MeltdowN

I just picked up my TL a few days back, a NBP/Ebony 6MT w/Nav. I ordered it, opting for Honda Financing since my dealer told me that I had been approved for 5.5% for 60 months. This was three weeks before delivery. Now my dealer tells me Honda isn't willing to finance but Chase is willing to do it for 6.75%. Honda's reason is that I'm not a US citizen and my work permit (H1 visa) is not 24 months old. For those of you who know about visas, I came to US on an F1 (student) visa and graduated with a Masters degree in December '04. The company I've been working for parttime for the past two years took me on fulltime since January and sponsored my H1B (work) visa.

Have any of you faced problems with Honda Financing in this regard, because I know I can afford to pay my bills and what's more important is that I have good job security (at least for the 5 yrs my loan will last). I will be speaking to Honda on Monday, trying to convince them. Any advice guys on how I might be able to convince them?

abirvalg

same visa here ...
only i bought the house first
when honda saw my credit score in high 750s there was no questions about how long i've been in the US
i got 3.75%

MeltdowN

I checked my credit score a few days back and it is about 720, so its not exactly pathetic, but the fact that you bought a house first obviously mattered to them. This is my first new car. The dealer went to extent of having to fax my bank statements to prove my income (about $80K and IMHO more than enough to afford to pay for the TL over 5 years). I wish they'd just contact me directly and sort their damn problems out.

abirvalg

how did it even come up that you're not a permanent resident?
i don't remember anybody asking me
and it wasn't part of any paperwork i filled out

MeltdowN

Well, there was a field called 'citizenship', I guess that's what triggered it.

plastikman

Honda Finance is a fucking joke, I went through the worst shit ever with them. They messed my paperwork up on my 05 TL , and then took there time fixing it, about a month or so went by before I saw any results. I reported them to the BBB, that didnt make them happy, but I dunno if anything will come of that either. My suggestion to you would be call around to a few banks and see what they are offering, but if you can stay away from honda finance.

Russdaddy

That is complete hogwash and the dealer knows this. They knew whether or not you were approved before you picked the car up. Take the car back and don't anything until you get all of this mess straightened out. And don't settle for the 6.75% interest rate either.

93SHOcar

I agree. I don't like the scenario that you have the TL and then the dealer "discovers" that Honda Finance wouldn't approve the loan but they are willing to "save the day" with a rate that is almost twice as high. You really need to move on this now. Check to see if you are employer has any type of credit union. Also, hit some of the websites such as bankrate.com to see what the going rates might be in your area. Good luck.

MeltdowN

Cool, thanks a lot for the input guys. My plan is, even if the dealer 'gets me approved' for 6.75%, I'll make him eat the extra interest or else I'll walk. At the same time, I'm trying to get a better APR from outside sources, so I can just pay him cash and close the matter. I'm having a hard time getting 5.5% or better because my credit isn't old enough.

stevenr

Try Capital One Auto Finance.

They have a group (used to be Peoples) that specializes in low interest rates for those with high credit ratings. Had the best rates and beat the dealer's special financing (stealer in your case) .

I used these guys and it was truly "no-hassel". The sent the check overnight.

I went on-line for approval. They will also give you a 0.5% better rate for automatic withdrawl out of your checking/savings account.

Highly recommended.

flatfoot

Funny matter. A week after I picked up my tl, (I financed only 10,000) thru honda financing, I got a letter from honda, telling me me loan didnt go through. And you know I signed the loan papers when I picked up the car. The loan was 5.02 percent for two years.
I called the dealer up, and told the salesman since you are now telling me the loan fell through for some reason, I will be bringing the car in later that day, and I expect a full check for the full amount of the car, upon the return of the car. LOL
Needless to say, within about two hours, I received numourous phone calls, and a fax from honda saying it was all a mistake, and now, my first serviceing per the sales manager is free, with a free detailing included.

mickey3c

It is not just honda financing...This happens all the time with mortgages as well. You could be working for like 6 years in an occupation and finally get the jump in salary from like 45 to 60K and a bank will not immediately allow you to borrow against the new salary level. (I have seen this happen to a relative.) So working 5-6 months full time does not mean much since regardless of what you say you can afford, there is always someone what says otherwise from a credit score/time on job perspective...


And there is always the advertised rate and the rate you pay. I am sure if you got a great deal they want to make it up on the other end.

ludachrisvt

iTrader: (2)

good job. you them. i love it!

ludachrisvt

iTrader: (2)

man ... whatever. They have a special college program when you graduate. If its been less than a year since graduation and u can show proof of employment they will finance you. I graduated in the middle of may, I got my car June 15 and started working June 28!

chill_dog

Check out www.bankrate.com...see what you can get on there. It's a great site.

MeltdowN

I applied for Capital One and got approved for 6.29%. I went down to the dealer and went straight to the manager's office; told him I'm not gonna take this shit and that if he doesn't give me the APR that he promised when I placed the order, that I'm gonna walk out leaving the car. He said that I couldn't do that since I'd already signed the contract. I told him that this is much worse a case than Bait and Switch and that the salesman had told me that I had been approved of 5.49% when I placed the order. How can that change, it's not like they re-reviewed my applicaiton. Also, the reason of not having a 24-month work permit seemed too lame since they could have decided that with one glance at my application. By then, he started to act like the salesman I was dealing with had made a mistake and that it had not actually been approved. I told him that's not my problem, it's his mistake and he had better fix it. Told him, if he wanted me to buy it at 6.75%, he'd have to pay the difference between that and 5.49%. He said, he is still negotiating with Honda Financing and that they hadn't completely denied it (yeah right!! I'm sure they totally approved it but the dealer wasn't making enough dough on the deal so he thought of trying to get me to switch financing). He said he'll give me a call later during the day confirming it. I told him clearly that I wasn't going to pay a cent over what had been agreed upon during the deal. I then took off for work.

I get a call towards evening and he tells me that he managed to get me financed for 5.25% from a credit union. Hmmm....interesting. That was some fast action. That sounded decent to me, so I finally went down to the dealer and resigned the contract for 5.25%. Anyway, now I'm a happy TL owner. End of story.

moahdib

I got really lucky when I picked up my TL. I walked in the dealership with Capital One for 4.75% which I was pretty happy, but lo and behold... my TL arrived on Memorial weekend (2004) and AHFC was doing a 2.9% on TSX, TL and MDX's for that weekend only!!!!
It was a no brainer for me. Cancelled my Capital One loan and went with AHFC

2.9% @ 60 months. =)

mickey3c

Yeah but what about financing! what rate did you pay lol.. The dude was talking about the rate he got. We all know there are college programs out there. My kid got one as well. The rate was not stellar if you get my drift and she did not need a cosigner, etc.

The point is they play these tricks all the time. The less you pay in $$ the more they usually try to get from you in %.

MeltdowN

I guess with my 2-year 11-month old credit history, 5.25% is decent for my first new car. I was shooting for 5.49% for the price I had negotiated (which was $33,450 for 6MT Black/Ebony w/Nav and 35% tint all round, definitely higher than some of the prices I've seen on this forum). Anyway, after all the fiasco, I walked off paying the price I had negotiated at a slightly lower APR, which is fine by me