This is what i figured, that it pretty much depends on the dealer. Anybody have experience with penfed and the dealer here in Denver, co??

 

yeah it's just Prestige Mini in NJ. I guess the lesson for the dealership is don't use them unless you're paying cash or using Mini financing.

My MA said hopefully by tomorrow at 3 p.m. - We'll have to wait and see.

If not tomorrow I'm calling corporate to file a complaint.

 

I think you should do that now. This is a little silly and unnecessary! I think I would have probably just gone to another dealer and told them to take a hike but I know how hard it is to do when you order the car and have already waited so long.

 

Alright i have another question. I have almost no credit history which is why i need someone to cosign on the loan with me. when you apply online is there an option where you can do that, while applying??

 

You should call and ask or email them before filling out the online app. You are given the option of saving the application if you hit a spot that you are unsure about. Good luck to you.

 

How long is it taking most people to get approval for their loan though penfed? We applied for the loan yesterday morning and still have not gotten approval. It seems to me like it will take a day or two, but my girlfriend is convinced that it should only take an hour or two to get approval.

 

Ours was pretty fast. About 30 minutes. It doesnt hurt to call.

 

I just got an email from my MA saying that it shouldnt be a problem with the check but there will be a backup contract that I have to sign when I go in. This is just to cover their butts incase the check if fake.

 

I was approved online..got the check 4 days later in the mail. I had set up my savings account a week or two earlier. I then applied for a Platinum Visa and again was approved. I looked online after I applied and it was updated to reflect the progress of the loan.

 

Based on my experience and reading about others, PenFed does not send any notice of approval, you just get the check in the mail. I did get an email several hours after I applied asking me to fax a copy of my pay stubs to PenFed, but that was it.
Do not want to excuse their treatment of you one bit, because it was ridiculous. I also used PenFed and Prestige, they treated my purchase like cash, took me about 15 minutes for all the paperwork. I've no idea why they treated you so poorly here! Our delivery experiences were polar opposites.

 

If you applied on-line, all you need to do is to sign into the website with your user name and password. Once in, click the drop-down menu at the top for "Manage Your Account" and choose "Check Loan Applications". It should show the status of your application. Look at this area carefully, since I remember there was a very unobtrusive notation that I had been approved, but I needed to call them about the loan. They do not send emails regarding the loan application. Hope this helps.

 

If most of you guys were aware of toolazyforalogin's predicament before, I am now in his situation re: the pre-approved check.

Recap:
If you applied and got approved but didn't provide the complete info to them i.e.: VIN, Make, Model , Year, etc.. then they will send you a pre-approved one. Apparently, some dealerships don't accept draft checks, like ours do because they said something like the PenFed has something written somewhere that they can opt not to pay for the amount in case something comes up. Something like that. Atleast that's what the Finance Manager told me. What they do accept are Cashier's and Personal Checks. [And yeah, if I wanted to bring my baby home same day, I can use their Financial Services which I politely declined.]

So long story short, I went in but didn't get to bring my PeeWee home. I called PenFed soon as I got home and provided them with the complete info and got everything settled. They will Fed-Ex the check today and I will get it tomorrow [Saturday]. Then back to the dealership 'to finally bring him home.

Honestly, I wasn't disappointed because I had the feeling that this may happen even when I got an e-mail from my MA in response to my question about how they handle these kinds of checks and he said "When your MINI arrives, we have everything right now to be able to contract your MINI. We'll give you a "Bill of Sale" or "Purchase Order" which is what your Credit Union needs. You'll immediately be able to drive off with your MINI, and the Credit Union will cut us a cashier check in 1-3 days."

I will e-mail him about this in a few mins.

So for those of you who got pre-approved checks, make sure you ask your MA the same thing, and be really specific about the kinds of checks that they accept and if you'll be able to drive your MINI home the same day.


