Bad Credit Scooter Loans

If you have bad credit, then financing a scooter - or any vehicle for that matter - can be a painstaking process. Given these hard economic times, creditors are pretty tightfisted with their money. Credit applicants with a record of unpaid bills, bankruptcy, and other issues represent a much higher risk to their business. For that reason, you will have to work harder - and smarter - to secure a scooter loan with bad credit.

1. Review Your Credit Report:  Before you begin the process, you need to know where you stand. That means checking your credit report. Once per year, you can request a free credit report from each of the 3 primary credit reporting bureaus via this website:  www.annualcreditreport.com. This is mandated as free annually by the FTC. However, you do have to pay a small fee to receive your credit score, which is different from your credit report.
   
2. Optimize Your Credit Score:  Next, you need to make sure that everything on your credit report is accurate. Issues like false bankruptcies that never happened, or reports of bills being unpaid which you paid off long ago are not uncommon. Creditors report your behavior to the bureaus, and human error does happen. If you see anything awry, make a claim to whichever credit bureau(s) are showing the inaccuracy on record. They are required by law to investigate inaccuracies within a period of 30 days. Having such a problem removed from your record could quickly boost your score, as well as how tidy your report looks to a prospective scooter lender.
   
3. Pre-Arrange Financing:  As with car-buying, you want to pre-arrange your scooter loan before going to the dealership (if possible). That means visiting local banks and credit unions to apply for bad credit scooter loans. Dealers may either work with third-party lenders or approve financing in-house; either way, they have many opportunities to skim profits off the top and stick you with the cost (such as inflated interest rates). For that reason, it's ideal to secure financing from a financial establishment with which you have a good record of trust.
   
4. If Needed, Resort to Subprime Lenders:  Unfortunately, banks and credit unions may turn you away due to your credit score. After all, they prefer to work with borrowers who have stellar credit, 700 credit score or above. If this is the case, you may be able to scooter loans for bad credit via "buy here pay here" motorcycle dealerships. These establishments will allow you to finance a scooter directly through them. You make your payments to the dealership on a weekly or monthly basis. Warning:  the interest rates for buy here pay here scooter financing are steep, steep, steep.  Still, if you have good income and credit is the only thing standing in your way, the payments on a scooter should not be very high.
   
5. Make Your Payments on Time:  Once you do secure your bad credit scooter loan, it's essential to continue making your installment payments ON TIME. Falling behind on payments will only worsen your credit score - a problem you can't afford. Recent statistics have shown that bad credit can cost you upwards of $200,000 over the course of your lifetime. By making your payments and not falling delinquent, you can actually help climb out of the credit hole in which you may have already fallen.
   

It's crucial to insure your scooter so as to avoid legal or financial trouble. In most states, scooter insurance is required by law, at least in the form of liability coverage. Additionally, some scooter loan lenders will make it mandatory for you to carry insurance coverage on your scooter. Luckily, you can often insure a scooter for about a $100 per annum.