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Interest rates on houses are low, but interest rates on vehicles are... Not so low.

Besides, it doesn't matter what the prime interest rate is - the consumer rate is always (prime + markup)%.

Eh. Subprime rates, maybe. But I've got two car loans, one under 2%, one under 1%. I feel like I should pay them off early on principle (as opposed to principal), but it would be foolish to divert investment funds to paying them off early.

With a good enough credit rating, and in tough enough times, you can get 0% loans, no payments for 12 months. Sometimes, the need to dump inventory outweighs the need to make money on loans.

(Of course, if you miss a payment, that 0% rate will jump to 12%.)

Assuming you can stomach the risk, if you can get a car loan for 1% and a market return of >1%, then you would be better off taking the loan, investing your money, and paying off the loan later.

Really? Both our cars are financed at < 2%. Cheap auto loans are all over the place.

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