Pierre Money Mart Blog

When you buy a car, furniture or appliances on an installment plan, the dealer or store usually takes a “security interest” in the item you are buying. This means that while you are paying for it, the creditor (person or business to which you owe money) can take back or “repossess” your purchase if you break your promises under the contract. If you buy a car, for example, the dealer or bank from which you borrow money to pay for the car usually takes a security interest in the car. Then, if you don’t make the monthly payment or if you don’t keep the car insured, the creditor can repossess the car. Not all purchases can be repossessed. For example, credit card purchases usually can’t be repossessed. To find out whether the creditor has a security interest and can take back your purchase, check your contract. If the paper you signed when you bought the item includes a security interest, there may also be a “grace period”. A grace period is an additional amount of time for making a payment after it is due. However, if you don’t pay during this grace period, the item you bought can be taken back (repossessed). On the other hand, when you make a credit card purchase, there is usually no security interest in what you bought and it cannot be taken back if you are late making a payment. The law says that the creditor cannot come into your house without your permission to repossess personal property such as furniture or appliances. If someone tries to break into your house or garage, call the police. If someone claims to have legal papers, call a lawyer. If you leave your car parked in front of your house or in your driveway where the creditor can find it, the car can be repossessed easily. If a creditor threatens to repossess personal property, it is probably a good idea to talk to a lawyer. It is easier to prevent a repossession than to get your property back after it has been repossessed.

Pierre Auto Loan center is the consumer’s choice for auto loans, bad credit auto loans and fast easy financing for a new or used auto loan. Every day we hear from people who spend hours driving and shopping for that perfect new or used car only to be turned down for their auto loan because of bad credit.

Pierre Auto Loans is known for helping thousands of people with bad credit obtain new or used auto loans every month with low auto loan rates they only dreamed of.
Our ability to find you a low rate auto loan for bad credit is made possible with the largest auto loan lender and dealer network online. We do provide online auto financing for any credit but our specialty is the best bad credit auto loans anywhere.

If you have never experienced actually having fun when it comes to buying a car, we are about to change that. Pierre Auto Loans invites you to try our free auto loan calculator so you can find out how much of an auto loan you might need to fit into your budget. Then you can apply with our fast, easy, free online auto loan application. It’s not uncommon to get approved for new or used auto loans in the same day. Isn’t it time you eliminated the headaches, hassle and sometimes embarrassment of shopping for auto loans the old way?

Life is sweet, but it would be a lot sweeter if our cars and trucks would warn us when heart-stopping repair bills or inevitable replacements lay in wait just around the corner.

Most of us, however, need help recognizing when it’s time to get rid of our ride — whether it’s a 13-year-old Chrysler LeBaron convertible, a three-year-old Toyota Tacoma, or brand-new Mercedes-Benz GL-Class.

That’s why we’ve come up with five smart moves to help you make a hard but satisfying decision.

Smart move 1. Do a lifestyle reality check.

“Our homes reflect who we are, and our cars reflect who we wish we were,” so the sad (but true) saying goes. Here’s where a cold look in the lifestyle mirror can go a long way. Ask yourself (or better yet, ask a friend), “Is what I drive serving my current needs?”

Your Mazda Miata may have made you the King and Queen of Cool when you were single, but when you started adding little princes and princesses to the castle, that tiny two-seat sports car became royally impractical. Suck it up, daddy, and get a midsize Mazda6.

If you live in New York City, it may be time to bid farewell to that Ford F-350 Super Duty SuperCrew. Be brutally honest. You’ll be happier in the short and the long run. We know plenty of people in Manhattan who don’t even own a car, and that’s the perfect car for them.

Smart move 2. Do an economic reality check.

Make sure you own a vehicle you can realistically afford. Factor in every expense, not just the monthly payment. Include the price of insurance and maintenance, broken down to a monthly average, and don’t forget to calculate the terror of fuel costs.

Total them up and you’ve found the true cost of owning your car. If you can realistically meet this number without breaking a sweat or missing a meal, month in, month out, bravo.

But if you’re struggling to keep up with the bills, and spending $500 or more a month on your car or truck, you should replace it with a new ride that costs more like $250 to $350 a month to own.

When making this decision, follow a simple rule of thumb: Monthly payments shouldn’t exceed 8% of your gross monthly income. If, for example, that’s $3,000, then your payments should be no more than $240 a month.

Smart Move 3. Pay heed to the “Gut-Wrench-In-Its-Presence” Effect.

If merely thinking about driving your car threatens to double you over in pain, get rid of it. No joke. There is no case to be made for accepting 15,000 miles of anger a year. If you hate your vehicle — really hate it — and have no practical considerations that trump your decision making, then dump it, sell it, or trade it in. Life is still too short.

Smart move 4. Beware the “My Mechanic Knows My Credit Card Number by Heart” Syndrome.

If your car has been to the shop three times over the past year for repairs — even legitimate repairs — it’s not a normal, healthy vehicle.

We live in the glory day of automobiles, where virtually every model offers breathtaking quality and reliability. The cliche is that there aren’t any bad cars anymore, but the truth is there really aren’t even any average cars anymore.

