Experience with getting a car loan?

[SlowStee]

Looking to get a new car soon, and I've really just been waiting on my credit score/report to clean up.


Anyone ever know their score before applying for a loan? and if so what Kind of APRs were available as a result of their score? Basically I wanna make sure my score is high enough to get me a good enough APR before I apply for a new loan.

Not really sure what I would qualify for, or what the bracket is for certain APRs.

[brotherbenn83]

I think the benchmark most car dealers are looking for is a credit score of 700 or better.

[88Nightmare]

for getting new cars, to qualify for GMAC promotional deals (such as 0%, or 2.9% for 60mo on used cars....etc), I recall someone telling me you need a 720 or better, or GMAC won't even look at you. I'm sure thats not the same with other lenders, but its just one example how things have really tightened up. If your credit is below 700, expect to have to put forth a decent downpayment

[SSLEVO]

I got a loan a year ago with a score of about 690-700, i think its through a credit union for 5.9% on a used car. What year/ type of car?

[SlowStee]

not looking to buy a BRAND new car, a new car for ME..lol...like an 04-06.

[SSLEVO]

The rate also depends on the year of the car, if its older than 4-5 years expect 1% higher rates at least.

[URLOZIN]

I had a cedit score of &00+ and got 6.5% down and I put down about 15%

[Crawlin]

www.transunion.com and get your free report to find out what it is. I pay the $15 to have them give me all three scores and watch to make sure there is no unusual activity or if a new inquiry is made, etc...

You can get a loan with lower scores still, just need to have the stipulations met(like proof of income, etc...)

There's a bank on greenfield that's down the street(east) of Moorland that was advertising 4.9% for any model year car. That's a pretty damn decent opportunity.

When I was a finance manager, we could get 3.99% as a buy rate through capital one if you were less than 100% LTV, 730+ fico, and been in bureau for more than 5 years I think.

And yes, GMAC won't look at you unless you are 700+. Could have 6 car loans paid perfectly through them and a 680 and you'll get declined. But be a college chick with a victoria secret c.c. and a 720 cause you've paid it perfectly, and you'll get the loan

[Holeshot]

A credit union is probably your best bet right now. Landmark is a good place for auto loans. I have financed several cars with them.

[SlowStee]

www.transunion.com and get your free report to find out what it is. I pay the $15 to have them give me all three scores and watch to make sure there is no unusual activity or if a new inquiry is made, etc...

You can get a loan with lower scores still, just need to have the stipulations met(like proof of income, etc...)

There's a bank on greenfield that's down the street(east) of Moorland that was advertising 4.9% for any model year car. That's a pretty damn decent opportunity.

When I was a finance manager, we could get 3.99% as a buy rate through capital one if you were less than 100% LTV, 730+ fico, and been in bureau for more than 5 years I think.

And yes, GMAC won't look at you unless you are 700+. Could have 6 car loans paid perfectly through them and a 680 and you'll get declined. But be a college chick with a victoria secret c.c. and a 720 cause you've paid it perfectly, and you'll get the loan

I saw that bank on Greenfield and was thinking about checking it out!! definitely a good idea and advice.

[Anakonda69]

it all depends on the car. i wouldn't even think about looking without knowing your score. anything above 680 you should be fine. mine was 704 when i bought my truck and now it's in the can cuz the dealership ran the finanacing so much. i'm going to be calling them to remove some of the marks off my credit to help the score come back up.

[PureSound15]

There are some 3.9 deals out there. The credit union I work for is a 4.49 A score and with a checking account that the payment is automatically drawn from.

[Waver]

I have seen people get done with a 550 score recently....Keep in mind to gaurentee your loan, put down at least 20% of the cars value....It used to be less, however in todays meeting we heard that the banks are upping the amount they want down

[johnny--2k]

SCREW Landmark. They are total assholes when it comes to getting deals approved from my end at the dealership. I refuse to work with them unless I absolutely have to, which I have not yet!

On an 04-06 with a decent score, 680 or above, you can expect rates to be in the 6.99 to 7.99 depending on down payment etc...

