Best Cars For Bad Credit Customers

Top Values In The $10,000 to $12,000 Range

For reasons too numerous to explain here, most bad credit auto loans are in the $10,000 to $12,000 range. So that got us to thinking -- where are the bargains in that price range? We'll break it into new and used.

First the good news. There are new cars on the market with an invoice price starting in the $10,000 range. The bad news, according to the experts, is that once you add some desirable options, most of these cars creep up toward $15,000. Indeed one of the top auto research sites on the Web, www.edmunds.com, uses $15,000 as its baseline for entry-level vehicles.

The Chevrolet Aveo, an economy subcompact, is
advertised as the lowest priced car in America. You'll see
invoice prices in the $11,300 range, but it is
often the subject of rebates and incentives,
which gets it into our $10K car price range.
It also gets 37 mpg.

The Kia Rio has been advertised as the
highest rated subcompact car for two
years in a row by J.D. Power, and
Consumer Reports rated it a 64 (on
a scale that had a Toyota Yaris a 50
with its price tag around $11,000).
The Hyundai Accent (which is
essentially the same car as the Rio)
got a Consumer Reports score of a 62,
but again desirable features add thousands

to the cost. By comparison, the Ford Focus invoices at $12,997 but doesn't need a lot of the add-ons. Consumer Reports gave it a 62 and said "all versions tested well."

Other entry-level new cars of note include the Chevy Cobalt, Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris and the Honda Fit. Suzuki has five vehicles listed for under $15,000, and they score better than you would expect with the experts.

Proceed to best used car bargains >>>

Luxury Cars And Bad Credit? You Bet!

Twenty percent of all used Mercedes are sold to people with less than prime credit. And Mercedes is not alone.

There are two factors in the increase of upscale cars with subprime customers. First, there are more people with credit dings than without. Secondly, cars last a lot longer than they used to. So while an 08 Cadillac Escalade may go for $55,000 new, you can find an original 99 Escalade nowadays for around $13,000.

Bottom line: You can indeed have the car of your dreams. It just may be three, five or seven years old.