best place to get auto loan?

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by eikond

If you are worried about qualifying for a loan, now is the time to check into it.

Go to a local credit union or a bank you are comfortable with and sit down with a loan officer and ask for a pre-approval. They will be able to take a loan application and run credit and give you a yes/no decision. If it's a "no" they should be able to tell you why, and offer some advice to remedy. You still have two months or more until the first run of BRZ's come in.. That should give you some time to make a positive impact on your credit score.

Some tips to improve credit:
1.) Pay off and clear up and collections or judgments. Sometime people have small $ value collections that show up and make a huge negative affect on their score. If you think they are bogus, file a dispute with each of the three credit agencies. The lender/collection agency bears the burden of proof and often won't respond to the collection agency inquiry, so many times they will go away. If they are small amounts, just pay them off and ask the agency to remove from your credit record entirely rather than simply marking them paid. Even the latter is still a step in the right direction.

2.) Make sure you're credit balance ratios are in check. Nobody knows for sure, but the running theory is that your balance to limit ratio's are marked in 20% increments. So, do what you can to get your balance ratio under that next 20% level. Example.. if you have a credit card with a $10,000 limit and you owe $8500, you are at 85% utilization ratio.. that is bad.. pay it down to $7900 to get under the 80% threshold. If you can pay it down to $5900, that's better yet.. $3900.. better yet.. (Again, the 20% intervals are theory based on my research and may not be exactly correct.. but I do know for sure that the lower your balance compared to your limit.. the better!). If you have any credit accounts that are at or over limit.. PAY THEM DOWN! Being over credit limit or right at it is death to your credit score!

3.) Do not take out any new credit accounts if you plan to buy the car in the next 3-5 months. Credit accounts are a two-edged sword. You need to have credit history to show that you are credit-worthy, so having open and current credit balances is helpful. But having brand new credit accounts actually hurts you. The agencies score you down if you've opened new accounts recently as they are concerned that you are expanding your credit risk more quickly than your ability to pay. If you have too little credit and need to open a line or two to help.. then make sure you do it right away, but don't plan on it being a big help until you've established those accounts for 3+ months and shown perfect payment history on them for that time period.

4.) Don't get your credit pulled more than once between now and when you wish to buy the car. You need to have it pulled once to learn your status and know how to fix it. But don't have it pulled again until you are ready to buy the car. That means, no rental application credit checks, no credit cards, no repeat pulls, etc.. having your credit pulled too frequently hurts your score.. the Agencies think you are preparing to abuse your credit-worthyness and will score you down. However, once you are ready to buy the car, you can shop multiple places in a short time period and that will not hurt your score. There is a regulation that states that you can have multiple auto loan or multiple mortgage loan credit inquiries in a short time period (one month) and they only count as one pull when evaluating score. This was done to allow customer the ability to shop lenders without adverse affect on their score.


For the record.. I was a mortgage lender for 6 years and learned these things through experience on the job. I am not/was not a credit councellor... these are just educated opinions that I've gained through working with 100's of customer and their credit situations.

Generally good advice here, I'd only suggest being cautious in having your credit run. If you'd have 2 or so inquiries in the past year or so already having that third one run can affect your score when you do it for real in a few months. Most pre approvals are good for 45 days then they will need to rerun your credit. Instead I'd just bring them your score/report (print a copy), and tell them your other info that they ask for to see if they'll give you an estimate.. I avoid inquiries as much as possible and only have people run my credit when there's an actual need.

[86'd]

My credit union is awesome.

I just financed a new Prius at their best rate, and actually went through a program (Autonation Direct) to get -3% off of MSRP.

It was one of the best car buying experiences I've had.

And it's one of the reasons I'll wait probably until next year to buy the FRS/BRZ (among other financial reasons).

I obviously don't have anything against financing, but if you need a cosigner and/or don't have the credit to buy a new car, it's probably not the best idea. Wait until you have the cash saved up (even then you should probably save it), a decent job, and some good credit history under your belt.

I think it's a question of if there's any doubt in your mind that you won't get a loan, or think that you'll get a high rate, then you probably shouldn't take one out.

[engee]

Originally Posted by powertrip

Then you shouldnt be buying a new car with a loan.

+1

Definitely live within your means.

Even if you get a loan, you will probably be paying more in interest and will be effectively paying more for what you thought you bought the car for. Car payments are part principal and part interest. If you take a $27,000 loan and put 10% down with 2.49% APR financing for 5 years, you will be paying $5,173.84 a year.

Interest paid is as follows:
Year 1 - $553
Year 2 - $436
Year 3 - $317
Year 4 - $195
Year 5 - $70

Assuming that you are a freshman, I do not think this would be the best choice as you are literrally giving money to the bank for no reason and you probably need it for other college activities. :happy0180:

$553 for a fresman is a hefty chunk of change in my opinion.

Hope this helps!

[hanabie]

Originally Posted by Oriental Life

Try out local credit unions. If your credit age is at least 2-3 years and your score is what you say, they will deal with you better than big banks.

yep my credit age is almost 3 years
Thanks will do.

[slizoth]

I always find it amusing when people say live within your means while they are financing a car. Doesnt within your means imply you're able to fund it yourself?

