Soo close...

[kALMIGHTY]

Originally Posted by ZionsWrath

He may have to put a certain amount down. When I got my loan it wasn't a problem but none of the banks would loan over 25000 and some wanted high rates. I ended up with ~3.5

Hmm that's weird. I got the car earlier this year, and considering I'm only 19, I'm glad I was able to get the car with $0 down without any issues.

[kcam86]

Originally Posted by ZionsWrath

I wish I used the money to move out before buying this car but too late now. That is what I suggest, but if you still get it w/e YOLO right ?

I work for toyota so I have some insight how this goes. Do not tell them you have 10k to put down. First what I would do is see if you can get outside financing through a credit union (they normally have the lowest interest rate). Once you have a draft in hand you have a good idea what the dealership can get you approved on. If you havent had a car in your name yet most banks will be reluctant to finance you on sports car. So before you step in the dealership have the draft print up the invoice off edmunds and make sure to print financing offers that maybe going on. To give you an idea invoice on a bare 2013 mt frs is roughly 24.5k. Once you're in show them the edmunds print up and tell them you don't want to pay dollar more for the respective vehicle. Dont be an ass and use a base print out and try to by the most loaded one you'll just waste your time. Make it cut and dry and go beforenthr year end you can get some deals. Once you agree on the final price your comfortable with then tell them you have some money to put down. Honestly I wouldn't put more than 3 down. If all else fails print out the offer and message me and I can explain if you got a good deal before you buy.

[N1rve]

As everyone says, interest rate.

Here's the interest rate when I was purchasing my car.



I've been establishing credit since I was 17, so I qualified for the "super tier". Financing my FRS @ 1.9% currently.

Without any credit, over 20% interest rate...that's crazy.

I only put down 6k which is like 20% of the overall car.

Consider GAP insurance as well.

[Frstorm]

Only consider gap with but minimal down. If you say put 5k down why pay for gap when you already owe less than its worth?

[86-tundra]

Originally Posted by serith

Savings accounts yield next to nothing. Even online "high yield" accounts at best pay 0.85% or so. If the OP hasn't opened an IRA yet, I would take $5500 of that 10k and immediately fund a target retirement Roth IRA with Vanguard and invest in index funds. Keep the remainder of the money liquid in case of emergency.

Wow, some actual advice on these forums? This is excellent advice, op, listen to this guy.

[86-tundra]

Originally Posted by N1rve

As everyone says, interest rate.

Here's the interest rate when I was purchasing my car.



I've been establishing credit since I was 17, so I qualified for the "super tier". Financing my FRS @ 1.9% currently.

Without any credit, over 20% interest rate...that's crazy.

I only put down 6k which is like 20% of the overall car.

Consider GAP insurance as well.

those rates are horrible for the associated credit score. you can get much better financing elsewhere.

[YMAA]

Originally Posted by trevorovert

those rates are horrible for the associated credit score. you can get much better financing elsewhere.

Agreed. With Subaru Motors Finance (Chase bank) I got 2.99% over 63 months at age 26 with a FICO score of around ~700 but next to no credit history. I told them up front I was putting down $15,000 plus the 1k from trade-in in the hopes that a nice fat down payment would net me a better rate. Frankly, I was amazed I got below 8% with my lack of history.

Originally I was approved for 3.9% over 60 months but when I went to the dealer to pick up the car and discussed warranty packages with the finance guy, he said if I went with the Platinum warranty (which includes tire and rim protection even for aftermarket parts...the only reason I wanted it) he'd knock the APR down to 2.99% and increase the term by 3 months.

It ends up being about the same total payment but since I'm paying extra each month to pay it off early the extra 3 months becomes irrelevant.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by YMAA

Agreed. With Subaru Motors Finance (Chase bank) I got 2.99% over 63 months at age 26 with a FICO score of around ~700 but next to no credit history. I told them up front I was putting down $15,000 plus the 1k from trade-in in the hopes that a nice fat down payment would net me a better rate. Frankly, I was amazed I got below 8% with my lack of history.

Originally I was approved for 3.9% over 60 months but when I went to the dealer to pick up the car and discussed warranty packages with the finance guy, he said if I went with the Platinum warranty (which includes tire and rim protection even for aftermarket parts...the only reason I wanted it) he'd knock the APR down to 2.99% and increase the term by 3 months.

It ends up being about the same total payment but since I'm paying extra each month to pay it off early the extra 3 months becomes irrelevant.

How does that protect aftermarket parts?

[Wolfking]

I sold new vehicles many years ago. The deal to overcome little or no credit was $5k down. I'd get solid details on what apr Scion is offering to give you. After that, go to a credit union and ask them what rate they will offer you. I like Community America.

