You can walk into a dealer with a check from anywhere and the dealer will accept it. It doesn't have to be from an institution that the dealer gets a kickback from. Most banks and credit unions can put together a loan for you in about a day or two. Most places you'll need the VIN and out the door price to do it. My credit union has something they call a "blank check auto loan." Where they approve you up to $X and give you a "blank check" that the dealership fills out and submits. You typically have about 7-10 days to use the funds of an auto loan before you have to restart the process, so once you find out when your car is arriving at the dealer hit up your bank(s) and get the ball rolling. They will ultimately be your best resource.

In other news, I sat at 15-2 for 9 before completing production, good luck!

Edit: I checked out your link, look into some other local credit unions 4.14% isn't "bad", but one of my credit unions is advertising 3.29% right now, and the other is at 3.59%.

 

This isn't always true. Some dealers have become greedy and wont accept outside financing. It's unfair but there currently aren't any rules governing this. The FTC is currently contemplating a new set of rules aimed specifically at these sort of practices among other shenanigans. As the vehicle operations director of a large, progressive dealer group, this sort of stuff pisses me off as they are just shooting themselves in the foot.

 

Interest rates are probably going to go up. Just get one that allows early partial payments on the principal. You would be surprised how quick an extra hundred or so a month shortens the loan and reduces the interest charges.

 

When I placed my order the dealership offered £1500 off the purchase price if I signed up to the finance then and there. I did this for the discount, fully intending to pay the finance off the day after I collected the car (did that on my A6 and got £4k!). However now, nearly 2 years later 3.8% is an astonishing finance deal so, as much as I detest monthly payments, when I get the car I’ll probably keep the finance.

 

With excellent credit, definitely shop around and find the right rate. We also love to add extra principal to pay off the loan early and not have to pay all the interest on the loan. Plan an extra amount each month and just treat that like your monthly payment.

There are several good sites for advice on tactics to use at a dealer. My husband has loved listening to the YouTube videos from YAA (Your Auto Advicate). Lots of good info there. We were very lucky to work with a dealer that does straight MSRP and we basically picked our Out the Door Rate (Buy Rate) from their finance department. I did some research and approached them with what I was willing to pay in interest knowing I was going to pay off the loan in less than the periods of the loan. Very important to be sure the loan allows you to do that. Credit rates and loan applications are only good for, I think, 30 (or 60) days, so you can't get it too early.

 

I did some research and approached them with what I was willing to pay in interest knowing I was going to pay off the loan in less than the periods of the loan. Very important to be sure the loan allows you to do that.

I am moderately confident, though not 100% so, that in California you cannot penalize customers in any way for paying off a consumer loan early. YMMV with other states.

 

Hi Adrian,

You definitely want to shop around. I have accounts with Clean Energy CU and they are legitimate. They are small (about 15,000 members) but I like their philosophy. I actually have a loan pending with them (for the Leaf that was supposed to arrive on three different dates, now waiting on October 17th). It was approved and good for 45 days; the rate is 4.19%.

Also, check with your bank. If you are good customer with good credit, they may be able to offer something competitive.

For the Leaf that I am patiently waiting for, Nissan financing is offering 1.9%. If that deal is still in place when the car shows up, I'll definitely go with that.

And like others have said, pay a little (or a lot, whatever you can afford) extra every month. I had a 48 month loan for my husband's Tiguan and paid it off in 15 months. That was a good feeling!

LHN

 

My dealer was going to charge an extra $1000 to use my own bank (I bought a cancelled order). So I used their bank and then turned around and refinanced it with my credit union 😈

 

I’ve done this too! But I’ve even done the wait a month before refinancing because they don’t make you pay the monthly amount until the next billing cycle.

 

Check this credit union and you will surprise the loan rates
Tower federal credit union (towerfcu.org)
I took auto loan 10 days ago to buy 22 ID4

 

Check this credit union and you will surprise the loan rates
Tower federal credit union (towerfcu.org)
I took auto loan 10 days ago to buy 22 ID4

I just applied for tower credit union, never heard of them until this forum but they are legit

 

Signed up this morning and I am waiting on the application 🤞🏻

 

Financing with a dealer, unless there is for some reason a great deal which often means it isn’t, reminds me of something Ren used to call Stimpy a lot

 

holy moly I'm glad I clicked this thread

 

I was told today is the last day to try to lock in rates at Tower Federal. Rates go up at Midnight.

 

Do you know how you lock in the rate? Is it by just applying that day, do you have to have been approved, or do you have to have requested to be locked even if approved?

 

Its in this thread, application to lock rate

 

My dealer has 4.4% & 4.5% finance thru Volkswagen Credit until end of Oct on 2023's ID4.

 

What length terms?

Just so people know, you have to buy from a Truecar dealer to get the 0.25% discount from Tower.

 

Did tower do a hard pull on your credit when you applied for the membership? I was almost done filling out the application and saw some wording that makes it look like they might, and I don't want a pull until I'm ready to apply for the loan.

 

Yes. I think they did it when I applied for the required checking/savings accounts rather than the loan application, but not sure because I did them close together.

 

One more data point…

We got pre-approved from Tower at 2.74%.

We did join TowerCares Foundation ($35) opened a membership account and filled out a membership and loan application.

It took a while (don’t doddle!) but at 36mths, we’re saving a lot in interest. Now the ID.4 has to arrive!

And they did pull credit reports for both the membership and the loan. Separate groups I guess…