I am going to attempt to buy a new or used car. I have no credit and I have no one to co-sign for me. I am going to join a credit union with my job next week to try and get a car financed through them. Does anyone know of any car dealerships in the Houston area that would finance a car for me? I am only 20 yrs. old and I have only been at my current job for 2 months. Should I just wait and go through the credit union or should I attempt to try some kind of in-house financing with a dealership? How long do you normally have to be a member of a credit union before you can apply for a car loan? So many questions, So few answers. Please help me!!! ------------------ [This message has been edited by countingcrow (edited October 13, 2000).]
You still have a lot of variables to consider, most importantly is how much interest are you willing to pay. There are many dealerships that will finance a car for you, but you may be paying 17-22% interest. That's a bad, bad deal. Have you talked to the credit union yet? If they will not do it for you up immediately, you might try getting a small personal loan from them, then redeposit that money back in your account. Pay the loan off to establish credit with them, then you can get your car loan as well as have extra money for the down payment. ------------------ Save our children from the TAAS test: TAAS test report card TAAS test fact sheet
I'll second that. Credit Unions are 'owned' by the customers, and genrally have the best intrest rates you can get -- better than a normal bank. Dealerships are the worst, and since they make the money off the loan, they have no incentive to give you a good rate. ------------------ Stay Cool...
Buy a car that's 2-3 years old. You'll pay less and still have the majority of the life of the car left. Plus your insurance rates will be lower than on a new car. Know what you want in a car ahead of time and shop around. Make sure the car has a descent amount of milage for its age (too much, its been abused, too little, it may have been sitting in the shop) Finance through the credit union...find out what they can do for you ahead of time. Take notes as you shop. [This message has been edited by nutcake (edited October 14, 2000).]
There are a lot of good 2 or 3 year-old cars out there, too. Many that have just come off lease and are in great condition with relatively low mileage for their age. Many dealers are also offering warranties on these off-lease vehicles. There are sometimes good finance rates that a person can get on new cars because the factory will subsidize the financing in order to move the cars out the door. However, a person generally has to have a pretty good credit history to qualify for those rates. So chances are a person without much of a credit history will be given a higher rate at the dealership. Plus, having your financing lined up ahead of time allows you to negotiate from a position of power with the dealership. You know what you have to spend, and the dealership cannot confuse the issue of the actual price of the car by telling you what the payments are going to be. The salesman also won't be able to pull any tricks on the financing or interest rates (There have been cases where people have traded their cars in and bought a new car off the lot only to have the dealership call a couple of weeks later saying the financing didn't go through and they need an extra amount in cash for you to keep the new car. And, by the way, they already sold your trade-in, so you can't have it back) because you'll have set all that up ahead of time, and it will be out of the dealer's hands. So, if it were me, I'd say the credit union is your best bet, too. Talk to them and see what they will do for you. If you can't get anything through the credit union, but you still want to get the car, be very, very careful about any dealer financing. Pay attention to the price of the car and the interest rate. And bring a calculator with you to check their math. It's also a good idea not to take delivery of the car until you receive your payment book from the bank. That way, they can't pull the "we need more money because the financing didn't go through" scam. ------------------ Houston Sports Board DFW Sports Board
Go to my employers: www.edmunds.com That's how I bought my new car and my credit is a fright. Either way, reading there will protect you from getting ripped off. ------------------
DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY, DEFINITELY, use your credit union for credit. Car dealerships make a lot of money. They do so because they "get you" wherever they can. They have four major tools (and a few minor ones like extended warranties) to "get you." They are: selling price, trade-in price, F&I (financing), and the lease. I won't say anything about the lease because you damn near need to be Alan Greenspan to figure out how you are getting screwed there, but trust me, the car dealerships wouldn't be offering leases if they weren't making big bucks on them. The other three are the major components of the typical trade. If you can take one or two of them out of the equation, you gain more control. You may get a "great deal" on an interest rate, a selling price, or occasionally, on your trade in, but they will "get you" somewhere else. It takes time and effort to sell your used car, but if you do so--and you do your homework--you'll come out ahead. If you do that, and you have your financing lined out, the only thing you have to worry about is selling price. A 2 to 3 year old vehicle is a nice idea, but remember: you typically pay at least 2% more on financing on a used vehicle, so if you are planning to pay $300 a month on a used vehicle with 10% down a a 9% interest rate, you can afford a $16,057 car, but if you plan to spend the same $300 a month with 10% down on a new car at a 7% interest rate, you can afford a $16,834 car. My suggestion is to watch the newspapers for a new, 2000 year model, "ad leader" in the vehicle that you want. These "ad leaders" typically come out in the Saturday morning newspaper, and you'll be able to easy identify them--they are the ones marked "one only at this price." If the deal is really good, you need to be at the lot when they open--because they sell quick. The dealers don't usually make any money on that vehicle, but that ad will bring in people all week. Don't be disappointed if they tell you the car is already sold--it happens sometimes--but if you hear that, don't be afraid to make some noise about "false advertising" and your "cousin who works for the DA" or whatever it takes. They don't mind losing money to the occasional customer--especially one that makes noise; there's too many people out there that they can make it up on. If you can get an ad-leader with your financing already lined up, you won't have to go through the pain and agony of haggling. Also, do your homework, so that you know what invoice is on the car you want. Check out www.kbb.com, www.edmunds.com, and most importantly, www.nada.com Also remember: invoice is not what the dealer actually pays; they have "holdbacks" that reduce the cost even further. Good luck. ------------------ stop posting my damn signature
Might be a good idea to check out http://www.carbuyingtips.com Just FYI. ------------------ Houston Sports Board DFW Sports Board
