I got my certified loan check with a specific amount way in advance of purchase. The paperwork I signed gave me my interest rate and first date of payment. I take that to mean that I am locked into my interest rate regardless of rate increases before the loan check is actually cashed. I just have to cash that check within the 90 day period that it is valid.

 

Do you have to start making payments since you signed the paperwork?

 

You start the payments and interest accrues once you receive the certified check in your hands.

 

I had my PenFed check for a month before my car came in. Even though they approve your loan and send out a check, they the contract doesn't become valid until you actually use the check. You have 90 days to use the check. If for some reason you don't use the check within 90 days, the contract becomes void and you reapply at whatever intrest rate they currently have. I applied for my loan once my car was on the boat. PenFed sent out the check a few days later which was about a month before I actually took delivery of my Mini. Once I took delivery of the car, I signed the promissary note and a few other documents that were in the envelope along with the check and mailed them back to PenFed. I chose to have them send me a payment book. I received my payment book a few weeks after picking up my car and my first payment was due 1 month after picking up my car.

 

Man they gotta get their act together down there I swear.

 

19 pages of praise for pen-fed. what exactly did you not like?

 

lol - it's a done deal now but honestly every time I've called them I've gotten different answers....not to mention it took 3 attempts to get the ACH done properly. IMO it was worth the 4.25% though to deal with the craziness!

 

It's kind of funny when you call. I've been calling to see if they've received my title and here's how it goes..

Me: Hi, i'm calling to check and see if you've gotten the title to my car for the car loan.
1st person... what is a title? title? what's this for?
Me: You know, the title to the vehicle.
1P: Oh, you mean the collateral.
Me: I guess so.
1P: Let me check... *papers rustling* no, not yet.
Me: K, ill call back in a week.

2nd time I call, and taking a clue from the first person.
Me: Hi, i'm calling to check if you've received the collateral on my car loan.
2nd Person: Collateral? collateral for what?
Me: Umm.. the car loan I took out last month...?
2P: Oh, you mean the title. Let me go check. *more rustling papers and faint whispering* No, not yet. I can check one more place.
Me: Okay, I can hold on.
2P: Okay hon, hold on. *phone gets put down*
2P: I just checked the title room and they haven't received it.
Me: Okay, i'll call back next week.

3rd attempt...
Me: Hi, i'm calling to see if you've received the title collateral for the car loan I took out.
3rd Person: title collateral? Oh, the title. I don't see it registered on my screen. Let me go check the title room.
3P: Not yet, try again in a few days.
Me: It's been more than a month, and it says I get hit with a penalty if you dont receive it in 30 days.
3P: Oh, well, your registeration didn't complete til last thursday (3 weeks after purchase). Give it another few weeks.
Me: So, I wont get hit with the higher interest rate?
3P: I don't know what the interest rate is now if you applied for a new loan.
Me: Uh, that's not what I meant. The penalty APR i meant.
3P: Oh, we don't do that til 60 days because certain motor vehicle departments are slow.
Me: Uh, okay, i'll call back in a week.

4th attempt...
Me: Hi, i'm calling to check if you've received the collateral on my car loan.
4th Person: Collateral? let me check. No we haven't gotten your pink slip.
Me: I'm not close to the cut off for the penalty APR am I?
4P: Let me check in the pink slip room.
Me: pink slip room huh.
4P: yes, we have a big room full of pink slips. hold on, k?
Me: Sure.
4P: No pink slip yet. You've got another month or so before we penalize you.
Me: What's the penalty APR anyway?
4P: No idea, you'll have to call the loan department for a new application.

and it goes on, but you get the idea.

 

Yup, while they have great rates I too dealt with confusion trying to get my loan approved. I provided the requested information and still never got a decision. I called and they did not have a clue why it wasn't approved. Finally I just told them to never mind and I went with BMW and so far they have been great! I can make as many payments online as I want so I can pay the loan off asap so this ease will more then make up for the .75 percentage point more I am paying. I get a bill in the mail and I can also make payments online if I want. Easy.

 

They raised their interest rate to 4.75% ARG. My car still isnt here and I saw the rate go up from 4.25 all the way to 4.75 now...

I guess it is still better than BMW Finance rate...

 

I'm sorry to hear some of you have had problems with PenFed. For me, it was a smooth as butta. Much better than having to rassell with the F&I guy at the dealership!

 

Hmmm I didn't have to do any rassell with the F&I guy, my experience was easy as pie through the dealership.

 

Yeah I've been calling them too and they still have not received it. They said sometimes the processing takes a while before it gets to them. I dunno. It's been more than a month since I got PeeWee.

 

And oh yeah, I never signed up for the automated pay because I was planning to just use the payment book but I tried it anyway. My first payment was 2 days ago and I did the transfer on the 29th, I checked my PenFed account and it updated my payment due date to next month. But 3 days later, I checked my other account and the payment wasn't deducted yet AND the payment due date on my PenFed one updated again to show the November due date!

So I called and they said that they automatically deduct the payment every month and that I don't have to do anything. Eventhough I told the lady that I never signed up for the automated pay and just tried it a few days before the due date. She said it doesn't matter.. Now, she said I actually did two months of payments but they won't deduct the second one until the next month.. geez.. so much for being in control of your accounts.

But I will call and clarify again. They always seem to give me different answers each time!

 

That reminds me, the (two) checks i've sent them don't clear like every other check i've sent. It's very strange and the checks are listed differently when i view my checking account online.

 

Can anyone who did financing through BMW and came back elite tell me what their rate was?

 

I was approved in the so called "top-tier" with an 805 fico. I got stuck with 6.6%. I was in a big hurry and didn't shop my loan. BUT i got $1200 of MSRP.

 

I think my rate through bmw is 5.35. I'll have to check when I gEt home

 

Our rate through BMW Finance is 5.54%. Once we are there picking up the car, we will see if they will give us a bit better of a rate. The credit union we were going to use was going to give us 5.5%, but the $25 initiation fee makes the BMW rate better. There is only a few dollars difference between the two rates.

 

So you never signed up for the automatic payments and received a payment book I take it? Then you send in your payment online and they take your information and set you up with automatic payments without your permission? Unless I"m reading this wrong I would be pissed. I to would like control over my finances and do not like anyone taking money out of my accounts unless I do it. I would call back and tell them they need to stop doing that.

 

I applied a couple of days ago for a loan from PenFed, thinking it'd be a few weeks before the PW MCc S Sidewalk came in for me to check out. Then I found out the car arrived today! So, I called PenFed this am to see if anything could be done to expedite my financing and the lady says, "Uh, it looks like that check was sent out Wed." I get home from work and sure enough, there's a check in my mailbox! And it was Wed night I applied for the loan! It was fast, if nothing else!

We'll see what happens re: titling... I get my car on Monday!

 

Two weeks ago, I got 4.54% from... Bank of America.

 

Sorry if this has been covered, but if you sign up with Pen-Fed, does the check come to you with an already typed-in loan amount, or do you write in the loan amount you're going to be using when you're at the dealer? I imagine the second option, but just wanted to make sure being I never used secondary financing.

 

If you give them the VIN in advance with the amount then it comes already printed and ready to go. Otherwise it's a draft check and you write it in - you may get screwed like I did and have to wait 10 days for that to clear. go back and read this thread if you have other questions that have been answered!

 

Thats good.... How did you do that? PMed you