New Car Buying Incentive: Tip-of-the-Day #131

GET YOUR NEW CAR - WITHOUT THE ANXIETY

Need a new car but worried about losing your job in this economy and not being able to keep up with payments? There's help! Two automakers and a dealership chain are offering programs that cover car payments if you get laid off, and one automaker will even let you return a vehicle for a refund!

Because traditional cash rebates and other proven incentives haven’t been drawing buyers like they used to, automakers are looking to more creative ways to get people into their new car - and it helps you and me!

Ford is offering a payment-protection program that covers monthly car payments of $700 or less on new Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models for up to 12 months.

General Motors also has a payment-protection plan available and it covers up to $500 a month for nine months. All of its vehicles, except for those from Cadillac, Hummer or Saab, qualify. A Hyundai program that runs through the end of the year lets buyers who involuntarily lose their jobs return vehicles for a refund of up to $7,500.

Chrysler, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen are among the automakers that currently do not offer payment protection. However, buyers interested in vehicles from these companies can take advantage of a program offered by AutoNation, a large car dealership group. It covers payments of up to $500 a month for six months on all makes and models of new and pre-owned vehicles sold by the dealer group.

The coverage doesn't cost you a penny. In order to qualify you just have to be employed for a month or two before buying your vehicle, and you must remain employed and/or make payments for a certain period of time after the purchase — in some cases up to 90 days, as with AutoNation’s program.

If you've been needing a new car, now be may the time to make that purchase!