Cars and Houses, seems like once you get those two things paid off, making 30k/year after taxes really isnt too bad. It's when you're still trying to acquire those major assets that you think fuck, I need to make more money now!

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by slizoth

I always find it amusing when people say live within your means while they are financing a car. Doesnt within your means imply you're able to fund it yourself?

Cars and Houses, seems like once you get those two things paid off, making 30k/year after taxes really isnt too bad. It's when you're still trying to acquire those major assets that you think fuck, I need to make more money now!

Could and willing to are different things. Some people would prefer to keep their liquid assets.. well liquid. Some would prefer to gain higher returns than they would pay in car loan interest (which is my situation).

You could say the same for a house but very few people go and buy a $200,000 house in cash.

IMO living within your means is defined by being able to do whatever you want without incurring loads of 'bad' debt, which I define as revolving debt accounts, not as installment accounts.

[Tbxgz]

Originally Posted by dookie11

But what if you're a full-time student and have minimal income?

If your willing to make other sacrifices, Its up to you how you spend your money.


http://www.hark.com/clips/sgkztcypxp-live-for-excess

Baconator, EXTRA BACON!

[S2kphile]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

Could and willing to are different things. Some people would prefer to keep their liquid assets.. well liquid. Some would prefer to gain higher returns than they would pay in car loan interest (which is my situation).

You could say the same for a house but very few people go and buy a $200,000 house in cash.

IMO living within your means is defined by being able to do whatever you want without incurring loads of 'bad' debt, which I define as revolving debt accounts, not as installment accounts.

+1. Hit it right on the head. I love having financial freedom to do whatever I want when I want; more so, then having depreciating tangible assets like cars/toys/etc. A person should have a mindset of if I make a dollar how can I make it into 2 or 3 dollars. Or a person can get a car they can afford while still living at home with parents and eating top ramen.

To OP: Credit Unions seem to be the best places to get loans. Shop around for the best rate and then take it to the dealership. They or Subaru might even offer you a better rates because they want your business.

[dookie11]

Originally Posted by 86'd

My credit union is awesome.

I just financed a new Prius at their best rate, and actually went through a program (Autonation Direct) to get -3% off of MSRP.

It was one of the best car buying experiences I've had.

And it's one of the reasons I'll wait probably until next year to buy the FRS/BRZ (among other financial reasons).

I obviously don't have anything against financing, but if you need a cosigner and/or don't have the credit to buy a new car, it's probably not the best idea. Wait until you have the cash saved up (even then you should probably save it), a decent job, and some good credit history under your belt.

I think it's a question of if there's any doubt in your mind that you won't get a loan, or think that you'll get a high rate, then you probably shouldn't take one out.

Which credit unions do you think I should check out around here? There's a Vons credit union and the SoCal credit union not too far that I know of.

Also, according to the credit report from credit karma, I'm in good standing (forgot what the "score" was, but it was in the mid to high 700s.) Also, the only debt I have are deferred student loans. My credit cards are always paid in full. Any more tips that I should take a look at?

Thx y'all !

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by dookie11

Which credit unions do you think I should check out around here? There's a Vons credit union and the SoCal credit union not too far that I know of.

Also, according to the credit report from credit karma, I'm in good standing (forgot what the "score" was, but it was in the mid to high 700s.) Also, the only debt I have are deferred student loans. My credit cards are always paid in full. Any more tips that I should take a look at?

Thx y'all !

Any local credit unions your dealer most likely can check for you when you are buying the car. Check penfed, if you aren't in a military family or other qualifying group you'll need to support one of a couple of organizations to be able to use them but they do have good rates.

[slizoth]

When I got a loan for my motorcycle the interest rate my credit union offered me was actually worse than some competitors, they couldn't afford to loan out at such a low rate. I went with them anyway for the connivence of doing business in one spot, ease of transfers ect. I don't regret buying new and financing the bike, I think the only thing I'd do differently for the BRZ is take the absolute lowest rate I can get as long as there are drawbacks to paying off the loan early.

[86'd]

Originally Posted by dookie11

Which credit unions do you think I should check out around here? There's a Vons credit union and the SoCal credit union not too far that I know of.

Also, according to the credit report from credit karma, I'm in good standing (forgot what the "score" was, but it was in the mid to high 700s.) Also, the only debt I have are deferred student loans. My credit cards are always paid in full. Any more tips that I should take a look at?

Thx y'all !

I'm a member of Schoolsfirstfcu.org If you go to CSUF, I think you can sign up to be a member, know a family member that banks there, or work in an educational field in OC.

Some credit unions are insular like this, and others are more open. I can only speak for schoolsfirst as I've been a member for over 10 years and they've been great.

Search google for credit unions in your area, and see what comes up and see what will work best for you.

[alluringreality]

Originally Posted by S2kphile

I love having financial freedom to do whatever I want when I want; more so, then having depreciating tangible assets like cars/toys/etc.

Just for the people that aren't aware, currently savings are also a depreciating asset in the United States.

[tranzformer]

Originally Posted by alluringreality

Just for the people that aren't aware, currently savings are also a depreciating asset in the United States.

So are homes it seems (dependent on location I guess).