Hyundai's got your back if you lose your job

There were plenty of interesting Super Bowl ads during Sunday's game, but Hyundai's "Assurance Deal" ad caught my ear, if not my eye, when the announcer said the car company would take a Hyundai back if the buyer lost a job within a year of buying it.

As someone who was laid off last year, and who has a car approaching 200,000 miles, this got my attention. The assurance program allows buyers who finance or lease a car from Hyundai to return it if they lose a job or have another life changing event, such as a physical disability or having a self-employed personal bankruptcy. It allows the owner to walk away from negative equity in the car without hurting their credit for up to a year after buying or leasing the car.

It's an interesting idea, to be able to walk away from a car loan within a year if you involuntarily lose your job and couldn't afford the payments anymore. Everyone knows that a car depreciates the second it is driven off the dealer's lot, and this program helps deal with that issue.