So im about to lay down a deal with South Bay Mini on a car, but they tell me even tier1 credit people get around 7.4% APR! Im about 4 pts away from Tier1, so they hooked me up on a decent APR.

AUDI/VW Financial has been notorious for horrible APR's and they gave me a 4.9% APR on my Audi A3.


Anyone else getting sub 7% apr's?

 

It does flucuate a lot, one of the biggest factors. From the time I ordered to the time I took delivery it went up from 5.9 to 7.05

 

Yes, it also depends on the current prime rate. For instance the lowest APR my local credit unions are offering is roughly 6.75 but with incentives they'll knock off .5% I should end up with 6.25 provided the prime rate hasn't gone up in the past 6 weeks.

 

I went with my credit union that had a special on rates for prime applicants last Sept: 4.9%

I think they are still offering a similar rate.

I'd definitely say shop around, just to make sure you're getting the best rate you can get.

 

Got 6.19 in March from my CU. Looked on thier web page today and they are showing 6.49. They will give .25 for direct electronic payment.

 

4.9 through my credit union.

 

I got 6.19% from MINI Financial in December.

 

Get your own pre-approved financing whenever possible so the dealership doesn't make $$$ on the back end.

5% APR through our credit union and they knocked off .25% APR for electronic payments, so it's actually 4.75%

I have my payment processed every week, which cuts down the overall interest paid, and I pay an extra $25 a week, which further reduces the overall interest paid...as well as the length of the loan.

In fact, I made my first weekly payment 5 days after taking possession of my MINI...even though the first payment wasn't even due for a full month!

 

At first my credit union offered 5.25%. The fact that I had paid cash for all my cars the past 15 years apparently counted against me. After I pointed out that (1) I didn't live here before and (2) wasn't a member of the CU before because I couldn't be, they dropped it to 4.9%.

 

We found that the dealership seems to be a few points higher than what we can get around town. Hubby's been checking the internet and getting even better rates. It surely pays to check your options. Just remember that everytime your credit is checked it affects your rating, and not for the good.

 

When you "buy" a car, you're actually negotiating a simple purchase transaction that they purposely make extremely complicated with the intention of getting more of your money.

Dealers will make money on (and feel free to add more):

- Profit margin on the car purchase itself
- Markup on in-demand models
- Profit in financing (they get cheap money and lend it out for higher %age rates) - this can be HUGE - and different car companies and dealer groups will subsidize their APRs top a large extent to "move the metal" - you can't reliably compare APRs between dealers.
- Profit on accessory sales and installation (also huge)
- Money they simply tack onto the paperwork and you pay because it is pre-printed! Document fees, excessive licensing fees, just because it's preprinted on the form doesn't mean you have to pay it! Car companies have "dealer holdbacks" to cover these and other expenses, if you pay it too then the dealer just gets more.

IN THE END, you really only have
- A vehicle purchase price (including accessories)
- A loan you take out to buy the vehicle, and
- Fees paid to buy the vehicle

NEGOTIATE THEM SEPARATELY, with your eyes completely open. Do your research, or be like a lamb let to your (financial) slaughter.

PLEASE don't get me wrong, I'm not against any purveyor of goods making an honest buck, but some places really go to the extreme here. Again, do your research...

THEN do yourself a favor: Don't second-guess your decision once you've committed. If you already made the deal at X.XX% APR or $YY,YYY purchase price and someone else did better, what are you gonna do except kick yourself and post distressing commentary? Don't beat yourself up, go motor in the car that you HAD a good deal on when you (intelligently) bought it (or you wouldn't have agreed to the deal, right?), and move on!

If you haven't purchased yet, good luck and if you have, start driving and modding and quit worrying.

 

Credit unions in the Los Angeles area are all around 6% for 5 years loan right now. For 3 years, it maybe a little lower. I have been shopping around too before my car get to South Bay next month. The interset rate actually went up by like 0.1% since I started shopping for a car loan a month ago. :(

 

If you're a Costco member they have a deal with Capital One for pretty competitive rates. There's a picture on the site of a guy holding a check from them and he's buying... can you guess? A MINI!
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...ang=en-US&Sp=C

 

Acutally I am thinking of going with Costco. I am an Executive member so I get another 0.1% discount on top also.

 

Just an FYI....dealers in SC are refusing to accept Capital One financing because of non-payment by Capital One....

 

Sometimes the dealer will have an agreement with a variety of lending institutions. Ours did with our credit union, and that helped the rate.

 

0% as I don't take loans for cars.

 

Ditto.

However, I'm not sure we're doing the fiscally smartest thing. If we can get a loan for say... 5%, why take money out of an investment account that may well earn more than that, up to say... 12% ?

Yeah, I know, any investment that is guaranteed is not going to pay more than 5%.

 

7% sounds fair. Definitely not a rip-off. Interest rates have been going up (my savings account certainly appreciates this fact). In the past though I've found that I could get the lowest interest rates when buying a car by going through the credit union. Don't know whether you're buying new or used, but rates for used cars are always quite a lot higher.

 

You can look at it that way. Or you can drive the same car for 10 years and easily save hundreds of thousands of dollars in that time and pay cash for another used car for under $20,000 and drive it for another 10 years while you save many more hundreds of thousands of dollars. Repeat cycle, live securely.

 

I'm of the mind that says...borrow cheap and use other (Banks etc) peoples money (when you can) and make your money work for you. If I can borrow at X% and have my money make Xx%..I'll say...Thank you very much.. And I never take a loan that has a clause in it which penalizes you if you pay the loan off early...

 

Yeah, but once you've saved that big money, you're right back to the same question... dig into it and pay cash for the car and lose out on more interest... or borrow cheaply and keep that money working for you... compounding to it's hearts content.

I'm going to have to sit down and analyze this closely before I buy my next MINI... which could be verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry soon.

 

And when it comes to insuring your baby....get a policy that covers your vehicle (If it gets totaled) with a "Replacement" not based on residual value.

Just MO.

 

11.4%!!, 18/m and my co-signer filed for bankrupcy in the past 7 years. :(

 

How many months have you been paying on the loan to date?

Do you pay just the amount due or do you pay a bit extra?

Do you pay weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly?