This weekend while being snowed in, I watched an interesting infomercial and immediately thought of The Dollar Stretcher. It was for a car loan place called "Open Check". The website is opencheck.com. Apparently according to the infomercial and website, in just 15 minutes you can get an open check to take to a car dealer and get a new car. The more I watched of the infomercial, the more red flags were going up. I went to the website and couldn't find the real story about this. Maybe you could check into this and explain the real story about this type of car loan. I'm guessing it's a legitimate car loan, but at some ridiculously high interest rate for 10 years or maybe longer.
Carla
Carla,
So you were snowed in and want to know whether the real snow job is outside or inside your home. Good question.
If warning flags are going up, it's usually time to run away (and take your checkbook with you). You might miss some opportunities that way, but you'll avoid painful mistakes. You and I both know that "Open Check" is not loaning money because they think you're a nice person and they want to be your friend. They're loaning money to make even more money. And, that means that they need to get some money from you.
Now it could be that they've found a way to make the loan process more efficient and that will save you money and make them a big profit. But, it could just be a web gimmick to keep borrowers from finding cheaper loans.
I'd be very cautious. You're right. They're sending up caution flags. Their web application is very simple. But, it does ask for your social security number, birth date, address and mother's maiden name. If they were identity theives (and let's be clear I'm NOT saying that they are) that would be enough information to cause you some serious problems. Giving out that type of personal info should be done very, very cautiously. And only when you know that the company receiving the information is trustworthy. Let's assume that Open Check is an honest, above board company. The trouble is that we don't know that for sure. And, I don't see how a website can give you that confidence.
A couple of other thoughts on the subject. If you have a good credit rating and are looking for a reasonable loan amount, there are plenty of places to shop for the best auto loan. Your bank or credit union. A dealer will have options. There's no reason to go to an unknown website that asks dangerous questions.
On the other hand, suppose that you've gone to those places and they don't want to loan you the money you need for the car you want. Then what? You could try something like Open Check and hope for the best. But, it could be that the legitimate lenders have a message for you (if you're willing to listen). They may be saying that you can't afford the car that you're trying to buy. You can force the issue by finding a loan that you think you can repay. Of course, you'll be making car payments that will affect how much money you have for everything else in your life. (think of the people driving fairly new SUV's who are struggling to put gas in them now)
If you have credit problems, you might need to invest some money into repairs for your current ride. Wait a few years until you've rebuilt your credit score. That's really not so bad an option either. It's almost always cheaper to put money into your existing car than to trade it for something newer/better. Instead of making payments, you'll have money earning interest.
So until you're very sure about "Open Check" I'd steer clear of them. There's just too many ways that this offer could go wrong for you.
Keep on stretching those dollars!
Gary
