Katherine

This is my first car i have ever bought new, and i have excellent credit, once the finance person saw my credit score they said "ya you are approved, no problem" They said i have "young" credit, as i have not been building it up for very long, but they told me i had a very high credit score. I think 9% is very high. I shopped around online and filled out applications to see how low of a % rate i could get. the best i did was 7.6%. However! on Wed' the 6th i called to get my bank check extended, and while doing so they dropped it even more. They brought it down from 7.6 to 7.1% I believe interest rates are lowering, but i could be wrong. The fact that my mini dealer seems to think they can beat 7.1% has me thinknig that the rates are lowering.

Did you shop around different places for an interest rate?

Edit: i also have NO co-signer

 

No, I didn't really shop around - I assumed that they would try to get me the best rate possible. Maybe this was naive...I wonder what else I could do? I too have excellent credit, I only have a couple of credit cards, all of which are paid off...hm...

Thanks for the info.

 

This is the 3rd car I have purchased new. My 1997 Honda Civic had payments of around $200 a month for a 5 year loan. I don't remember what the % was. Then, I paid cash for my 2000 VW Beetle. I've had the Beetle since July of 99, so it's been 7 years, and it's really starting to fall apart. I'm hoping to get between 5-7 to 10-12k out of it when I sell it, according to Blue Book.

Katherine, if you find a better deal somewhere else, you could probably get the same loan from them, at a lower rate, and then use that money to completely pay off what you currently owe the dealer. It's an idea. 9% does sound high though. I'm hoping I can keep mine under 8.

 

DRUM ROLL - - -

Never did get in touch with the salesman, but I talked to the manager and he said Tabasko would be rolling up to the dealership at about 3:00 PM today and I will be able to pick it up either tomorrow or Monday.

YES !

 

Katherine,

I would suggest you join a credit union, usually just requires opening a savings account with a minimum balance of 20$. You should be able to get a rate that is in the 5-6 range. Credit unions usually beat banks on car loans.

Arthurbang - when did your mini complete production? Mine finished on the 18th of Aug. I was thinking our cars might be on the same boat since mine will head to the WC also.

S

 

Thanks for your financing advice, guys. I will definitely dig around more to see what I can do.

Tabasko, that's great news!! Have a great time during the delivery process, and be sure to post pics!!

 

I plan to go through MINI, then refinancing through the credit union for 6.25 for 72 months after one payment to MINI. The CU has a good deal on re-financing with payments and interest deferred until after the first of the year and some give-aways.

 

Yeah, refinancing may be a good idea later on Katherine! You should be able to get a better rate than that!!

Tabasko - SEE I told you everything would be ok, lol... AND you will have yours BEFORE mine... grr... haha... I'm really hoping it will arrive early tomm. so I can pick it up tomm... I don't think I can pick it up on Sundays and I don't really want to pick it up after work during the week since the light will be weird and I want to be able to inspect it... Oh well, at least I have Friday off so that will be the day if not sooner!

I just finished cleaning the inside of my Honda, and will do the outside tomm. before heading off to Carmax to get an appraisal... I then have to get insurance sorted out and see my dad so he can sign off on the title (we are jointly on it)... I really hope I get SOME money for my car, lol...

 

Soumaila... My car finished production around that same time. I know that it pretty much went into production on the day that the plant came back online from its shutdown. It made it on to a boat on the 22nd of September, and should be here in a few days.

 

I bet our MINIs are on the same boat together! Did you ever get the name of the boat? My MA said it didn't show up in the computer.

 

Thanks for the response Arthurbang. I hiope mine is on the same boat.

 

No, they didn't even mention a name for the boat. All I know is that it wasn't shipped on any of WW's boats. I was kind of bummed that I couldn't track it online but oh well. I'm going to call the dealer again soon and see if they have an expected pick-up date. It was originally supposed to hit the port in 4 days (yay!) and I've seen some people have their boat arrive a day or two early.

