Hi All -

We are looking at buying a 2011 Clubman, and are interested in the .09 financing offer from MFS. Problem is, my credit score has taken a ding recently so I'm wondering what kind of experiences others have had getting approved for the best terms with MFS? Here's some info:

-6 figure income
-6 figure savings
credit score dropped because we refinanced our mortgage and one credit card reported us late in October on a $10 payment on a $70 balance (we are disputing). Otherwise, never late on mortgage, no other recent late payments (couple in 2009 after my mother died - we were just too busy closing up her house and let a few things slide), current 2 cars paid off. Score went from around 700 to 650 during the refi process. We paid the entire $70 balance on the account in dispute, but you know how hard it is to get disputes resolved in your favor. We just got a fantastic refi deal on our mortgage last month (around 4.25%) so overall credit picture must be pretty darn good to a lender, but this 50 points is killing me. The car we want is $27K and we would put around $7K down, and the payments would be comfortably within our range. Has anyone gotten great terms from MFS with a lukewarm score? Also, if you apply for financing on a weekday, how long does it take to find out? Thanks.

 

You should be fine. They told me 575 is the minimum. My entire deal took maybe 2 hours to complete.

 

Yeah, same here. I recently asked a MA at my dealership and was told he has never seen anyone not approved....maybe they all didn't get the same rate but were approved none the less.....

Sorry to hear about your Mom btw.

Good luck with your MINI !

 

Why not pay cash and be done with it?

 

Is this 575 minimum really true?
Cause I haven't bothered even going to visit the dealer because my credit rating got tanked this past summer due to an ex-wife who got the house and stopped paying the mortgage for several months at one point. And my name is still on the mortgage cause she couldnt' refi or sell it due to the economy.

edit: nvm, the deal says you have to take delivery by Nov 30, and I will be ordering, so it doesnt' even matter I guess.

 

I had the same issue - divorce trashed mine, so I asked. It was no problem. But she did say it was 575...this was back in March.

 

My MA typed my data in, we waited a few minutes, and I was approved by the Great Software God for 1.9% which was the best offer at the time.

As for paying cash, it makes no sense to do so if you can beat the interest rate with aftertax retun on investments.

 

My MA also told me 575 was the lowest score they needed. Ours was in the 750 range so we qualified in 0.9 seconds.

 

Thanks y'all! We were approved for the .9% rate, so now we have to decide if we really want to take the plunge. They have a 2011 clubman that has everything we want so it's really tempting. And yeah, even with sucky market conditions the long term ROR is better than .9%.

Again - thanks!

 

Would I qualify for a halfway decent rate with a 700 credit score and no real proof of income? My parents are going to be making the payments on my MINI Clubman, but they have terrible credit scores, so they wanted to put the car under me. I'm a student, and I work for them off the books, so I don't have any pay stubs or anything.

Would having them apply jointly for credit, even though there scores aren't great, help my chances of getting a loan?

 

No, you probably won't get approved on your own. Without knowing more about your specifics, it sounds like you don't have much on your credit report and you're pretty young with no documented income.

As for your parents... it depends on how bad their credit is.

 

it's mid 500s

 

MINI's minimum is 575 on Transunion using the "Auto Industry Specific" rating model.