I've literally never done financing before for a car. I've always done a cash only transaction, private party or at the dealer. Anyway, this time around I want to finance a car for my wife, and I don't even know where to begin. I've heard from a few people that you should never finance at the place you buy, but I don't really know where to get the best rates, or whether to go with a bank or credit union, etc. Money and credit isn't really an issue, (I have a good job and pristine credit) but I just want to get a good deal. Any suggestions?
Some dealerships offer 0% financing for 60 months or 48 months... so in that case it would be better to finance there. Buying a brand new car is usually where you would get such finance rates, but of course used cars the rates are much higher. I went through my bank though..
I should point out that we're shopping for a used car, maybe even a private party. (I know it's harder to get a loan for a private party sale)
I went through Pentagon Federal Credit Union in July. They offered 3.99% financing over 5 years, and I couldn't find anything locally that was better. You do have to be a member though. I did everything online on a weekend, and they FedEx-ed a cashiers check to me by Tuesday. I never talked to anyone on the phone. Really easy transaction.
I have been shopping for auto rates and found lots of good information on creditboards.com and fatwallet.com. Here are a few places that I have found with the best rates. Credit unions are usually lower, because they don't pay taxes. There are a few banks with good rates. Watch out for the fees, though. The local credit unions are usually less strict. You can google your city for credit unions. I hope you find more places with even lower rates. http://www.penfed.org/ 3.99% Pentago Federal Credit Union. It's easy to join even if you are not a government employee. They can be a little picky with credit though, but it's an awesome deal. http://www.capitalone.com/ 3.95% Capital One bank http://www.chase.com/ 4.4-4.5% JP Morgan Chase bank https://www.patelco.org/ 4.75% Patelco Credit Union. They are less picky than Penfed but have higher rates. I have a credit card through them.
Can someone such as OP who has no previous car purchases qualify for 0% that is offered by dealerships? Also, are the dealers likely to raise the final price because one goes for the 0% financing?
I just purchased a truck from Helfman ford. Replaced my totaled truck. I ended up just financing through them, since I basically have 20 months worth of payments set up, should have it paid off in around 2yrs. CBTX.com had some competitive rates last time I checked. (East Texas bank).
I financed the purchase of my car through Capitalone a couple of years ago. I have nothing but good things to say about them.
