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What is the Equity in My Car?
Houses and cars are the two most common assets used to secure loans. To buy either one of these assets, many people take out a loan to pay them off in installments.
If you have a financed car, it either has positive or negative equity:
- Positive equity: If the vehicle is worth more than the balance you still owe on the loan, then it has positive equity.
- Negative equity: If you owe more than your car is worth, it has negative equity.
When someone has equity in their car, that usually refers to having positive equity.
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How to Find the Equity in Your Car
You can calculate your car’s equity with some simple math: just subtract the total amount you still owe to the bank, auto finance company or car dealership from the actual value of the car. Understanding this math is the easy part. The harder part is finding out what these values are in order to do the car equity calculation.
1. Find Out How Much You Still Have to Pay on the Loan
If you get monthly statements in the mail or if you have online account access to your auto loan information, finding out how much you still owe on your car should be relatively easy.
If these options are not available to you, you will need to contact the bank, finance company or dealership directly to ask for the current payoff amount on your loan.
2. Find Out How Much Your Car is Worth on the Market
Trying to price your vehicle’s value on your own can be a little difficult, because the auto market fluctuates depending on the season, the year, and even the geography. You might remember how much you bought your car for, but you’ve probably put some wear and tear on it since then, depreciating the value. Even if the car is still in a similar condition to when you bought it, the price you paid isn’t a good estimate for its current value.
Instead of guessing, there are two common ways of determining the equity in a car:
How To Get Your Vehicle’s Current Value
1. Get an Appraisal at a Car Dealership
You can go to a reputable used car dealership to get an appraisal of your car. If there’s a used car auction house close to you, they should be able to give you an appraisal as well. This is an easy way to get an accurate value for your car because dealerships are everywhere.
A manager at the dealership will inspect the structural and cosmetic condition of your car and compare it to similar vehicles on the market to determine the value to the dealership. The whole process may take about half an hour and is typically be free. A car dealer should be able to tell you what they think the trade-in value of your car is and the market value as well.
2. Use an Online Appraisal Tool
Title loans serviced by LoanMart offer free cash value estimates for cars online.1 If you have a few minutes to spare and know the basic details about your car, you could hop online and fill out the short title loan questionnaire.
To receive an accurate car equity estimate, you will need to provide the following information about your car1:
- Vehicle Year
- Make and Model
- Body Style
- Mileage
If your car is worth enough money on the market, you could not only receive a free estimate online, but you could also be preapproved for a title loan!1 With title loans serviced by LoanMart, there are no obligations, so go ahead and see how much your car is worth.
Calculate Your Vehicle’s Equity
Now that you know the market value of your car, you can subtract what you still owe on your car from the current value – be sure to include the current payoff including any potential fees in the amount you owe. The difference is the equity in your car!
If you don’t have a loan on your car, your equity is just the value that you found for your car.
For example:
Let’s take a 2015 Ford F150 with 100,000 miles on it. Through the online cash value calculator, the car is estimated to be worth about $9,000.1 If the car owner still owes $1,500 on it, then the equity of the Ford F150 is $7,500.
Use the Equity in Your Car to Get an Auto Equity Loan
The equity in your car could help you secure the fast emergency cash you need to pay off an upcoming bill or handle a financial emergency! And when you work with title loans serviced by LoanMart, you could look forward to exclusive benefits such as competitive rates, flexible terms, and more.1
The approval process only consists of 3 simple steps, take a look:
- Click or Call: You could receive a free title loan quote by calling 855-422-7412 to speak with an agent or start by answering questions about your car online to get the equity and loan value estimate for your car or truck.
- Submit Your Documents: With online title loans, you can easily turn in your documents online by simply taking photos of your paperwork.
- Get Your Title Loan Money: Once your information is verified, you can be fully approved and able to receive your title loan money!1 If you inquired early in the day, it’s possible to receive your emergency cash by the end of the day!3
Inquire with title loans serviced by LoanMart today to take advantage of the equity in your car!1
