HELOC for a Car

There is a very interesting article in the New York Times discussing how HELOCs were used to fuel the auto sales during the Great Housing Bubble. And how much did the HELOCs fuel auto sales -

Home equity loans, which had been used in at least one of every nine deals, when lenders were more generous, are no longer a source of easy money for many prospective buyers.

Wow, one out of every nine vehicles were purchased through a HELOC. Check out the following graphy to see that almost 30% of autos in California were purchased through a HELOC and almost 20% in Florida.


During the Great Housing Bubble money was being given away. Everyone was doing great and everyone was a financial genious. Now with HELOCs getting shut down everything is being affected. Compound that with the rise in gas prices and things look bleaker everyday - across the board for everyone. At least the smart ones paid for the entire vehicle prior to foreclosure so the bank writing off the HELOC in essence paid for the car.