Planned obsolescence, the automotive industry’s dastardly plan to design and build cars to last only as long as the warranty, is a myth. Bad luck, however, is not. Your vehicle may be a “Monday morning” car or an early production run of a new model (never a good bet for high quality — new models always need time to get their teething problems out of the way).

For owners of older, very used cars, this is the rule to follow: If you must make three repairs during any 12-month period that add up to the resale value of the car, cut your losses and run.

You can find out how much your car is worth at Edmunds.com or Kelley Blue Book.

Smart Move 5. Keep an eye out for the two symptoms of big trouble.

Just remember: Blue smoke = Bad news. Blue smoke out the tailpipe means you’re burning oil, which very likely indicates the oncoming need for an engine replacement. Never cheap.

Another major symptom worth paying eyes-wide-open attention to is when you notice a bit of slipping between gear changes in the automatic transmission. If you notice the engine revving without any appreciable increase in speed, that’s what a slipping transmission feels like. This problem is not quite as urgent as the engine, nor quite as expensive, but transmission replacements are never a bargain.

Either one means it’s time to sell.

BERLIN, Conn., April 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Northeast Utilities  announced today it is in the initial stages of developing an electric charging infrastructure for plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The initiative supports regional and national policy goals which include reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on petroleum-based resources.

In a recent application for a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant, two NU operating companies, The Connecticut Light & Power Company (CL&P) and Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO), are proposing to build a network of 575 charging stations over the next two years. The plan calls for a geographically diverse combination of home-based, workplace and publicly-accessible sites in the utilities’ existing service territories. The companies are collaborating with New England-based Environment Northeast, the Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition, and the Town of West Hartford, Conn., on key aspects of the project including location selection and results monitoring.

“We see extraordinary potential in electric transportation as one of the tools to help meet the environmental and energy policy objectives of our regional and national leaders,” said James B. Robb, NU senior vice president of enterprise planning and development. “As the next generation of vehicles gets introduced, likely late in 2010, we want to be sure that New England is among the first markets. The development of a charging infrastructure is important, both to support the adoption of these exciting new vehicles and to allow us to assess the impact on our electric distribution system.”

“For sustainable technologies such as alternative fuel vehicles to really take hold and deliver significant benefits, a collaborative effort between policy makers, businesses and other stakeholders is required,” said State Representative Vickie Nardello, House chair for the Connecticut General Assembly’s Energy & Technology Committee. “NU’s program is a necessary catalyst and part of the forward-thinking solutions we must embrace for a viable and sustainable future.”

“Plug-in hybrids and other electric vehicles are going to be important components of our green energy future, but they won’t work without a network of charging stations. I applaud Northeast Utilities for looking into the future and making this initial proposal to meet that need in their service territories,” said Philip Giudice, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources.

NU has been working with the Electric Power and Research Institute (EPRI) in a collaborative effort to understand the utility impacts of plug-in electric vehicles. As part of NU’s strategies for carbon reduction and sustainability, the company has several other forward-looking initiatives under way. In particular, the EV charging network complements the Smart Grid pilots at CL&P and WMECO, and is consistent with the planned expansion of company energy efficiency programs. “In addition, our transmission development program, which will facilitate the integration of low-carbon energy into the New England power supply, provides even more leverage to the environmental benefits of electric vehicles,” noted Robb.

The DOE’s decision is expected in June 2009. NU’s application requested federal funding of $693,750 which is fifty percent of the project’s total estimated cost of $1,387,500. “This is an initial proposal and we will be developing more specifics of the program over the summer, including substantial outreach to various stakeholders to help us maximize the impact of the grant,” Robb said. “We are also examining opportunities to participate with other stakeholders in additional federal grant opportunities to advance the electrification of transportation.”

Although the image is that people getting into debt is the result of poor credit card use, this is far from the case. While credit card missuse is one factor that gets some people into debt, there are many other reason you may find yourself currently in debt. For example, it is estimated that half of all people that file for banruptcy are doing so due to debt resulting from medical expenses.

Whatever the reason, the ultimate goal is to get out of debt and back into the black.

There are a few questions you can ask yourself regarding your current credit card use to determine if you are creating a credit card debt problem. Do you have outstanding monthly balances on more than one credit card? Do you only make the minimum monthly payment on your credit card? Have you had debt on your credit card for more than three consecutive months? If you answer “Yes” to any of these questions, then your credit card is probably more of a liability to your financial well being than an asset and, you should consider a plan to reduce your debt.

Although there are many types of debt, credit card debt is by the far the most menacing form for most people. Although many sites have debt reduction plans, we have put together one that will not only eliminate your credit card debt, but ALL your debt (credit card, car payments, student loans, medical bills, legal bills, taxes and even the mortgage of your house) in less than 10 years. That’s not a misprint. Depending on the depth of the debt and how motivated you are, it is quite possible to be debt free much quicker!

Before you write us off as crackpots – take the time to look at the system. There are no tricks, easy ways out or magic cures. It’s all straight forward common sense and anyone can do it if they have the will. We do take an approach that is probably different than you have seen elsewhere, but that is the goal of all the writing on our site. Off to step #1.