[SlowStee]

Really I was just looking to Trade the Maxima in, and get a new loan.. Do I really need to have a down payment :confused

[88Nightmare]

Really I was just looking to Trade the Maxima in, and get a new loan.. Do I really need to have a down payment :confused

it could make a big difference in your interest rate, and, worst case scenario, it could be the difference between getting approval or not. When my mother and I went for financing on the SS, we had to put down $4,000

[T-Bag]

Blah I put 1 grand down on my truck and got a 7.2% interest rate through landmark. All my loans have been through landmark and never had a hassle.

[Holeshot]

SCREW Landmark. They are total assholes when it comes to getting deals approved from my end at the dealership. I refuse to work with them unless I absolutely have to, which I have not yet!

On an 04-06 with a decent score, 680 or above, you can expect rates to be in the 6.99 to 7.99 depending on down payment etc...

Wow I guess Im a lucky MOFO Financed 5 cars with them and never had an interest rate over 4.5 and my last loan was for the GTO. 60 months at 3.98. Paid it off a year early. My score it just a tick over 800

[SlowStee]

Blah I put 1 grand down on my truck and got a 7.2% interest rate through landmark. All my loans have been through landmark and never had a hassle.

what was your credit score?

[PureSound15]

Wow I guess Im a lucky MOFO Financed 5 cars with them and never had an interest rate over 4.5 and my last loan was for the GTO. 60 months at 3.98. Paid it off a year early. My score it just a tick over 800


SCREW Landmark. They are total assholes when it comes to getting deals approved from my end at the dealership. I refuse to work with them unless I absolutely have to, which I have not yet!

On an 04-06 with a decent score, 680 or above, you can expect rates to be in the 6.99 to 7.99 depending on down payment etc...


The difference will be the two separate lending sides. Their indirect lending is basically a completely different sector than consumer lending.

[pOrk]

Julian, the guy that bought my car got a 6. something rate on a used car loan. It really depends on how much you want to spend, I wouldn't get a used car loan on something less then 6 grand cause the rates are too high. Just apply online at landmark or another local credit union and see what kinda rate they offer you. There are plenty of banks out there dieing to make interest off you.

[Crawlin]

Yep...

and I LOVED Landmark to deal with. Amy loves me, hahaha.

Anyways, for the downpayment question...

If your scores is above 700, a downpayment really isnt necessary unless you owe more on the car than the trade value is. When you start getting lower and lower scores, that is where they want to see large downpayments for "investment" as a good faith thing. You can get anyone done with $5000 down, don't care what their score is.

Now, again, if you have a score over 680-700, putting money down may affect your rate by .10-.35 % in rate. Not a HUGE amount. But that's usually the spread between the rates for the banks when going <80%, <100%, <120% LTV

And you can find the loan to value the banks use(except for Chase Bank) by just going to NADA.com and typing in as a consumer the trade value of the car you are looking at and miles and options. That's what most banks are using so you could even see how much you'd have to put down to make that next breaking point.

Last little bit of advice - as a finance manager we can mark that rate up. It's part of the way we make profit for our department in a car dealership. Bank says the rate is 4.9%, we could tell you 6.9% and keep that 2% reserve whatever it is(changes based on amount financed what our profit would be). And at 6.9% you'd still think it was a decent rate.

BUT, after seeing that, you must be thinking going outside financing to your own bank is a better deal... well the dealerships can get lower rates than a customer can by going to that same bank(like in Landmark's case). Our lowest rate would be 5.35% but your "member rate" is 6.30%.

But yes, you can have a finance person run your credit to the different banks too much. But that ultimately won't lower your score a ton. Because all the inquiries were on the same day or within the same 2 day span.

The reason(or more correct reason) of your score going down will be that huge $18,000 in debt that just hit your credit report(or whatever the amount is). Having 5 banks run your credit for that amount isn't gonna lower the score nearly as much as the sudden assumption of that debtload. So don't get too caught up in that.

[johnny--2k]

bsically what chris said. the only disadvantage to landmark is their scoring tier. as a dealer, landmark looks for a 720 or above for their best tier. my other credit union of choice looks for a 680 or above for their best tier. plus they use NADA retail for their loan to value vs NADA trade....

[SlowStee]

Yep...

and I LOVED Landmark to deal with. Amy loves me, hahaha.

Anyways, for the downpayment question...

If your scores is above 700, a downpayment really isnt necessary unless you owe more on the car than the trade value is. When you start getting lower and lower scores, that is where they want to see large downpayments for "investment" as a good faith thing. You can get anyone done with $5000 down, don't care what their score is.

