Great job JLynn! Maybe by late Spring/ early Summer hubby and I will have the courage to walk back into a dealership. They treated us like we were the scum of the earth when we went in September. I was looking at a 1997 Dodge Intrepid they were selling for $2000- had a $1000 cash to put down. So, in essence, I needed a little over a $1000 to finance. The F&I Mgr flat out denied me. Insisted I had to have a cosigner because of all the "garbage" on my report. Needless to say I will never be back there. We ended up paying cash for a 1987 Ford Aerostar minivan that is going to die soon. Not to mention the fact that it's so rusted out and ugly I have to go incognito everytime I drive it. I'm pretty sure I can get all the CA TLs off of our reports (dh only has 1 right now), it's my student loans that KILL my scores. Hubby's scores are low because of a BK in 1999- only negs are "incl in BK"- trying to get some of them off. We have a few paid never late auto loans through GMAC, Wells Fargo, SST, and a couple of other small subprime lenders. I did have a paid never late auto loan through Ford but it's older than 10 years so they dropped it off my CR Again- BIG CONGRATS to you! I'm sure you're going to appreciate that truck so much more now that you don't have to pay 18% interest for it!
suv bad people should be required to take a class on how to drive them... too many people have no clue how to drive a tank...
No, when your scores are ready and you're shopping for a car, you go back and put them through the wringer dickering over a nice high-priced car. Then when everything is finalized and waiting your signature - you "suddenly realize" this is the dealership that treated you so badly, tear up the contract, get up and walk out. 0
So... You obviously recommend getting pre approval first if you can? Then you can go in and know where you stand and not feel like you have to beg. We tried in Oct with Ford and we were 30 days late on our mortgage at the time. The FI guy said they wouldn't have any trouble financing us, but we needed to get caught up on the mortgage first. So now we have been ever since and we will have about 5K to put down if necessary. With scores in the mid 500"s I hope this will be enough?!
I recommend it, simply because of my scores. 1. Didn't want hubby to fall in love with something and find out he couldn't have it. 2. I called the head guy and gave him the heads up without the hard inquiry. Told him pretty much point blank, if it was questionable not to pull my cr. He told me if what you say is on there is, I can get you done. In this instance, the phone was like the internet, I felt more powerful because I wasn't squirming in a chair across the desk from some stranger scrutinizing my life's mistakes. 3. Don't apply online, get someone in F & I on your side to start. Ask them what they look at. GMAC was score driven and a no go in Dec. Ford looks at your auto repayment history, and is not score driven. 4. Go to a high volume dealership. They have much more leeway in shoving you thru because of the volume they do with the finance company as opposed to a Mom and Pop store (like where I live), we drove about 50 miles to a metropolitan area. They won't tell you, but they do have some pull in changing your tier to a lower interest rate. I forget what hubby called it, but I know its there. Don't tell them you have 5K, tell them you have "some cash", give yourself room to "buy down" a tier. If I can do it, anyone here can!
Thanks for the info, We were thinking of going to Ford now we will for sure. I was going to tell them that i had 5K but now i won't tell them how much. I thought the amount maybe would help the loan get approved. Maybe I won't need to do that. Or they may ask how much I have. Thanks again.
