I am seriously thinking about getting a MINI. I haven't even gone on a test drive, but I know I love them.

I have never financed a vehicle before, but I have been told it is best to secure financing outside of the dealership. If nothing else, at least that way I have something to compare dealership rates to.

Can someone tell me how that works as far as how the dealership is paid through outside financing. If it makes a difference I will have a down payment to put with the financing.

Should I get financing before even going for a test drive?

If I custom order a car.. how does the financing work? Will it be good for the 8 - 10 weeks it will take to get the car, or will I need to ge reapproved?

Silly questions, I know, but I'd like to know how this all works. Any help would be appreciated.

Can't wait to start motoring!!!

 

It all depends on your credit score.... My dealer gave me a better rate than I could find after running a credit check. If you have excellent credit the rates are good now.

 

How good WHM? My dealer wants to talk about Financing at week 3 prior to delivery. I'm wanting to know what BMW rates are, if you happen to know. I belong to a CU so that is my preference for Financing, my dealer is also a CUDL (Credit Union Dealer Liason), I don't have to go to my bank just sign at the dealer. We have EXCELLENT Credit and will have a sizeable Down Payment as well, I want to get the best rate possible.

 

My MA didn't want to talk about financing until the first of this month - waited until we knew the car was on its way so we didn't check my credit twice. He said that the financing deals change monthly?? Anyway, he said that the rates start around 6% and go up from there. So we'll see...I turned in my paperwork today and will be putting down a very sizable downpayment and should get the car by the end of the week.

Good luck!

-Holly

 

Mini financing was around 6.7% or higher when we ordered. Our bank offered us pre-approved for 4.99%-- gee, I wonder which one we're going to use.

To the original poster-- talk to your bank-- see what rate they can get you. Then talk to Mini with that number in mind. There are any number of calculators online that can help you figure out your payment based on downpayment, etc. You can also look at different loan lengths and see what sort of payment you're comfortable with.

There is an excellent one on edmunds.com.

The rule of thumb is that every one thousand dollars you put down takes about 20 bucks a month off your payment.


Be wary of those that say you're preapproved regardless of credit-- they can be upwards of 20%!!

 

I tend to have better luck through credit unions, though sometimes the dealer will get a competitive rate. I'm financing my new Clubman through Northeast Credit Union of Portsmouth, NH. They're offering 3.49% for 60 months right now. So as long as I apply tomorrow, the rate is good for thirty days.

As far as a down payment, that only changes your monthly payment and should not affect your interest rates. Banks will finance 100% of the book value/cost of a new car.

 

I got pre-approved by my bank in January, before I found out that the rate is only good for 30 days, so I will have to re-apply. I shopped around banks and my states credit union and my bank had the best rate. I'll go with that unless the dealer beats it. My dealer said the same thing, they'll talk to me about financing closer to delivery because the deals change every month.

Check out this thread...lots of people are getting their best rate from Pentagon Federal...I should check on that one as well, though it looks like the same rates as my bank has been offering.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=127742

 

Has anyone financed through Pentagon Fed Credit Union? If so did they finance the entire amount. My clubman totaled $32,100 and they will only finance $28,500. They said the reason was they will only finace the collateral value which according to them is $28,500. Thanks for the input.

 

I'm hopefully picking up my Mini on Saturday.

Just talked with my banker a few minutes ago. She quoted me 4.66% on a 3 year (or less) loan and under $30K financed.

Got a call into CinciMini finance guy to get his quote before I decide.

 

definitely shop your numbers before you go in. the number that BMW gives you will not be that competitive. they were around 6.4% when my CU was at 4.8%. not very close at all. also it was a difference of almost $40 a month.

 

Yes, shop around. Get out the yellow pages and start making some phone calls.

 

I just arranged my financing thru Pentagon Federal, and had no problem getting
the full amount on my Cooper "S". Ended up having them finance a $1000 less
to help keep the payments down though...

 

Rate? Term?

 

How much did you finance? Mine is $32,800 and they will only finance $28,500.

 

Financed $27K but was told I could finance the full amount. ($28K).
Financed for 60 months at 4.9 %.

Easy people to work with. Also picked up there rewards credit card.
(Mainly want to use this as my gas card due to the 5% rebate on fuel
purchased at the pump...)

 

Try Costco. $35,000 for 4.94%. Did everything online and received blank check within a week.

 

I received two emails today from Mini. They are offering a $10,000 discount, $5000 on Mini financing & $5000 on some special Mini deal. I'd ask the dealer about this. When we bought our Mini, financing was 4.75% (in Dec 07). Don't know what it would be today.

 

Hi NJP, thanks for the info.

A $10,000 discount? Any more details?

 

I believe NJP may have received the same email that I did....
it was the Mini reward Visa promo that allows you to earn up to
$5000 towards your next Mini, but you have to charge a small
fortune to your card first... <G>.

 

I think I did the math once. If you charge $250,000 to your MINI Visa card, you can get that $5000 credit toward your next MINI purchase. At the rate I use a credit card, I'd accumulate a 5,000 credit in 104 years.

 

GonePostal is right, the offer did involve a credit card. I guess that is why I deleted it.

 

STV do you have a Link for the Costco Auto Financing??

THX

 

RJKimbell,

Try this link.
http://www.capitaloneautofinance.com...anding/Costco/

 

We tried a joint credit app through Costco/Capital One and got 5.55. We ordered that same day and BMW finance gave us something like 6.6% but only running my credit, not my wife's. This was in January before the 2 Fed rate cuts. The Costco offer will expire before we take delivery so I'm going to see if it would be any better now. We'll also check our credit unions and see what BMW Finance offers on a joint app.

 

Look for another rate cut on March 18th.