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Comments
regards,
kyfdx
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Am I getting the run around from the dealer or what? It seems odd to me that it would take this long to get a financing rate approved when I had check in hand ready to put a down payment last week. Each time I talk to the salesman to find out what's going on, he says the people at Mazda are not in or in a meeting or they lost their password. Of course each time he reminds me that I'm clear to buy it on my own if I want. The experience with these guys was great until this and they gave me a good price quote. Any suggestions on if you think I'm getting jerked around?
The bottom line is this... the dealer needs to deliver cars. The added revenue from the finance office is a bonus and even if we make zero on the finance end of the sale, it isnt going to stop the sale.
Here are a some theories.....dad's credit may not be so great or maybe dad has great credit but he has a debt to income problem. Maybe dad has good credit but a low score due to alot of recent credit or lots of debt.
Based on what we know so far....things are not adding up.
I am looking to purchase a Mazda3 in the near future, but am concerned about my credit. For 11 years I have had spotless credit, no late payments, except for one item. I let a good friend convince me to co-sign on a car loan for them 4 1/2 years ago. Unfortunately, it defaulted about a year ago and was repossessed. It sold at public auction early this year. The reason I opted not to take over the payments and the vehicle was because the dealership messed up and did NOT include my name on the title as instructed, hence I had no legal right to the car and if I made the payments, only my "friend" would have benefited. It was too late when I discovered the title issue, my friend already left the state and could not be reached to correct the error before repossession.
As a result, my credit score took a beating and was anywhere from 620-725 (Experian did not have the defaulted loan) five months ago. I have not checked my credit since then, I'm almost afraid to look. Needless to say, I have learned my lesson, the hard way of course!
My question for the pros out there is, do you believe I have a chance at getting a new car loan in the next two months? It would be great if I could qualify for the 3.9% financing, but figure that's a long shot. I know some financing companies only look at your debt to income ratio, mine barely exists since I pay off my credit card balances every month and do not have a car or mortgage payment. I've heard mortgage companies look for a year of good credit, is this the same for car loans? As for a potential co-signer (the thought gives me chills...), my father is a member of the 800 club. Would having him as a co-signer increase my chances of being approved for the 3.9%??
To end on a good note, I did not miss any payments on my own auto loan a few years back. I actually paid it off 10 months early... so I do have that history to be thankful for.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks for your time.
bopp3
Ok, secondly, check your credit report on ALL THREE, and do it right away. If it still doesn't show it on, say Experian, then you go around to local banks, and apply for pre-approval on a car loan at a bank that only uses Experian. That's do-able...my bank primarily uses Experian. If they use Experian plus one of the ones that shows the repo, then bring a copy of that report with you and explain the situation.
A repo/defaulted loan, if I recall correctly, shows up on your report for a LONG time, like 7 years, if they treat it like something that went to collections. You might also want to call the credit agencies and have them place that notation on the entry, if you can't get them to remove it due to the circumstances involved (not likely, since you DID co-sign, but possible).
Anyway, you DID co-sign for the loan, which means you were accepting partial responsibility for making payments on the loan. That's a completely seperate issue for whose name is on the title for the car; it has only to do with the money loaned for purchase of the car. It's basically like going to a bank, co-signing, getting cash or a check in both of your names, and handing the cash to the other guy to do what he will with it. He can put only his name on the car if he likes or use the money to run to a non-extradition country, but YOU are still responsible for the MONEY.
I hope you learned your lesson about co-signing.
There are many cases where finacing arranged by the dealer will be much more advantageous to the consumer. Like anything, its important to compare all angles.
regards,
kyfdx
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
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you have a couple choices....take the high rate, bite the bullet for your past sins and work hard to rebuild your credit. (make sure you can afford this car before you buy it!) or
Have your dad buy the car in his name and you just make the payments. He would qualify for the low rate, but you wont rebuild your credit.
Every time you have someone (bank, credit union auto dealership) run a credit report to evaluate your credit it REDUCES your credit score. This may not sound fair but it is true. So going bank to bank to bank may be a good way to shop for a low rate - but it may also end up costing you in the end.
I would however still want to have financing in place before going to the dealership - tell the salesperson you don't need financing - make the best deal you can on the car - then ask to see the finance person - so you can see if they have a better rate.
In reality you will most likely not even have to ask to see the finance department - even when you are paying cash they still have the finance guy check in and make sure you don't want to take advantage of their low rates.
Hard to say - never co-sign a loan. My parents co-signed my first car loan when I was 15 years old. Without the co-sign the bank would never have loaned me the money. Better rule would be - only co-sign if you would be willing to make the payments on the loan - after all that is what you are agreeing to when you co-sign.
This is not always true....When up to 4 "like" sources pull your report, it does not reduce your score. Example, if your shopping for a mortgage and 4 mortgage companies pull your report within 30 days it does not hurt your score....it did in the past, but they made these changes to be a bit more fair to the consumers.
now if a credit card company, car dealer, mortgage company, rainbow rentals, etc..pull your report, it does drop the score since they are not 'like' sources.
Seems logical -
Rich
If the dealer is doing a special factory order then a deposit seems OK - as long as you have a signed contract that lines out the details - including how long you are willing to wait (say 12 weeks) after this time you can get your deposit back.
