Car Financing

[Workdawg]

As most of you know, I'm buying my car pretty soon. I want to look for financing before I go to the dealership, so I'm looking for recommendations as to where I should go. For those with experience in this area, your help would be appreciated.

[dmention7]

Are you a member of a credit union? Typically they have pretty good rates.

[AJ]

A credit union is going to be a solid options, but outside of that, it's going to be based on your credit score and debt to income.

[Workdawg]

Unfortunately, I'm not a member of a credit union. My credit score is excellent, and my DTI is also low as my only debt right now are student loans that total maybe 1/6th of my yearly income.

Is it really worth it to try to find financing outside the dealership if I'm not a member of a CU?

[AJ]

Generally if you are going to pay on the loan for the life of the loan, yes, try and get yourself in with a Credit Union where the rate would benefit. If you think you'd pay it off sooner, and controll the overall intrests at your own pace, then no, use your credit and DTI to get the low dealer offered rates (good scores and varios deals could allow anywhere in the 0-5% range) and have at it.

[Jesse MS3GT]

My credit union got me a 7.4 APR whereas the dealerships closest rate was like 12 IIRC... not even close

[Z-licious]

Just remember that dealers often have rebates available, OR low finance options (0 to 3%). Do the math and figure out which option is better for you because choosing a low finance promotion usually locks you out of the rebate.

[Workdawg]

Neither of which apply to my brand-spanking new speed3 though. I guess I'll have to look up a credit union.

[cosmicspd3]

credit union ftw, thats how i did my car loan. no b.s. and they treat you right, they arent their to screw you over like other places....

[Big Nate]

I have both of my cars through a credit union. But when I bought the 6 I had the dealership finance me cuz they could give me better rebates. Then the next day I payed the loan off with a check from my credit union. The best the stealer ship could do was 11.5%. But my CU got me in at 7.5%.

[ZoomZoom Diva]

Shop around everywhere, including banks, credit unions, and the dealer. While credit unions have typically been lower, I have seen enough exceptions to make shopping around worthwhile.

The dealer got me a bank at 4.54% while the best I could find at a credit union was 6% at the time.

[WhiteSpy9]

financing is for noobs......

I guess since this in the "on point" I'll edit this....

The dealer got me in at 7.5% with some auto pay feature. I was actually pretty pumped that they didn't try to screw me on the interest rate. So don't cancel them out either!

I don't know what car you are buying, but I know mazda always advertises some low low interest rates on just about all their models except the mazdaspeed series too. 3.9% or even 0.0%

[Workdawg]

Speed3 for me... so no incentives. I'd love to pay for the car in cash, but I don't have 24k sitting in the bank. Jesse, the salesman I'm working with at Morrie's just bought a speed6 and the dealership got him 5.04%, so I'm hopeful they will be able to get me a good interest rate.

[MazdaMINI]

When I got my first car I went to five banks and two credit unions and a bank was able to get me the best deal. So I agree just shop around ask as many places as possible and see what they have to say.

[spek1098]

I will add my vote for a credit union, they are in the game to help their members as much as to make money. So they won't try to rape you every chance they get like the large corporate lenders will. I'd join one and see what rates they offer. More info you go into the dealer with the better. I know Morrie's has relationships with a few lenders, so if you go in with some numbers and it's lower then theirs they might be able to work a better deal for you.

[DrWebster]

Generally, if you walk into the dealer with your financing already established, it gives you an edge in negotiating the final price. One thing dealers like to do is haggle with you over the price to the point where you think you're getting a great deal, then screw you over in the financing department. If you do some searching on consumerist.com there's a number of articles there about how car dealers work and what to watch out for.

[Z-licious]

Actually it's kind of a good idea not to let the dealer know you have alternative financing worked out already. They will sometimes give you a low price but you with high interest rates. You don't care what interest rate they give you because you know you'll just pay it off immediately with the loan you get from somewhere else for a much lower interest rate.

[ij1889]

fuck it, lets rob a bank and we each buy a ms3, and might have some money left ove, what do ya say?

[Workdawg]

I already have a killer price worked out on the car, so that's not an issue.
As for financing with Morrie's, my plan is to find the best rate I can, and see if they will match/beat it.

Thanks for the advice.