HokieCodeMonkey

Hi, I ordered a Race Red Cali Special late February without the knowledge that I could argue down the price so I ordered at MSRP. With tax I'm looking at 41k

The car was built and has an ETA of today, but I'll be gone for the weekend so it's likely to arrive while I'm away.

I have been saving up for this car for around 5-6 months and I have a hefty down payment ready and I just got a loan approval from the credit union at the naval base I work on. I got a higher interest rate than I expected at around %6. I need to get that lower to afford the car.

My question is this, can I go to my dealership and convince them to give me a 0% loan? I'm putting 15k down and can afford to go higher. Would that kind of down payment warrent a 0%. Would ANY down payment effect my chances of getting a 0%? Could I argue that since I'm paying MSRP they are already making more money off of me than I am comfortable with. Could I threaten to go to a different dealership and scare them into giving me a good loan? Could I just politely ask and they would do it since i'm already putting around 36% of the cost down?

I can't really afford to reorder since my current car will be unavailable by next month (parents are taking it back and giving it to my sister who needs it). I can't go all summer without a car. Not to mention I've fallen in love with this car as I ordered it and don't think I could stand to go with any other style or options in a stock setup somewhere else.

Since I can't go anywhere else I want to get my total cost of this car down to a reasonable level, but I could threaten to bail since they only have a $200 check to hold my order. What should I do?

eci

What is your FICO score? That is more important in determining APR than your down payment. I could finance 100% @ 0%.

HokieCodeMonkey

I think my credit score is around 720. I also could have my dad cosign on a loan if I needed to. I would rather not but if it means saving me 3-4 grand I would do it no questions asked.

eci

That's a "good" but not "excellent" score. It should qualify 0 though.

Adam

Lol..you can't scare them into giving you a better loan. FoMoCo is carrying the loan, not the dealership.

HokieCodeMonkey

Haha, I've heard of people 'scaring' dealers into paying below invoice by pitting one against another, so I thought why not the same with loan financing... Clearly I'm new to this.

coffeejolts

Have you tried anywhere else? Your credit union is not always your best source... especially if they cater to the military. Nothing against you, but banks are famous for ripping off military personnel.

Here are three to start with.
http://www.capitalone.com/autoloans/
http://www.BankofAmerica.com/AutoLoans
http://www.fordcredit.com/index.jhtml

WarpdSpazm

I would personally renegotiate the price.. MSRP is more than you should pay. That would lower the payment as well(might make for a lower loan and that might lower the APR also).. If you're bringing in a loan from an outside source, it's a "cash deal" for the dealer. You should get better than sticker... It's not a shelby.

HokieCodeMonkey

I've heard of people getting 0% APR when they are running incentives to buy. I know they won't run incentives on a new model while they are trying to get the 2010's out the door. How would I qualify for a 0 eci? Could I qualify for 0 at any of those sources coffeejolts?

Adam

0% is only for 36 months. $41k - $15k down payment = $26k loan. $722 / month.

HokieCodeMonkey

I've been wondering about this. How do I renegotiate the price? I wasn't sure if price was set in at time of order because I saw a lot of order forms that had the price negotiations set in the cost. Do I simply tell the guy "look I think we need to talk about the price" ?

corvettedreamin

I'm guessing by his screen name he's not military. Just working at/near a military base.

Shop rates. Maybe NFCU is good but someone else is better. PenFed is offering 3.99%. Ford Credit may give you 0% on that credit score but it's 36 months. Make sure you can afford that payment.

First and foremost though, get out of that deal. Holy crap... MSRP? Really? I'd walk away from that $200 long before I gave them an extra $2k-$3k in the deal and chalk it up to "higher education."

Speaking of which, what EXACTLY are they teaching at Tech these days?

corvettedreamin

Oh yeah, when they try to sell you GAP insurance, ignore them.

Bert

6% is a bit on the high side, but it depends on many things such as credit score and down payment . . . 720 is not bad but won't get you the best rates . . . I think you can get 0% from Ford credit, but only for 36 months so that probably doesn't solve your problem . . .

You can shop for loans just like you shop for a car (or not, as the case may be . . .) but you can't really force the dealer to take a loan on the car, dealers don't finance cars, banks do.

Bank of America has the best rates that I have found (other than the special promotions from Ford credit), they might be worth a look -- www.bankofamerica.com

HokieCodeMonkey

That's what I was worried about. I have to stick with a 5 year loan. That keeps it at a reasonable monthly plus it's how long I will be free of student loans. After 5 years my SL account dries up and I have to start paying on that too. The goal is to be done with car loan payments at the same time that the student loans pick up.

HokieCodeMonkey

So lets say I can negotiate down to 500 above invoice and still have the 15k down payment. What would my monthlies look like for a 36 month loan at 0%.

Ltngdrvr

You aren't hard wired into paying invoice for the car, you haven't paid for it yet or signed the finance contract so you hold more of the marbles than they do.

Tell the dealer that you have found that you can buy the car cheaper somewhere else and see if they will come off the price, if they won't, WALK AWAY!!! IT IS JUST A CAR AND YOU CAN GET ONE SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!

If they come down on the price then you can move on to finance and see what Ford Credit will do for you on the interest rate. Even if they won't do 0% they will surely do better than the 6% you were quoted at the credit union.

HokieCodeMonkey

What would be a reasonable negotiation price? Should I try and haggle down to invoice? What is invoice for a GT Premium?

corvettedreamin

Google "auto loan calculator" ... and have fun.

corvettedreamin

Does your browser go anywhere but TMS.com? Really? Try Edmunds.com for starters.