I've heard from somewhere that if I go in to a dealership, and get approved for financing, but later decide to not buy from that dealership, that they are obligated to give me the information on the loan approval anyway, and that loan can then be used at another dealership? I've got a toyota dealership who would pull Experian for financing through Toyota Financial, but is also willing to pull Equifax, my best report with a previous auto loan, if I'm not approved through Toyota, so they can get me approved elsewherre. I think that will be rare, because so far, 6 other dealers who have e-mailed me tell me they pull Experian only. If they pull Equifax, and financing is approved, but we don't come to terms on the truck pricing, can I take that loan to another Toyota dealer? This could be the answer to my financing problems. I thought I had read or heard this somewhere, but can't find anything on it. Auto experts, any advice? thanks, danrs
Depends- If a finance company denies you at one dealer, they CANNOT approve you at another. Period. Of course, there are conditional approvals, but that is not a 'denial'. If you are approved by a finance company for a set loan/rate/amount/etc, they cannot deny you for the same loan/rate/amount/etc at another dealer as long as that dealer attempts to get you financing at the same source. There are caveats.....you can't get approved for a 25k new car at dealer a, then expect to go to dealer b, buy a 15k car, and trade in 10k of neg equity for the same 25k loan. It would have to be a 'similar' deal. Why would you want to do this? The dealer is not going to try and secure financing until you have settled on a car and signed a buyers order (just agreeing to a deal, not a contract to buy). I guess I am just confused as to why this would come up. Be careful at getting a lot of auto inquiries at one time. From my experience, finance copmaies do not like this at all. It looks 'strange'. They will automaticaly suspect something is wrong or that the previous inquiries were not approvals. This will be an automatic flag to pull all three CB's...trust me on this. And, 'several' inquiries could mean 'two'. Except under special situations, dealers do not run your credit. They will put you in the system of their primary lender, let that lenders system pull your credit and 'score' you (on their tier system, not a fico score), and view your credit from there. This saves them the cost and responsibility of pulling your credit themsleves (NADA has strict penalties for abusing inquiries, at one time there was a 10k per instance fine for unauthorized pulling of credit). The finance companies system will 'score' you within minutes. This 'score' is based upon your credit and the 'deal' itself....the 'deal' is amount borrowed compared to wholesale value (important), the amount you are commiting (down payment), length of time (for equity reasons), etc. The score will usualy be a 0,1,2,3,4, with 0 being the highest. 3 is usually not approved, 4 is denial. The computer can also give an automatic approval- but most are reviewed by a rep at the finance company and then approved/conditioned/denied. A good reason to go on Saturday is that most finance companies are not staffed. The dealer will have to either 'roll' you, meaning sign you and let you go, hoping to get the deal 'done' on Monday, or tell you to come back and hope someone else doesn't 'roll' you that same day. This is a good reason to go on Saturday, late in the day, and at the end of the month. Odd's are that you are going to 'roll'. If it's denied the dealer will just have to sign for the loan. Shawn
Wow, thanks for the great reply. Actually, the reason I asked the question, is I was going to try for a pre-approval with that dealer before I went to the dealership. But from what you say I guess this is not the best bet? But, I've read your posts before, and know you were in the business, so I'll trust your judgment and do as you say.....Work out a deal first, on a Saturday toward the end of the month, then have them get me financed. Sounds like a plan. Hope the two Exp inquiries from my CU and People First don't raise any flags with them, becasue if they pull all 3, my TU is in bad shape, with a 6 year old repo on it.:-( Thanks! P.S. I've heard about the dealer's rolling as you say, then calling up on Monday and telling the buyer the financing fell through, my interest rate will now be XX%, increasing the interest rate. Is that so, and if it is, would I have enough cause to turn the vehicle back in if I think I'm getting shafted? Thanks again! danrs
