I'm in the market for a reasonably priced used car since my current car is about two weeks from dying. I've been told by many people that my best bet is through our local community credit union. I'm a little unsure though because of my score (mid 500s) - even though I'm in the middle of a big round of disputes and it's getting cleaned up. I was wondering if any of you would mind sharing your experiences getting financed through the credit unions - your score, loan amount, interest rate, money down. It would be very appreciated. Thanks!
We applied for a Visa with our credit union last June. We were denied. So in October when I wanted to buy a Jeep, I was *really* worried about applying again. Well, we were approved for $11,500 (total cost of Jeep - no $ down!)) for 5 years at 8.99%.. this was a used vehicle, otherwise the rate would have been about 6.99%. I asked them why we were declined just 4 months prior for a Visa yet approved now... gave me the talk about secured versus unsecured collateral. Weird thing is, about 3 weeks after we got the loan for the Jeep, we also got a Visa with them and didn't reapply. Bottom line, they seemed pretty cool about negatives on our credit since it was a secured loan. I don't know what our scores were then, but just 1 1/2 years before we had been 6 months behind on our first mortgage and 3 months behind on our 2nd(concurrently), so I'm pretty sure our scores were kinda nasty. Earlier this year my husband needed a new (well new to us) truck and we were approved again by the credit union with no problems. Ozzy.
My experience: In December of 1999, I purchased a Nissan 98 Maxima. When I went to the dealer, they ran my Equifax credit file. My score was 472. The salesman showed me the score. He told me he could tell I was starting to rebuild but I my report was 4 pages long, mostly negs, defaulted student loans, and old collection accounts. I went to the dealership on December 4. They had not moved a car in 2 weeks. They worked diligently and I received approval from Community Finance Corp @ 18.99% APR, and a payment of 487.21 per month. Six months later, I joined a credit union at my job. I spoke directly with the lending officer to refinance. She told me the credit union doesn't look at credit scores, they look at debt to income. I was shocked! I asked her for an application to refinance my car. They pulled Experian. I had about 7 charge offs on my report. I had to write a letter and explain every single negative item listed. After I gave her my letter she approved my refinance @8%. I was totally blown away! Also, She approved a signature loan for 6K, which I used to pay off my subprime credit cards and ONLY charged what I could payoff monthly. The best thing to do is talk directly to the loan officer and see what their underwriting criteria would encompass. It helped that I had direct deposit and I had a CD with them for 1K. I could get anything from them, I would NEVER go back to a brick and mortar bank. The service is outstanding! They will not return a check as long as you make a deposit by 11:00 am FREE OF CHARGE. They take money out of my savings account to pay checks.... free. The only thing is they don't offer credit cards because they would compete with the company. The company offers a Platinum credit card underwritten by Citibank, and the agreement is the credit union cannot offer credit cards to its members. Bottom line: Talk directly to the loan officer, and be honest about your situation. They may be albe to help.
Bottom line: Talk directly to the loan officer, and be honest about your situation. They may be albe to help. [/B][/QUOTE] This is your best bet. But every CU has different policies. How long you have been with them, if your relative is a strong member, How many repos before the last board meeting, etc. If they turn you down, start negotiating with CU. How about we put 1500. down on a 5k car and when you see that we will take care of our obligation we can move up to something nicer in a year or so? It will also help if you can find that 5kcar 2 or 3k "back of book". Find out what book they use. Kelley is easy to get 2 or 3k below cause its 2 or 3k high. NADA book is tougher cause its pretty accurate (on most vehicles) CU's will like it if they are holding title when loan is less than book. Build a relationship with your CU or personal bank. otto
Thanks for all the CU stories - I appreciate the sharing. My credit report isn't great, but at least everything on there (what's mine and what's not mine) are all showing as paid. So my debt to income ratio is very low - just my rent and a small payment to Discover. Hopefully that will work to my advantage.
I think alot depends on the individuals credit unions as well. Mine are a bunch of a*#(*&#. I applied for a car loan and was turned down. At that time had a 3 yr old b/k and 1 old 30 day late. Everything else was perfect. I've been with my job for 10 years (the c/u services my employer) and am a homeowner. At that point I was desperate and asked my parents to cosign (my parents credit is immaculate). They approved me but wanted a HUGE downpayment. Needless to say, I went elsewhere. I hope your experience is better.
