i heard some people on here say never finance through the dealership. is this true? i financed my civic through hondafinancialservices.com and didn't have any problems with it

 

I dont see why it would be a problem. The only thing you really have to worry about is the interest rates and that usually depends on your credit. So do a little shopping around for the best interest rate and if you are happy with the rate the dealership financing offers you there is nothing wrong with it.

Check www.thinkbank.com they have amazing low rates around 3.99% for 60 months! You aint gonna beat that on a used car at a dealership. Their service is top notch as well I have used them before (and they are quick).

James

 

+1. Nothing wrong with using the stealer to finance. That's the way I've always gone.

 

try penfed.org... you can join as a supporter, they have rates on used cars as low as 3.99%

 

The reason why you do not finance at the dealership is because, because of the relationship that they have with the banks they do business with they can charge you up to 3% more in interest than what you qualify for. Most don't do that, but a quarter point here, a half point there... That makes them money. That is why they want you to finance with them.

I always urge people to get prequalified before going to the dealership and if the dealership can beat the finance rate that you already have then they have earned your business. But still... you may qualify for less of an interest rate.

 

rule of thumb, car related or not: never finance through a middleman and never finance through the most convenient route. 9 times out of 10 there will be hidden BPs. these beeps cover someone's 'service' to you, or someone's 'comission' for giving the bank business.

 

penfed SUCKS. I will never give them my business again.

I have had an account with them for years. I've had a loan with them prior. They approved me for a loan for my challenger, then came back and said they needed income verification. Some genius then came to the conclusion I only made 300 bucks a month.

I spent a lot of last week try to deal with them and finally to them to fuck off. They were consistently pains in the ass to deal with and no two reps OR supervisors were ever on the same page. They kept losing my faxes, etc etc etc. I will be writing a letter to the companies president on their shoddy service.

Instead I got approved by USAA in 5 minutes and had an electronic check in the end to show for it...and when I got the dealer they got me approved with GMAC at a rate even better THAN penfed offered.

 

I'm a fan of not buying the car until you can afford to buy it... however, if you absolutely NEED a new car, no biggie financing through the stealership. That is what I did back in the day and never had a problem...

 

I see no problem financing through the dealership. My dealership (finances through a major bank) gave me a better rate than my local credit union; and that credit union is great for financing. So but worked for me.

 

I am in the same position. My question is that I would try to get a loan before going to the dealer but I hate to get too many inquiries on my credit history but I guess I will have to.

in regards to getting financing outside the dealership, how hard is that process? In terms of payment and the car title issue.

 

Its always better to go into a dealer with options. So yes get approved for a loan with your bank...if the dealer comes back with a better offer...win/win

 

can you tell me more about them? I am interested. Can i do everything online?

 

In MA the dealer can only charge you 2 points over the buy rate (the rate the bank gives the dealer).

In reality, there is really no difference between financing at the dealer or with an outside bank. Yes it is true that the dealers is going to give you a higher APR than the buy rate they get from the bank, thats how they make money. On the other side of the coin, guess what the loan officer at the bank does to make money? Thats right, they give you a higher rate than what their buy rate too.

The big differrence between securing you financing at the dealer vs doing it on your own is that the dealer typically works with many banks on top of the manufacturers finance co. The dealer can rate shop for you at 5-10 banks in a matter of minutes, it would take you about a day to go to 5-10 banks to secure financing. If the dealer got rates from 4.9-6.9 for you from the bank, they are going to go with the lowest rate because that gives them the ability to mark it up a couple of points without you complaining the rate is to high.

That said, it makes sense to know your credit score and what type of rate that score should be able to get you before agreeing to any rate on a finance contract.

 

Sometimes dealer financing is the best deal....I remember when buying my TL, Honda Financial was offer 0.9APR for 36 months on a new car....it would be hard pressed to find that sorta offer from a outside bank....depending if OP is purchasing new or used at least.

 

Nothing wrong with dealer financing, as many have said. But, don't go in without doing your homework first. Find out what your FICO score is and print it out. Then research what rates the dealers are currently offering and compare them with your local credit unions. If the dealer can beat the credit union's rates, let them do so. In the end, it still comes down to your credit score and how much debt you currently have to get the best rates.

 

The dealership I went is shady as fuck. I went in there and had lower rates than they were offering me. They told me I had 45 days to bring the check in but they went ahead and signed me onto their lease anyway. There isn't a prepayment penalty fee, but I have to pay the interest for the 45 days and try to modify the loan or get refinancing now instead to pay off that loan they put on for. What assholes.

 

Do your homework, most dealers use credit unions in the area, we even used to use Capitol One to finance cars until they stopped wanting good credit people, they wanted to finance more high interest loans.

There's no problem using the dealer, often times (when I worked for one) I was able to finance someone when they couldn't find anything on their own. Granted, there were high interest rates involved but some people were just at a point where they NEED a car to get to work.

 

It all depends on the dealership. Some of them always try to f with you and others are not.

 

I always go in with financing taken care of. (I have actually used penfed for the past 12 years and 6 vehicles and have not had to many problems with them. They are a solid company with low rates).

Negoatiating on total price is the key. Don't let them talk to you about payment per month. Also go in with an auto loan calculator in your smartphone so you can run numbers.

 

I have had them for the last 10 years, my parents even longer. I will no longer deal with them.

They fucked up and insulted me so much I am drafting a letter to the president. And I never do that kind of thing.