Quote:
Originally Posted by codesplice
This was my first time looking to finance a new car so I can't speak for past experience, but I was pleasantly surprised that Subaru came through cheaper. USAA has given me awesome rates for mortgage, insurance, and credit cards.
And FWIW, my loan ended up being handled by PNC Bank. So far, so good - but haven't made my first payment yet  |
Yeah, I think Subaru Finance sends out loan offers to different banks, and they offer at an APR based on your credit history that they think they can get, and they go with whoever gives the best rate. Or at least that's what I understand it from what the finance manager from my local dealership told me, but that Subaru Finance does have one main bank they mainly use, even though they can get the loan through other banks. Or something like that.
I'm not really good at applying my math skills and whatnot to business stuff like this. So, it's a little fuzzy to me.
And yeah, USAA is usually #1 in hooking me up on everything else. But I'm starting to think that part of how such a small company such as Subaru is so spectacularly successful among the big car manufacturers is partly due to this. Maybe just part of what they need to do to stay competitive?
In regards to payment, I use what's called "smart pay". It's a separate company that makes automatic payments for me once every two weeks. They pay half the monthly payment every 2 weeks. Since that's actually MORE than twice a month, but close to it, it ends up costing monthly about the same amount, but actually pays more. Anything extra over the monthly goes directly to paying off the principle loan amount (what you actually owe). It ends up paying off the loan 6-7 months early for 5-8 year loans, which results in you overall paying the bank less than if you just faithfully paid the monthly once a month. And it being automatic means you won't be missing a payment due to "oops I just forgot" (which is common for me). So it helps you to keep building a positive credit history too. It's part of what's made owning a financed vehicle fairly easy, as it just makes the car payments just part of the normal monthly expenses that is simply automatically taken care of, just like my rent and utilities.