Auto loan Question (buying today..maybe)

Going to look at a Used F150 today and just trying to see if anyone has bought used lately and what kinda interest rates you are getting.

Will be my first time buying a truck off the lot so wanting to keep as much money in my pocket as I can. I have followed some treads on here about buying.

Tips or tricks appreciated, going to try and get them to let me drive it for the day

Spags is the go to guy for these questions.

good point

what is his full display name again?

Go to a lender that makes car loans (bank, credit union etc.) get a loan approval ahead of time with email or other advice. Car dealers as their first move try to get your identifiers so as they car slip off and check your credit. Multiple car dearlers or multiple lenders at one car dealer will result in multiple inquiries on your credit beureas which is a negative to your credit score. I understand dealers want to weed out poor credit tire kickers but if you have an approved loan it will only help you. This is not to mention the shear number of people you do not know having access to your most personal identifiers. You should know your credit and credit worthiness if they want to step up and offer a lower rate go for it but use caution.

So I was preapproved this morning for a loan through USAA and know the interest rate, should I tell them i am preapproved already and see if they can beat the rate?

Rates are kind of high right now, if you have good credit look to see 3.99% or 4.99%.

If you have USAA you are golden, just let them know up front.

I was just about to suggest calling USAA first.

Good luck with your purchase amigo!

Sure, when I bought my Tundra 2 yrs ago the dealership wouldn't go any less than 4.25 percent.

I called my credit union and they took it for 3.5 percent.

When they ask how much of a monthly payment you can afford, tell them you are paying cash.

Chances are they're not going to beat your USAA rate.

Hurry up, Dam B is calling.

Inorder for them to get you a rate they will need to know your credit score. So they will need to pull your credit. They will have a hard time beating USAA unless you have 720 or better then you can go thru Ford credit and get zero to 1.9 apr. DO NOT focus on monthly payments. They are going to ask you what are you looking at for monthly payments.
You need to know what the vehicle is worth you are wanting to purchase. Monthly payments are not what is important it is what you are paying for the vehicle of choice.

Recently I have seen some people getting 6.99% or 7.99% with USAA that can actually get a lower rate. If a dealer is doing a million dollars worth of sales a month with a lender, a lot of times they can get you a little better deal if your credit is good.

Depends how quickly you want to get the deal done. Last time I bought a truck, I did this and the dealership beat it with a slightly lower rate. We didn't waste alot of time with them quoting me higher loan rates first.

It's really not that hard, at least this is my experience. If you go into a dealership thinking that they are going to play games, you automatically have a massive defense wall put up. Be nice, let them present you what they want, and tell them what you expect. The more games you play, the more they will play back. If you can get 4.99% or whatever you can qualify for just be up front. They can either get there or they can't. Now paying 600 for tint, 200 for nitrogen in the tires, that stuff is insane. Gap insurance, warranties are another deal. I put a warranty on every vehicle I buy my wife. I would rather spend 30 bucks a month I may never use, than ever have one month where I pay a $4,000 repair. If you buy a Camry or Civic, probably not worth it. But trucks and SUV's, buy one every time.

Also note, if the store you are going to is owned by Autonation, you are going to have about the worst of it. They have what they call the "Bible". Everyone gets the same circus of stuff you have to do before you can buy a car.

You are in control now. Forget about all the finance machinations (credit life, gap, etc) and just work on the price of the car. Be warned they will slap a from in front of you trying to get your identifiers. By all means tell them you have a loan and give them the info on that. In their defense they have to weed out time wasters with poor credit.

Go to an online credit union auto calculator and get the monthly payment estimates in the general price range for $1,000 increment ranges at the length of loan term you are looking at. For example $15,000 at 48 months = $xxx monthly, $16,000 = $xxx montly, $17,000 = $xxx montly. Don’t be surprised if they start with significantly higher monthly payments and be persistent that you know upfront how much your monthly payment should be for a given vehicle price + TTL. Remember they need to sell vehicles more than you need to buy one from them. Be patient and good luck.

I got 3.49 at Credit Union of Texas about 3 weeks ago. Give them a try.

Looked at so many trucks didn’t realize this one had be wrecked so no go. USAA has me At like 4.5 right now. Going to look at one from Texas direct auto. There website says they can beat that

USAA isn’t bad for average credit. If you have exceptional credit they are easy to beat. A few months ago when I bought my truck USAA was 3.49%. I got 2% through US Bank.