Nick at Nite revisited All your replies are much appreciated.. As I said, I'll be updating you in a couple months about what happens, if my experience can help anyone else, whether the outcome is positive or not. I'll keep your tips in mind, thanx for that one about making sure the tradeline is reported if the co is asked to be the primary borrower. I didnt think of that. If I am approved, I definitely take a higher APR if its the only way I can get a tradeline- that's the main reason for all this. AND I happen to want a pickup truck. Hehehe. h.a.
Nick at Nite revisited I have a couple of questions...Do you know which CRA they pull? And which CRA shows a better score for you? I would first ask which CRA they deal with primarily, and if that is not your best score, I would ask if they would consider pulling your best score. Don't offer anything as a down payment; let them do their 'write up' first with a zero down figure. Don't tell them about your credit. Not a word. Tell them you want to go inside and see what the terms would be like. Do not discuss monthly payments UNTIL they hit you with their initial figures (which will be based on high rates before they pull your credit). Ask what rate they are quoting you. Once you have been hit with an interest rate, THEN discuss monthly payments, as they will adjust the price of the car. Don't let them pull your credit until all terms, including interest rate are agreed on and you agree to buy the car based on those terms. By that time, they will want to make a deal (based on your large down payment and monthly terms). Once they find out that your credit it bad, they will either sell the car for little or no profit, or if they absolutely can't (finance won't let them), they will ask you for a co-signer. Even in a poor economy, they bank on the fact that someone else will buy the car at sticker price. The important thing is that you come to all terms before your credit is pulled and work from there.
Nick at Nite revisited NEVER NEGOTIATE ON PAYMENTS! Your goal is simple: get the car as cheap as possible. Typically dealers will have four ways to get money from you: 1) Lowball on your trade in 2) Price of the vehicle 3) Financing 4) add ones (e.g. extended warranty) First, have a financing offer IN HAND before entering the dealership. DO NOT tell the dealer you have this, however. I think you will be amazed at how far a CU will go to put you in a car, by the way. Do not negotiate on ANYTHING until the price on the car has been fixed (and KNOW what it is worth before you go in). The dealer will be annoyed, but will think they can make money on one of the other three areas. After this, I'd move on to the trade in. The decision is very simple: they either give you a solid wholesale price on the car or you drop the subject (unless you just want to get rid of the damn thing..if so, wait to do it until negotiating financing). Financing is simple...you will already have a solid offer, so see what the dealer will offer first. If they can't beat your existing offer, decline and head for the home stretch. Now, if you have done your job they will be desperate to sell you add ons. BUY NONE OF THEM. They are all, every last one of them, rip offs. Do not waver on this or they will smell blood in the water. Remember: YOU HAVE WHAT THEY WANT...MONEY. No matter what NickL says, there are plenty of cars on plenty of car lots doing nothing for dealers who desperately want to move them because of the huge interest charges they rack up every single month.
Nick at Nite revisited chipper / blueeyesa: Thanks people.. I'll remember your points. I have a couple questions now though. Regarding the CRA, I don't know what they pull, but on my Privacy Guard report (which I know isnt true FICO) my scores are within 10 points of each other- unfortunately that score is low, around 560.. I read here that the number dealers get will differ and may be biased towards a previous auto loan, which I don't have. Now, chipper mentioned NOT saying a word about credit at all.. They usually ask though, before estimating a rate. I've seen that a couple times, one when I was test driving a car that I wasnt interested in (this was 2 yrs ago) and they did it to my sister several times when she bought her truck.. My thinking is if they ask, I should just say "fair" right? I'm good with numbers, I can easily memorize / calculate in my head rough payments if they try to play a numbers game with me by adding a couple points on.. I'll definitely walk in knowing what payments are over XX amount of time at XX interest rate for XX DP, XX to be financed... You mentioned them changing the price around if they find out I have poor/bad credit, what do you mean by this? Do you mean, changing the rate, or trying to do some sneaky tactic like extending payments to get UNDER my so-called "what do I wanna pay in a month?" (dealer devil's favorite question)... I know their style, they'll say an amount that sounds good, THEN say if you wanna get under it you're looking at 30 months instead of the 24 you said, etc etc... But what do you mean by changing price? If it's a used car, I dont see how they could jack up an advertised price, since it's not like I'm gonna get any options or the stupid #$#$ warranty that dealers offer, which is 99% garbage anyways.. I agree with your strategy, pls. clarify this point, Im unsure just how sneaky dealers get, and I wanna know more tricks they use, if you all heard of some I didnt mention.. h.a.
Nick at Nite revisited This is not the case. Negotiate on payment once you are aware of the interest rate. If you tell them you are expecting a certain monthly payment, they will either 1. give you more for your trade in or 2. give you the wholesale price on the car Find the car you like and work from there. Don't let old techniques stand in your way. Yes, the price of the car is important, but it's more important to realize that negotiating the price of the car is only a bottom line tool if you are planning to pay cash.
Nick at Nite revisited Sorry, chipper, I simply don't agree. Financing isn;t an issue if you have already established a line of credit for the vehicle that is at or below market interest rates. Negotiating on payment is a suckers game, because it lets dealer shift the cost of the car without realizing it. Sure, if you tell them the payment you are expecting they will work with you...so that they can make more money! That requested payment of $300 will turn into $309 (extra $500 on the deal for the $9) when you could have had the car for a sumt that would give a payment less than $300 had you negotiated properly.
Nick at Nite revisited I see your point, but negotiating on payments still can be to your advantage. The problem is letting the dealer shift money around, without you seeing it. If you have a payment of $309 and you tell them that you would like to see a payment of $300, they often will give you $500 more for your trade-in or lower the price of the car $500. I think your point is that if you ask for a $300 payment, they may give it to you. But you still missed out on the real deal, which was $250 a month because of poor negotiations.