Danny- I have also heard about the Monday call backs and I think that is awfull. It must vary by State, though. My families dealerships are throughout MD and DE, and you cannot do that there. 'Over the curb' means a done deal for the dealer and the buyer. No 'take-backs', as they say. [FWIW, MD is probably the BEST State to buy a car in. They are soooo strict on dealers. And the used car inspection is one of the toughest I have seen. Less than 20% of our trade-ins made it to the lot, the rest were wholesaled to DE and VA (very easy on dealers).] I know that finance companies will get leary of the inquiries, though. I have seen that questioned time and time again. The dealer can get you the best rates, though, I am sure of that. We had the power to match ANY verified CU rate that came in (as long as the borrower was approved). I think this is because the Finance companies (GMAC, FMC, Chrysler Credit, etc) are tied to the manufacturers. Why else would they all be offering 0.0% right now? This is a GREAT time to buy a car. Rebates are good and dealers are going into the extra holdback period. (for example, GM dealers are now getting 5% of invoice instead of 3%- check www.edmunds.com for details) I am also in the market now, so I know how you feel. The best thing to do is shop around now, shop around a lot. Give the sales guy your name and number, let him call you, let him work the deal(s). Let him/her know you ARE going to buy this month, you are just trying different models. Don't give them any credit info, save that for later, when you are ready to buy. The deal will get sweeter as the month goes on.....try to buy on the Saturday at the end of the month. I promise you this is the best day. Feel free to email me if you get close to buying, I'll help the best that I can. Hope this helps! Shawn
Yes this worked for my friend. I Took the approval from "VCI" and played 3 dealers and ended up getting the car for $1000 less. i was straightforward. "We have the loan approval, Dealer X says he can give the car to me for $1000 less, of course I would like to do business with you, but i need that price or we'll be going to the other dealer tonight to sign the deal". The guy was pissed, but knew the law, and conceeded. This assumes both dealers have access to the same credit lender.
So are dealers so HARD UP that if I walk in there and agree to buy a van $25,000 +/- put $5,000 on my credit card if needed...and the rest at 0.00% for 5 years, THEY WILL JUMP THROUGH HOOPS??? I REALLY DON'T NEED A NEW CAR AT THIS POINT...but I am starting to pay too much for too many repairs...(planned obsolesce) I guess...
Not all dealers will take credit cards as payment- not all by choice. It is illegal in some states to do this (or at least it was). I had a customer faced with this before. He had to get a cash advance, then pay us with that. We were nto allowed to take the credit card directly for payment (this was MD law at the time, still in effect last may I know for sure). Also, at 1.5 -2.5 % (higher for Amex), it would really cost a dealer to do this. While it is not legal for the dealer (or anyone) to charge a sur-charge (sometimes called a 'cash discount') for credit cards, I don't think they can be forced to accept a CC for the purchase. Shawn
I also would not say that dealers are 'hard up' right now....Sales on this end are about normal for this time of year. There is usually a lull between the end of summer and the beginning of the holidays. Ironically, December is usually the best month (I had my personal best record of 24.5 cars in the month of December). This is a rather good time to buy, though....it is the end of the model year so incentives and rebate are high- add to that 0.0% financing (usually only offered in exchange for the rebate, but not this time) and the increased holdback% for 2001 models and you really get a heck of a deal. Shawn
I can't resist. 24.5 cars? I suspect I know how you got the 1/2 of a car (split with another salesman?). But it reminds me of what car dealers call the South Georgia warranty. If the car breaks in half before you leave the lot, you get to keep both halves.
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!! I have had 2 dealers begging me to take the car of my dreams home and finish the paperwork Monday - But no. I was afraid they would call me on Monday and say "sorry - you'll have to bring the car back". So now you tell me they can't do that? If I could,I'd kick my own ass!!!
Anna- Depends on the state, some can do that. I know in Maryland they can't (unless it's changed in the last few months). If you are in MD email me and I will fill you in on a lot of the rules. Shawn
