I attended the Stephen Snyder "Credit after Bankruptcy" seminar and he recommended Ford Motor Credit as a good place to get a car after bankruptcy. However after poking around our website, I learned GMAC is also bk friendly. I spoke to the finance manager at the local Chevy dealership and he believes he can assist me. So now my question is...if you had to choose between Ford and Chevy, which would you choose? I've driven Japanese cars all my life (Nissan, Honda, Toyota and Mazda) and have been very satified with them. However after speaking with finance managers for those cars, it looks like I'm going to have to buy a Ford or Chevy to rebuild my credit. Basically I'm looking for a car that is reliable, gets good mileage and is fun to drive. I don't care if it's a sedan, coupe, hatchback, station wagon or SUV. I don't want a huge car....I'm more comfortable driving something that's the size of Camry or smaller. I'd also like to keep the price of the car below $20,000 if possible (although GM and Ford are offering rebates at the moment). I've already read stuff at Carpoint.com, Edmunds.com, Epinions.com and read Consumer Reports. However I want to hear from my fellow Creditneters. Thanks in advance!! Cynthia
This really does not answer your question, but if you have driven Japanese cars all your life, you will be very disappointed with Ford and Chevy. Tey just don't even come close. And, the Japanese have made huge improvements in manufacturing, adding extras while cutting costs. I suggest you keep looking and find a Japanese company where you can get the financing. Sorry, but I am not sure which one that may be. One possibility is Mazda because they are partly owned by Ford (fix or repair daily). Just be sure the car you get was made in the Mazda factory, not the Ford factory.
I would not go with gm or ford.There are to many horror stories on this board about how they mistreat customers they finance. I wouldn't even buy from them if i was paying cash because of that.
I've financed 4 cars with Ford since the late eighties. I've always had a good experience with them, but I know other people on the board have had problems. I've also had one car financed through GMAC in the mid-eighties and didn't have any problems with them either. I bought a new 2000 Chevy Tahoe in July 2000 and couldn't find better than 11% financing at the time. In October 2001, I bought a 2001 Mustang Cobra via Ford Credit. They gave me 0% financing for 60 months, financing 100% of the car. My credit report wasn't too too much different between the two dates. Other than being aged a year. Now, the finance person told me because of my record with Ford, that is why they were offering 0%. Of course, your mileage may vary. A Mustang GT would in the 20-22K area after rebates, depending on your negoiating skills. But reliability is a question. I've personally never had any problems with Ford vehicles. I purchased the Cobra for 100% fun, not reliability. I have the Tahoe for that. I place about 200 miles a month on the Cobra and take it to the race track every now and then, Interesting thing on the Ford 0% financing is that when I get my monthly payment stub, it says pay before this date its X amount. Pay after, its X amount. I guess their computers can't figure a late fee if the financing is 0%! Good luck!
Right . The ford ranger and the mazda P.U. are both the same truck.They used to be 2 different trucks,but now the Mazda is just a ford ranger with a Mazda tag. Same goes for the S10 Somona and Isuzi trucks with GM.
Right now I happen to like the looks of the Ford Focus hatchback and station wagon and the Ford Escape, but they seem to have recalls like crazy. I know the Chevy Prism is a cousin of the Corolla, but the Corolla's next design is such much better (looks like a baby Lexus) that I wish Chevy would tweak the Prism. I would love to get a Mazda, but Mazda was included in my bk so I doubt they'd finance me. I tried to reaffirm the loan so I could rebuild my credit, but the judge denied my request. So now I have a car that I'm upside down by $4000 that I won't get credit for on my CRs.
Slightly off topic...do you think Mazda would let me refinance my car so I could get credit for it? It wasn't my fault that I couldn't reaffirm the loan. I was the one who pushed for the reaffirmation...the judge denied me.
It's really hard to answer your question on this. I have known people with both who have been happy and not so happy. Every manufacturer, regardless of how well a reputation the have, will produce lemons. Some have more problems than others. I would just suggest you look for a car you like, have it inspected and thorougly test EVERYTHING on it prior to the purchase. It comes down to what you want and which vehicle has it. Good luck!
