AutoLoans

When car buyers take possession of a vehicle before their financing arrangements are complete, they're risking a big money mess if the loan falls through. And some less scrupulous dealers will take advantage. Here's what you need to know to avoid the yo-yo financing trap.

U.S. consumers swiped their credit cards more often in March and took out more loans to attend school, driving overall borrowing up by the most in more than a decade. Total consumer borrowing rose $21.4 billion in March, the Federal Reserve said Monday. That's the seventh straight monthly increase and the largest since November 2001.

The recession and its hangover have turned our bill-paying habits upside down. Cash-strapped Americans are paying off their car loans before they pay credit card bills and make mortgage payments, a TransUnion study finds.

U.S. car sales just hit their highest level in four years, and that's good news for economy watchers. Falling unemployment, more cooperative lenders, and rising consumer confidence all contributed to the boom. So if you're looking to buy, what does this all mean for you?

Here's the good news: American consumers are finally starting to reduce their reliance on credit and pay off their high-interest debt -- a positive development for their financial futures. The bad news: More money in people's pockets means less overall spending in the economy, which desperately needs the cash right now. How might the tension be resolved?

Cash-N-A-Flash said it would refund some customers and not collect on accounts of others in order to settle a Virginia state attorney general's lawsuit claiming it charged more than 300% interest on car title loans. The agreement has to be approved by a Richmond Circuit Court judge. By signing it,...

AOL Autos reporter Bengt Halvorson offers consumers struggling with sky-high lease payments some advice on how to get out of their leases. According to Halvorson, simply breaking the lease and going the "voluntary repossession route isn't the best option because it can hurt your credit score quite...

As if being behind on a car loan payment isn't bad enough, auto lenders now have the technology to remotely shut off the offending car's engine when payments are late.Sales of the shut-off devices by one manufacturer, Littleton, Colo.-based Passtime, are up 33% over last year, and the company is...

With the stimulus package having passed and the hope that credit starts flowing a little more freely again, that may be why some respected financial experts have been saying: If you need to, go ahead and try to refinance your car.For instance, Brian Moody of Edmunds.com recently told the audience...

It's a brand new world out there. Time was, just a few short years ago, getting a loan for a brand new car was just about as easy as showing up and filling out the paperwork. The banks, flush with all that mortgage money, didn't mind taking a risk on small change like auto loans. Indeed, it was...