**I'm still happy 'cause he's finally here. I can wait a few more days.

 

Also on top of that note, I'd add in that when get a chance, ask your MA for the production # and VIN# so you can give all the info you can to PenFed. And take care of this check earlier so you don't have to wait for another time to pick up your new car.

 

Well the APR went up to 4.5% for new and old car loans. Good thing I got my loan last month!

 

Even better, ask penfed for a Cashiers check, they'll mail it to you for free via USPS or pay like 12dlls for FedEx. You will need the VIN number. if the car is in production you can get it through the Owners lounge.

Cashiers check took my dealer 2 days to clear.

 

Actually, my MA already provided me with the amount and all other info, prior to my loan application but I wanted to make sure that the paperwork billing is okay and that I didn't get overcharged for anything that's why I thought of seeing it first before issuing. So I admit fault on that part.

However I e-mailed him after receiving the check and reading about toolazy~'s situation, I asked him re: the pre-approved checks and how they handle those and what's the waiting period for check clearance if there is one. He answered that they have everything there that I need for easy processing so I could be able to take my MINI home the same day.

But all's well.. should be getting the Cashier's Check tomorrow and my MA told me "There will be no waiting tomorrow when you bring in the Cashiers Check."

I will keep you guys posted.

 

Cashier's check should do the trick most of the time, the issues I had was that my physical address is outside the country, still they waited untill the cashiers check cleared, it took only 2 days.

 

Today I took the plunge and joined PenFed for their low finance rates and the huge recommendation from the NAM members.Thank you.

After completing all of the online forms and opening up an account with them I was now ready to apply for a car loan.

But declined due to:
Past or present delinquent account(s).
Length of time accounts have been established.
Too many inquires in the past 12 months.

I then called them and spoke with the CSR and told her that isn't correct and I am current with all of my open accounts and never have been delinquent on any of them.She said I can send a letter directly to them to reconsider my loan application for approval.Which I will now have to do.

 

You need to get a copy of your credit report pronto!! It sounds like you have some problems. Maybe someone has opened account under your name! You can get these reports online asap. Freecreditreport.com is a good place to start. Good luck figuring out what is up with your credit.

 

well, i didn't get Penfed'd. Everything went smoothly (for now) probably because i had an amount already printed on it.

 

Thanks and I do plan on doing that.

I already got my free credit reports from the 3 credit reporting companies already but that was earlier this year.I will just pay for the copies now because it would be a big savings over MINI Financial that I have now.

 

Minor update:

Well today I went through my credit reports folder and to my big surprise it is actually over a year since I got the 3 free credit reports.
Geez time flies by fast.

I promptly filed for the new 3 free annual credit reports this morning and should receive them within 10 days.PenFed's response to me for declining me for this reason: still bothered me so I went online and got my free Experian Credit Report and printed all 17 pages.I did find a problem which was 2 delinquent payments made on my daughter's car that my ex-wife promised to pay if I put the car loan in my name only because she has bad credit(I know a big mistake to do and it cost me).Anyway I was pissed to the max over that she didn't make the payments for 2 consecutive months that it dinged MY credit!! I paid the car off in full when I heard that in December and I have the letter from the bank showing paid in full.I disputed the bank since I paid it in full already and should have been reflected on my credit report.

Now that I know this I can contact PenFed directly again to fully explain and ask for their reconsideration for my loan application.

I will let everyone know what the final outcome will be.

 

Good to know you found out what the problem was and someone didn't steal your identity!

Good luck!!

 

Yes it is and thank you.

And also thank you for mentioning getting my current credit report now as I stated in my previous post I thought it was less then a year when it was actually over a year now.

BTW I got an email this morning from Experian that they updated my credit report with the new information regarding the bank I complained about.Now when I received the other 2 credit reports in the mail I will have them update that information also.

 

Glad I could finally help someone else. I've learned to much around here, everyone is so helpful!
Glad you are getting it taken care of. I am dealing with credit card fraud so I know what a pain it can be.