 

If we had the name of the boat we could track it online but without a name we can't. Yeah, I wanted to track it too because then it's all the more real, but that's OK, this way I'm not sitting in front of my computer checking the ship every 2 minutes!

 

yea thas what im doing and im going Crazy.......

 

Took delivery of this frisky little puppy this afternoon. Car was flawless, financing went quick with no surprises, demo of all functions on delivery. Only "problems" were that they didn't put an inspection sticker on it and didn't get the floor mats in the car. No big deal. They will reimburse the inspection sticker and gave me a $50 gift certificate for having to mail the floor mats to me.

The car is awesome. Can't tell you how tickled I was as I drove it to our favorite restaurant to celebrate. I kept looking out the window at it as I ate.

Here's some pics. It rained on the way home and I just had enough time to wash off the love bugs before going in to watch LSU whoop up on Arizona.

 

niceeeeeee

 

Congrats Tabasko!! Yay!


I love the chrome exterior! It looks so good with the red and black!

 

YAY for Tabasko!!!

Congrats on getting your car, it looks awesome!!! I bet you are thrilled to have it! Must be nice not having to wait for your baby anymore.

Hopefully i'll be picking my car up Monday, gotta call the insurance company so i am covered when i roll it off the lot.

I hope you are enjoying your car!

 

Hooray Tabasko!!

Looks absolutely great. Isn't that first drive just the best? I know what you mean about not being able to help looking out the window - I kept thinking "Is that really mine?"

Congrats, and enjoy!!

(And I agree, the chrome looks awesome)

 

Congrats Tabasko!!! Looks great I figured you'd get yours before mine!! I thought you were getting stripes??

My car came in yesterday also, but I can't pick it up yet

I was really hoping I would be able to pick it up by the evening, but no go...

Well, my crappy Honda got $2500 from Carmax which I was REALLY happy about

I got my insurance started yesterday, so I'm covered for when I DO pick it up. And I got my dad to do the Power of Attorney thing since both our names are on the title... So basically, I'm just waiting till they call me and say I can pick it up!

I really didn't want to do it after work though since my dealer is a bit of a drive away and I will have to go to Carmax first to sell my Honda... I don't get off work till 5pm, so we will see... I might just have to wait until Friday as I have that day off...

Ugh... I HATE waiting KNOWING it is there!!!

 

9% is pretty high. Dealerships hardly ever have the best deals on interest rates. Generally even their promotions are like 0% for 6 months then jacked up to 8-10%. My car loans interest rate is 5.25%, got it through a credit union .

 

When the car came in late Friday, there wasn't time to get the stripes put on since I told them i needed the car ASAP. I appreciate the heck out of the dealer putting the car first in line to get prepped off the truck. I'll be back at the dealer next weekend for MINI-MANIA to get the windows tinted and the stripes put on. I pulled the dash "airbag" decal and the cupholder off this morning. The interior looks a lot cleaner now.

 

I must be the only person here who actually WANTS the big cupholder I had actually added it to the car when I built it (but the dealer took it off the list and said it was now included). I might be crazy, but after driving my Beetle for 7 years, which doesn't have any room for any drink cup over 20 oz., I decided I needed a bigger one. But we'll see when I get it. If it's too tacky, I might remove it too!

 

I thought the cupholder just took up way too much room. There's a smaller cupholder up front and then another big one in the console between the seats, towards the back. I'm so glad I got it taken off - like Tabasko said, I think it just looks a lot cleaner. Plus, I'd never use it - but if you drink Big Gulps or something, I can see how it would come in handy.

 

Hey TABASKO, congrats on receiving your MINI! It looks great, and I'm sure you're looking forward to getting the stripes on, too!

Since I didn't get a chance to really inspect how the big cuphold is fastened to the downtube, I was wondering how difficult it was for you to take it off? I'm just not sure whether I want it or not, so I am hesitant to have the dealer take it off prior to delivery, especially if I can take it off myself. That way I'll still have it if I decide I want it on there. Thanks!