Remember! If you get a good rate you have an option to put some of your savings down and leave some for wheels and tires or any upgrades you may want. On the other hand, $10k down means there will be less of a monthly payment that you must make. God speed!

[Flashgodspeed]

A lot of good advice 0.o thanks all.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Flashgodspeed

So I've been fantasizing about this car since I found out about it.......... what I should look out for as a 21 y.o. walking into a dealership?....

Well, congratulations, Flashgodspeed, you picked a good starter car .....

I reckon it's good for young folks starting out in life with a new, dependable, automobile.....

However, they will miss out on a lot of life's experiences.

Like; buying used tires or retreads; finding car parts in junk yards; carrying extra spark plugs, fan belt, fuel pump, jumper cables, auto tools, tire tube patches, baling wire, duck tape, tire pump, permatex, etc.....

Yep, they sure will miss a lot ....

humfrz

[Flashgodspeed]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Well, congratulations, Flashgodspeed, you picked a good starter car .....

I reckon it's good for young folks starting out in life with a new, dependable, automobile.....

However, they will miss out on a lot of life's experiences.

Like; buying used tires or retreads; finding car parts in junk yards; carrying extra spark plugs, fan belt, fuel pump, jumper cables, auto tools, tire tube patches, baling wire, duck tape, tire pump, permatex, etc.....

Yep, they sure will miss a lot ....

humfrz

Lol don't worry. My knuckles remember all to well the stresses of used cars

[suaveflooder]

Originally Posted by kALMIGHTY

I'm by no means experienced in the field. Damn, I'm not even 20 years old yet (1 more day!), but from what I figured out when I went in to get my car 5 and a half months ago is that you don't want to tell them you want to put any money down.

Generally, go in with an idea of what to expect. Use the Scion website to get a quote from their Build and Price feature, and know the numbers you got, or print it so you remember. Armed with that knowledge, go in and ask them what they can give you, and compare that to what the website told you. If they're not giving you a better deal than what the website gave you, they're trying to take an advantage of you to see if you'll fall for a crap deal, and if they won't budge from their crap deal, look elsewhere.

Price it out all with $0 down by the way, and make sure their interest rate is as low as possible.

Also, try to put down the least amount of money is possible. Now, people may not agree with this, but the idea is that if you put $10,000 down, they will basically take the money, and divide it by the number of months in your term (let's say 48 months in this case) and that's how much your monthly payment will go down by, or biweekly, in which case they would divide the $10,000 by 96 payments and lower it by that amount for each payment you make.

Depending on your interest rate, ask yourself this: is putting down $10000 upfront at the beginning of 4 years worth it to lower your payments, when you could basically pay the same amount slowly over 4 years? Let's say something happens and you need cash in a different situation, you may have higher biweekly or monthly payments, but you also have $10000 in cash available as a rainy day fund in case you ever need it for something. Is it worth it to tie up that large sum of money right up front by handing it over to the dealer?

When I got my car, they explicitly said there were no penalties for paying my car off earlier than the intended 60 months, or paying more than my monthly every month. So I could pay twice my monthly payment one month when my budget allows and slowly decrease the remaining amount that way if I so choose, but I still have that $10000 I initially put aside in the beginning instead of handing it over to the dealer for a lower monthly payment.

If there's a difference in the amounts you have to pay because of the interest rate, see if you can throw that $10000 in a savings account with a decent interest rate to earn some money from your cash to offset that difference.

Good luck!

The only thing I might caution here is unless you get something UNDER 2% (which with no credit might be tricky) or so, you want/need to put down a hefty down payment on the car. That, or make sure that their is no penalty for paying the car off early. If there is, put it all down right away, if not, spread that $10k out over the first couple months and pay the car off as fast as possible.

Another option is wait a couple months and get a credit card through a credit union. When you can qualify for something like a 1.49% (which most credit unions are offering here in SoCal, not too sure about where you live) get the car then and pay it off slowly. You aren't loosing much money and like @kALMIGHTY said, the money would be good for a rainy day, or if you are wise, it would be better to invest that $10k and actually make some money off it.

[bestwheelbase]

Know that dealer salesmen are mostly ignorant about the cars but savvy about techniques to profit from you.

Know that for informed customers, like most enthusiasts on this forum, the whole role of a salesman is unnecessary. (You know what you want, it should be no different than buying a CD player from Best Buy right?)

Check the white list in your area for dealers that are less shady.

Watch out for silly add-ons like window tint, warranty / maintenance plans, nitrogen in the tires, because they will be grossly overpriced and/or unnecessary.