"Buying Now: Incentives for Worthy Borrowers" Edmunds Daily

Buying Now: Incentives for Worthy Borrowers

As my colleague Lee pointed out earlier today, unlike the so-recent past, car loans are no longer as easy to get as a Happy Meal. In the economic paradox of our times, car makers are offering big incentives in an effort to move metal, but car loans are tougher to get.

That said, if you are credit worthy and are in the market for new wheels, you still need to do your homework. There are a lot of tempting incentives out there, and they're not just on vehicles you wouldn't typically be considering. Toyota, for example is offering 0 percent financing on Corolla, Camry and RAV4, in addition to its larger SUVs and trucks. GM is offering low (though not 0 percent) financing as well on most of its vehicles.

Don't know whether to take the low financing or cash incentive? You can compare the two using Edmunds Low Financing versus Cash Back calculator. That and many other useful tips can be found in this article on buying a new car in a slow economy.

John DiPietro, Automotive Editor