more than the golf
cart is worth with finance charges.
Here are a few different ways you can get golf cart
financing to make your ride a sweet one.
Financial Institutions & Banks
Secured Loan - Your banks and credit unions
will provide a loan where your golf cart is used as
collateral for the loan. Many lending institutions
claim they will loan on as low as $1,000 and for as
low at 4.5%. You’ll want at least a 660 credit score
for this. Make sure to check out our used golf cart
checklist if you’re going the used golf cart route.
Unsecured Loan - If you don’t want to use your
golf cart as collateral, then you’re essentially look-
ing for a personal loan or unsecured, which can
have a higher interest rate: as much as 13%
Credit Cards - If you already have a credit card
with a high enough balance, then you can just use
the credit card to pay for your new ride. You’ll want
to make sure you can handle the new monthly
payment with the interest rate that your credit card
has. This will make it easier to get the golf cart and
to keep you from having buyer’s remorse.
Golf Cart Dealers & OEM Financing
- All the major golf cart manufacturers
and dealerships offer financing.
Just do a little shopping
around to find
the best
in-
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terest rate for your credit score. You also want to
look at their service department and location to
make sure you’d be happy using them if you need
repairs done on your golf cart. Also, make sure to
get familiar with golf cart maintenance and trouble-
shooting checklist.
Also, look for year-end interest rate specials when
they’re trying to move a lot of older models to make
room for the newer ones.
Check the fine print on these contracts. There are
usually upfront fees that they charge for the financ-
ing so make sure you look at the APR to see that
actual interest rate you’ll end up paying over the life
of the loan.
Bad Credit Loans - If your credit is less than
stellar and you’re looking to secure financing, you
can go with the buy here, pay here places or with
the creditors who specialize in the bad credit sec-
tor. Just know that you’ll likely pay a higher interest
rate because of it. No worries though. Just focus on
paying down the loan as quickly as you can.
If they can’t help you either, then you’ll want to fo-
cus on building up your credit score. Work on paying
things consistently if you can pay down your debt.
And check your credit reports to see if there are any
items that are wrong. Many financial institutions get
things wrong on your report and just by challenging
certain items, you can get them removed.
Loan Repayment Insurance & Protec-
tion Plans - Once you get financing, you’ll want
to look at the option of loan repayment insurance.
For a small fee, you can have confidence if some-
thing happens with your job that they can cover
your payments full or partially until you’re able to
get back on track with it.
To close this out, just focus on finding the financing
that is right for your needs and keep track of
the fine print when comparing your op-
tions for financing a golf cart.