Now, again, if you have a score over 680-700, putting money down may affect your rate by .10-.35 % in rate. Not a HUGE amount. But that's usually the spread between the rates for the banks when going <80%, <100%, <120% LTV

And you can find the loan to value the banks use(except for Chase Bank) by just going to NADA.com and typing in as a consumer the trade value of the car you are looking at and miles and options. That's what most banks are using so you could even see how much you'd have to put down to make that next breaking point.

Last little bit of advice - as a finance manager we can mark that rate up. It's part of the way we make profit for our department in a car dealership. Bank says the rate is 4.9%, we could tell you 6.9% and keep that 2% reserve whatever it is(changes based on amount financed what our profit would be). And at 6.9% you'd still think it was a decent rate.

BUT, after seeing that, you must be thinking going outside financing to your own bank is a better deal... well the dealerships can get lower rates than a customer can by going to that same bank(like in Landmark's case). Our lowest rate would be 5.35% but your "member rate" is 6.30%.

But yes, you can have a finance person run your credit to the different banks too much. But that ultimately won't lower your score a ton. Because all the inquiries were on the same day or within the same 2 day span.

The reason(or more correct reason) of your score going down will be that huge $18,000 in debt that just hit your credit report(or whatever the amount is). Having 5 banks run your credit for that amount isn't gonna lower the score nearly as much as the sudden assumption of that debtload. So don't get too caught up in that.

AWESOME advice again. My score is a currently at 675, as it has recently been jumping a lot because I cleaned up some shit on my credit. It was at 602 the end of last month, so It has been climbing pretty fast.


I'm looking for a 19-20K loan, and It would be nice to get 9% or lower, which is ultimately what I want.

You should PM your number man, I think I used to have it, but you'd be an awesome guy to call for further advice or on the spot help..hah:thumbsup

[BeesTwinEG]

go through capital one. one of the best!
I will ever never go through wells fargo

[pOrk]

That kinda money, it should be easy to get better then 6%. I would NOT settle for 9

[SSLEVO]

LOL, 9% is way too high. Like i said i am getting 5.9% with guaranty credit union, everything was a cakewalk, check them out.

[SSScottSS]

How is everyone getting their actual scores? I recently did one of those free checks, but I had to pay to get my "scores". Seemed like a rip off to me just to get a number from them. I honestly have no idea what my "score" is.

[97z2801ss]

my ex has horrible credit outstanding bills. And owed 2200 on her old car and landmark approved her for 9.9 on a 09 mazda. I dunno her deal not mine. She had to put a grand down and can barely make the payment since hd let her go. The lady thier said landmark is the best for people with crappy credit. Other places won't touch u unless u has 700 or better I think she had like 570.

[SlowStee]

How is everyone getting their actual scores? I recently did one of those free checks, but I had to pay to get my "scores". Seemed like a rip off to me just to get a number from them. I honestly have no idea what my "score" is.

Freecreditreport.com. Cancel it before your 30 days are up, and you wont get charged.

[Crawlin]

First Service Credit Union...

It's local and they'll be good rates for you. That or Prime Financial Credit Union.

Those two seemed to have the best rates for that mid prime score like you have. It's not 700+ but it's still good and maybe lowered by a heavier C.C. debtload or something of that nature. Or maybe only a couple of things in file.

Capital One is only good if you've been on file for more than 7 years and are 730+. Anything else you'll fall into their "middle" tier. Same thing with their No Hassle check stuff.

Also, check the other scores from Equifax. Bank of America looks at Equifax if you have car loans on there. I could have a 640 transunion, but a 730 equifax, and BofA would then give you like a 4.9% rate when I did that stuff. It's all very dependant.

Julian... if you have great car payment history in the past, and are the 675 on the AUTO Transunion bureau, that place on Greenfield should not have a problem getting you a great rate. Even if you don't qualify tier one and are a tier 2, that means you'll probably be a 5.9% instead of 4.9%.

Just be prepared to have the banks call for employment verification as well as maybe ask for proof of income, so no sense in trying to "float" information. And be realistic with the rent stuff if you do, don't write down $100, cause some banks will still automatically assume a $400/month living expense amount. Not a ton, only some banks do that.