Glossary

Commonly used automotive terms:

Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
Certified Pre-Owned (CPO)
Credit History
Credit Report
Credit Score
Down Payment
Miles Per Gallon (MPG)
Net Trade-in Allowance
Term
Trade-in Value
Vehicle History Report (VHR)

For more automotive terms (not listed above), visit www.fordvehicles.com/help/glossary.

Annual Percentage Rate (APR): Annual actual cost of credit, expressed as an equivalent yearly rate. It is intended to provide a common means of comparing the cost of credit available under different types of agreements.

Certified Pre-Owned (CPO): A pre-owned vehicle, available at a dealership which sells new models from the same manufactuer, featuring a warranty that extends beyond the initial original new vehicle coverage. The vehicle is commonly inspected and reconditioned. Most major automotive publications require the warranty to be backed by the original vehicle manufacturer to qualify for their definition of a certified used or certified pre-owned vehicle.

Credit History: Your credit history is based on your payment patterns to your creditors. This information is reported to credit reporting agencies, the most familiar being TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.

Credit Report: A report provided by a credit bureau regarding an individual's credit history, which includes payment history, current credit accounts, trade, inquiry and public records. The report also includes personal data such as address, employment and social security number.

Credit Score: An evaluation of an applicant's creditworthiness based on key attributes of the applicant. Such attributes may include payment history, current credit accounts, capacity to pay, payment-to-income ratio, payment-to-acquisition ratio and contract terms.

Down Payment: The amount of money you pay up front toward the financed purchase of a vehicle.

Miles Per Gallon (MPG): A standard metric that measures how many miles a vehicle can travel on one gallon of fuel, based on city and highway driving patterns. It is important to know that the methodology the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses to calculate fuel economy has been reworked for 2008 and newer models.

Net Trade-in Allowance: The net trade-in allowance for your vehicle is the dealer trade-in value less any amount owed on the vehicle you are trading in.

Term: If you finance the purchase of your vehicle, the term represents the number of months you agree to pay off the contract with equal monthly installments.

Trade-in Value: The value you may be offered by a dealer when trading in your used vehicle.

Vehicle History Report (VHR): An independent company aggregates a vehicle’s insurance and Department of Motor Vehicles’ records into a single report, thus providing information about a vehicle's title, registration and usage history.