I haven't ordered yet. I plan on going down to my dealership within the next few weeks to place the order. I plan on a 09 S model; laser blue, white top with white bonnet stripes, pacific blue leather/cloth seats, leather multifunction steering wheel, and am considering the hi-fi sound system. Not to sure if I'll get it though because I've heard reviews weren't that great on it.

But for financing I would love to go through penfed. I would be hard pressed to find financing lower than this. I've been emailing Downtown Mini of Orlando and told them I planned on financing through a credit union. They ended up calling me and said I should considering them first before going outside for the funds. I highly doubt though they will beat 4.5%.

 

Hey guys, don't you have to be part of the armed forces in order to get a loan from PenFed? I scanned their website real quick and that was the impression I got. Or are you guys joining after you sign up for NMFA (?)

 

someone needs to read this thread

 

Since most people on this forum seem to be helpful, I thought I would simply ask to get a quick answer instead of reading through 10 pages of posts.

 

$$ talks, you can donate 20 bucks to join

 

LOL... I hear ya. Sounds easy enough, thanks.

 

well, lets put it this way I hold the unique rank of lazy *** american

 

I really have to thank the people that have contributed to this thread. I have a MCS on the way from Oxford and I thought I would just finance with MINI Financial with an interest rate in the mid-5s. Thanks to this site I discovered Penfed. I opened an account last night (I didn't even have to make the $20 donation because my late grandfather was retired military) and applied for a loan. I was approved without problem this morning. The process almost seems too easy...makes me feel like there's a catch.

Thanks again everyone.

 

Congrats bruleto,

Glad to hear you were approved, truly this credit union does seem great with such a low interest rate. Hope the rest of the process runs smoothly for you.

 

There is no catch. I'm making my second payment on my new Clubman this week. They are a dream to deal with and, if I had a branch close to my home, I would do all my banking with them!

 

I may have missed it in the reading of this thread but...

Does penfed require automatic withdrawal from your bank account? Or can you set up payment through the mail or pay online without the automatic feature on their behalf?

 

PenFed doesn't care which method of payment you use. In the loan docs, there is an election form on which you can choose debit payment from a PenFed or other bank account or by coupon book which they will send you. No advantage or disadvantage either way.

 

That's great ! I prefer to have control over the payment rather than an auto deduction from my account. The booklet is for me

 

When applying with PENFED, what category do you sign up under?

 

I'll be doing the donation option to join the credit union

 

Well, count me in now, too. Pretty simple, with only a couple WTF moments in the process. A couple of the inputs are jargony, but not too bad, and I couldn't figure out how to FedEx the check to myself, since it told me I didn't have an account that qualified for that. Not the best process I've done (eLoan was brutal dumb easy) but not the worst, and took about 7 ot 8 minutes to get through.

Then I looped back and did the Platinum Rewards card, too, which we'll use as a gas-only card and pay off every month. That process was easier, since it remembered all my settings from the auto loan pass, and I only had a couple pieces of info to add. Took all of two minutes.

 

This is a cross-post, but it's worth repeating, because I don't think it's clear on the PenFed website:

During the online application, if you put in a VIN, you will receive a fixed check in the amount requested. If you don't put in a VIN, you will receive a blank draft up to the amount requested.

So, if you put in a VIN, make sure you're requesting exactly the amount you want to borrow. If you don't put in a VIN, you'll receive a draft and be able to fill in the amount you want to borrow at delivery time, but, then, some people are reporting that their dealers are delaying delivery with blank drafts (ridiculous, but true.)

 

Can the draft check be cash just like any regular check? Just want to make sure the independent dealer does not run into any problems.

 

It's usually written to both parties, and both have to endorse it, but then the dealer can deposit it like a normal check. The issuing institution must "activate" it by being told the final amount, which means they'll recognize it as a valid check when the dealer's bank asks your bank for the transfer. The dealer can do that via phone or fax last time I used one.

I don't think you can "cash" one, but it'd be fun to get the dealer and yourself to sign it, then run it to local liquor store to see if they'll empty the safe for you.

I'm very surprised to hear people having problems with these things. I did my first one in 1994, and it's been painless. Hell, my dealer offered to let me have my car today - WITHOUT A CHECK AT ALL - if I'd just sign a piece of paper saying I'd have it covered by Saturday.

 

Sorry, I meant cash the check as in deposit it.

 

Too lazy to read through all the pages and have a few questions:

- Is there a prepay penalty?
- If I receive the draft/check and decide not to use it anymore, can I just rip it up? I'm assuming I don't get charged anything if the draft/check is never deposited.

 

No prepay penalty.
The loan's not real until you make the deal. (Man, I should have Johnny Cochran's job.) But you should call to cancel, if only as a courtesy, so the loan dept. can close down your paperwork. They'll probably hound you once or twice if you don't.

 

Thanks!

 

So far so good!

I got a little stuck on the online application so I called in. The representative was nice enough to fill in the online application for me over the phone. Got approved within 5 minutes and the check is being mailed out today.

By the way, they say they can only issue up to the amount of the NADAGuides retail value of the car but if your credit is good enough, they can go higher. Just tell them the extra few thousand is to cover taxes.

At this rate, my JCW should be here on Monday!

 

OK, clearly I need to call. I got stuck at one point at the end of the online application process (it wanted me to get some kind of protection I didn't want, and there was no way it would select the "no" button, so I hit the "save" button, and for 2 days now the status says "pending." (and if I click "view comments" nothing happens).

Sigh. Maybe tomorrow I can actually get out of work before the East Coast shuts down for the day. Ha. Not likely.