Well #1 thing to consider when financing anything, is if you can get into the loan, and survive the loan with the least amount of "upside-down" possible. This means the interest rate/term, the Purchase price, and the resale value need to be considered. Quite honestly, most ford/chevy products have TERRIBLE resale value. Purchasing the car and getting upside = dumb. Why? Because you could have leased the vehicle for less payment and accomplished the same goal! With a lease you know how bad you are getting screwed for, and for how long of a term. Believe it or now, lease or purchase, they will approve you for the same downpayment/payment. VW credit told me this straight up. They don't care lease or purchase, as long as you qualify with down payment and payment. Anyways something to consider.
topaxmoon, if you like the look of the Focus, and want fun at the same time, check out the Ford SVT Focus (same group in Ford that makes the Mustang Cobra). www.svt.ford.com The SVT Fords tend to keep their resale. I had a SVT Lightning pickup back in the early nineties that I purchased in 1993 for 18,500. I sold the vehicle in 1997 for 15,500. Lost only 3K over 4 years, with 50K miles on the clock. Also, SVT vehicles with Ford get some preferential treatment in that they get free loaner cars and a free car wash if you bring your car in for warranty. You should be able to pick up an SVT Focus for under 20K, probably less than 18K. You'll get a Focus with 170HP, whereas the base Focus has 110HP. The only thing is they come only in a 5-speed.
I bought a brand new Volkswagen and was financed through ford credit. The finance manager thought I would have a better chance of being approved through them. So it is possible that you could buy a foreign car and still get ford financing. I'm not sure what other dealerships might offer that option but you could call and ask ahead of time.
I've seen articles on the SVT and I'm very interested, but I don't know how to drive a stick (although I would love to learn). Wonder if the salesman would stop laughing long enough to give me lessons.
If the salesman is hungry enough, he'll give you lots of lessons on shifting! Driving a stick isn't bad. Takes just a couple of hours to get used to it and remember that you need to shift. If you have a decent performing vehicle (which the SVT Focus would be) and don't have to drive in stop and go traffic for 2 hours a day, a manual shift is a blast. Then again... when you have to stop on the 45 degree incline and have to brake/clutch/shift/release clutch really fast for the first time, it will stress ya'. Luckily back when I was learning, I learned in the great flat state of Texas.
And if you usually drive a stick, getting back into an automatic ocassionaly can be weird. I've been known to accidentally depress the brake hard with my left foot when said left foot reflexively looked for a clutch pedal. -ingenue
I'd like to point out that the modern Mazda corporation is actually a part of Ford. And I've been told that I'm lucky that my Mazda is of the pre-Ford years. Anyway, for a new Mazda, Ford Motor Credit is actually what they'd want to use to finance you. -ingenue
lbrown, no, they aren't losing sales this way. A regular Focus comes in auto. We're talking about the SVT (Special Vehicle Team) at Ford that produces the SVT Focus, which only comes in 5-speed. Lots of go-go material on that car and the demographics of someone buying that car, would opt for the 5 speed over the automatic. Just like the regular Mustang V-6/GT's come with an automatic option, the SVT Mustang Cobra only comes in a 5-speed (next model, a 6-speed). My Cobra, I wouldn't want automatic, they only produce about 7000 a year and they sell out very quickly. 320HP v. 240HP on the normal GT, better 5-speed tranny, independent rear suspension. Its the difference between someone buying a Mustang for daily driven performance and me buying the Cobra for high performance. Different demographics.
CANADA made CHEVY and OLDSMOBILES are the closest I've been to owning FOREIGN cars... OLDS and CHEVY only... Parents had a FORD PINTO the exploding one... Brother had a MAZDA ROTARY TRUCK (almost a lemon)...(the one that got TOTALLED in the HIT AND RUN 10-20 POLICE CAR CHASE...(yes they caught the guy)...