As for the deposit stuff. I put one down on my car of a couple hundred bucks. They had to locate the car and did but wouldn't make an effort to get it from the other dealer until we had agreed on a price and I put a deposit. No problem, I wanted to have the price stuff finished before I went any further with them anyway.
With that sort of deal, there's no reason to go to a dealer to finance unless you're using one of those funky NY-replacements for a lease. Now THERE I would agree it's better to finance through the dealer; I just personally would never lease (or "lease," in NY state either).
I realize dealer owners make extra money off of financing, Audia, but it's backend stuff that the salesman never sees in his comission half the time. I like to make sure the salesman gets his fair share for selling me the car, especially if he's a GOOD salesman. Finance through the dealer, and an unscrupulous sales manager can move all the profit and deny the salesman his comission. Besides, doing outside financing can REDUCE the complexity of the deal, since you're not making a deal based on monthly payments, ust final price.
I have heard many horror stories about people putting down a deposit - and going through hell to get it back - why subject yourself to this?
Getting the car you want is a part of the normal business of a car dealership - if they are not willing to do this without first getting a deposit - I would take my business some place else.
I have had several cars/trucks located for me never once did I put down a deposit until after then car was located and we had a deal worked out.
Oh, incidentally, regarding this comment: "Getting the car you want is a part of the normal business of a car dealership"
The normal buisness of a car dealership is to sell you a car they HAVE. That's what they want to do, and that's what they do with a lot of people. Just like most retail stores, they sell what's in stock. If you have to special-order something, you have to pre-pay or put down a deposit (for instance, Radio Shack). When they go looking for a car somewhere other than within their dealership infrastructure, that's a special order.
Although I WILL agree that you should already have a deal worked out and in writing before you leave that deposit. You've told them the options you want and your color choices and you've agreed on a price, and the deposit appears on the form as a deposit. They don't have the exact car, then tell them what you want, work out a deal based on those options, get a price, give a deposit (always a check, or at least a CC, but preferably a check. Something you can contest if you find you must), they start searching. Perfectly reasonable progression of events. The deal is done, you know the car your getting, you just don't know the VIN. And if they take to stinking long you can always back out (MAKE SURE this is in writing along with everything else).
Without paying off the loan, my credit score from all three bureaus is currently 669-758. After I pay off this debt, my score will go up and I will have purchasing power again even though it might be at a slightly higher rate... there's always a price to pay for our mistakes, unfortunately this one had a great financial impact on me.
Thanks for your feedback.
bopp3
osu1298grad
Good luck to you! I would try both arenas, try a bank or online auto lender (Capital One) and then see if the dealer can get you a better rate.
I definitely think they were giving you the run around. Usually, finance decisions can be made in 24 hours. They either didnt have their s*** together or they were pushing you to get the loan by yourself so they could get 8% financing.
Interestingly enough, the dealer they wanted to trade with was not very willing to give up the original car I wanted. In the end, they located a car that was shipped and then transferred from another dealer. I was a bit frustrated at first because I was given dates and they would be continually pushed back. At one point, I told him if I found the car I wanted at another dealer with a comparable price, I was just going to buy it. He reminded me of my deposit and I told him I was willing to walk away without my deposit. I think that scared him so he got my car the next day
I just don't have a problem saying - no - thats not how I want to do things - I always do it in a nice way - never rude or mean. Try it - it works.
If the dealership can't locate the car you want with in a day - do you really think that the $200 deposit you leave them is going to motivate them to keep working hard to find it a week from now? a month?
Look at it this way - if you already know that a dealership does not have the car you want in inventory - you also know that they can't locate it - why would you want to go back to this dealership? You would not. But wait they have $200 of your money - It will be fun going back in and asking for your deposit back - how long do you think that will take - 5 minutes or 5 days? Why subject yourself to this?
It sounds like the dealer did not even locate the car you wanted (but they would never lie about that would they?) - or if they did find the car - they did not have a deal worked out with the other dealership on how it would be traded. If they did it would have only taken a day or two to get the deal done.
You locked yourself in with one dealer - just what they want - just what you do not want.
In the end it sounds like it worked out OK for you -
It is usually better to leave a deposit using a credit card because it's easier to dispute a CC charge than contest a check that has already been cashed.
Just my 2 cents.
So the dealer did a search before asking for a deposit? That is - IMO the right way to handle it.
It seems reasonable to ask for a deposit once they find the car - but before they have it transferred. Same for a special factory order.
Although I have placed a factory order before and was not required to put a deposit down. The deal was for $200 over invoice - the truck was a fully loaded Silverado Z-71 and they knew that they could sell it for what I was going to pay - or more. The sales person told me if I was ordering an odd combination of options - like with leather but no AC then they would require a large deposit. I have bought 3 vehicles from this dealership - so they know me - that also helps.
Here are the numbers:
MSRP - $17,140
Invoice - $15,999
Price - $16,299 + TT&T
White 3i with AC, AT, Power.
Thanks!
Congratulations, sounds like you got the deal you wanted. I hope we can all do the same. Please let us know what you think of the car after you get settled in.
Thanks.