Comments on: Ingenious Car Refinancing – Prosper

By: Aimvest

Aimvest — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 06:33:05 +0000

It takes a lot of effort to work the community at Prosper and get a loan request funded. Though there are many times I question the financial acumen of some borrowers, at the same time, I am thrilled to be able to utilize it in helping friends and family realize some of their dreams. My first loan as a group leader in fact is a good friend who is a truck driver. While his credit grade is terrible, it is his one good avenue to getting a down payment for a truck. As an owner operater he has a good chance of doubling his salary. Without peer-to-peer financing support, this dream could not be realized.

By: Chris S

Chris S — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 01:33:12 +0000

Caladia’s loan rate has been bid down to just under 9% now. This is because
A) She posts on the Prosper forums a lot, says reasonable things, so people are somewhat familiar with her
B) She has an obvious surefire way to pay back her loan. So people aren’t afraid to bid down the interest rate, because they are sure they’ll get paid back.

By: financial independence » Blog Archive » prosper.com borrowing and lending

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 16:59:00 +0000

[...] Ingenious Car Refinancing – Prosper An interesting story about creative financing – lady pays off car loan that required expensive insurance coverage with a loan through Prosper.com, and saves a bundle. http://www.pfadvice.com/2006/08/28/ingenious-car-refinancing-prosper/ [...]

By: makingourway

makingourway — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:55:22 +0000

Great advice. I think it makes lots of sense. Wonderful article.
Caladia, good luck – btw, lovely name.
We too maintain fairly high insurance deductibles. In general, most repairs under $1000 you really wouldn’t want to claim anyway. They happen far too often – think of the shopping cart flying into your car door at the grocery.
The raised premium and claims history effecting renewals would be far too unpleasant.

Regards,
makingourway

By: Caladia

Caladia — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:04:15 +0000

Wow, thank you for the clear, well-written article. You got everything right!

I’m the person who’s paying off my car with Prosper, and in response to Max’s comment, above, he’s right about keeping at least some insurance.

I want to make clear that I am *not* dropping comprehensive or collision coverage– like Mapgirl, I’m basically just raising the deductibles from $280 to $1000. (I could manage $1000 if anything were to happen.)

Also, advice to anyone using Prosper, if you have good credit, set the interest rate as high as you are willing to accept. If you have a good listing, there’s a good chance that lenders will bid the rate down. This is my second loan with Prosper. (I paid the first one off early.) It’s a great site. If you haven’t seen it, check it out!

By: mapgirl

mapgirl — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 13:11:46 +0000

Prevailing wisdom is to drop a large portion of coverage once a vehicle is over 5 yrs old. I didn’t drop coverage but I did raise my deductible, which essentially halved my car insurance.

I think this was a great interview with a Propser borrower. Thanks for taking the time to write this post. It definitely makes me less wary of Prosper, and now I know what to look for in a listing. Thanks!

By: Max

Max — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 12:16:00 +0000

I would think long and hard about dropping full coverage on a ~$7,000 car to refinance at loansharking 16% through a brand-spanking-new technology.

Somebody drove into my wife’s 2002 Ford Focus when it was parked at a grocery store. We had to replace the fender, the hood, coil springs, headlights, and the bumper. The bill was $2,300, but we only paid a $400 deductible.

Things like “getting driven into in a parkig lot”, or “hitting a deer on the freeway” DO happen. One of the 6,500,000 car accidents a year could involve her even if she’s an expert driver. If this lady can justify saving a grand over three years by dropping to “liability only” insurance, more power to her. I don’t think I’d drop the coverage until my car is worth $3,000 – $4,000.