The color of your skin can affect your auto loan rate
The AP is reporting that blacks have been charged higher auto loan rates than other auto buyers. From the article, blacks paid a typical auto loan rate of 7% for new cards compared with 5% of white people.
See the article here at la.com - Auto loan rates higher for blacks?
I’m not sure what the color of your skin has to do with whether or not you are risk to a lender. But like it says in the article, auto dealers have some control of the rate based on the risk. Of course, they aren’t going to discuss the rate with the customer. Most auto dealers won’t even admit that they have the option of adjusting the rate with the lender. The dealer can always make it go higher to make the risk look good to the lender, but I’m sure there is a buffer to how much they would lower at it. Remember, a lender is the business of making money and the dealership is in the middle of trying to sell the car to you while getting their kickback from the bank.
Consider saving a huge down payment if you decide to make a new car purchase. If your car is on the fritz, get a used car that you can afford and keep the number of payments. In other words, don’t opt for the 5 year loan to make your car payments affordable - buy a car that works with your budget, not the other way around.