These may be a dumb questions, and I think I know the answers but I wanted to ask anyway. How set in stone are the APR rates offered by ford? Does the dealer have any control over how low he offers rates? For example, if Ford is offering 4.9% for 48 months and 5.9% for 60 months, would the dealer be able to go lower than 5.9% for 60 months if your credit was good enough?

Thanks for the help.

 

The F&I guy at the dealership can run a credit check and then shop the banks to find the best rate. The better your credit, the lower the rate. I picked up my 2005 in Dec 2004 at 2.9% for 60 months.

 

Hey Boss, the rates are set by Ford Credit, not by the dealer. The only rates the dealer has flexibility on are local bank rates. The Ford rates are set in stone (i.e you can't adjust a 3.9%, 60 month 2007 rate to 1.9). Hope this answers your question.

 

Yeah it does...that is what I was thinking but I wanted to check to see if anyone knew anything else.

Raven, was the 2.9 for 60 months an incentive Ford was running at the time, or was it something else?

Does anyone else have any input or different experiences?

Thanks.

 

I do know that the finance guy at the dealerships don't like it when a person is presented with a cash price for the car, and then the customer calls their bluff and does just that. They must get some kind of money from Ford when a car is financed through Ford Motor Credit.

 

It's called kickbacks and yes they do.

 

On a promo rate? Maybe $100. Finance managers make zero money on a Ford promo rate sale unless they sell warranty or maintenance. May as well be a cash deal. On promo rates, a dealer can add 2 points or so if the consumer doesn't know what it is, but you can't get below the promo rate. Even credit unions are pretty much around 5.9/60 these days, 3 years ago you could get 4.2% on a used car. For very good credit, most bank 'buy rates'(the rates they charge dealerships) float in the low-mid 6% range.