Hellobee Boards

I would get a pre-approval from your bank first. They are more likely to offer you the best interest rate up front. Car dealerships make the most amount of money through their finance department by upselling add on items (extended warranties, etc.) and jacking up the interest rate.

When I bought my car, I brought my pre-approval with me car shopping, they tried selling me a loan with an interest rate that was double my pre-approval rate, and they ended up finding a loan that matched the pre-approval rate. Because of that we did finance through the dealership to avoid the hassle of going back to the bank to get a check, etc.

We got pre-approval from our credit union first. It was I think 1.7%?

Then we went to the dealer and they tried to get us to through their financing so they beat our pre-approval rate (not by much), but it was all easy-peasy.

I got a pre-approval amount and rate from my credit union. The dealer was able to work out the exact amount and push it through their system.

I've always used the dealership. Traditional banks don't always have the best rates. I've gotten better rates through credit unions or the manufacturer's finance company. When you go into a bank and apply for a car loan it will go through their consumer department. While if you go to a dealership, they send the request to several banks/credit unions, etc they have agreements with. Financing with a bank that way is through their dealer services area which will often have better rates than their consumer area.

We also got 0.9% through our dealership

My husband recently was pre-approved by his credit union at 2.25% for a used car. A dealership we visited the other day said they could do 1.99. His credit score is 850. Were any of you who got lower rates buying a used car?

We financed through Toyota Motor Credit, we got a 0% loan, so it didn't make sense to finance it anywhere else. We purchased our car in December, buying that year's model.

I'd definitely shop around for interest rates before going to the dealership to buy the car. They'll try to finance it through them also, but just be mindful of their rates and what all is included in your bottom line (like GAP insurance, road side assistance, etc.).

I wouldn't go by "this the payment we'd like to stick to" because we did that and got screwed over. I was able to obtain a really low interest rate due to my credit score which would have made my payments really low, but since I said I was comfortable with payments of X dollars, they tagged in a bunch of unnecessary stuff to inflate their bottom line, but still met my payment requirement. Never again! I was young when that happened, but dirty!

@runnerd: I hate the "what do you want your car payment to be" line too. I tell them I'm far more interested in the price of the car than what my car payment will be. It doesn't hurt to check out the options at your bank prior to going, but we got a 1.9% interest rate from the dealership. We could either choose 0% financing or an extra $1,000 off the price of the car. We did the math of what would cost us more, and the 1.9% financing was actually cheaper over the course of our loan. Make sure you also have an idea of how much you want to put down on the car as well as how much your insurance will increase due to you upgrading your car.

We went thru our credit union. Just call in and get pre qualified.

Down payment, pre-approval from credit union for 2.25% which is the best rate they offer, then dealer offered 1.9%. This was for a 2015 car we bought in March.

@runnerd: I bank with a credit union & they actually have a department that can help purchase a vehicle. They provide a letter to the dealership to guarantee financing (& I believe the amount you qualify for/are comfortable spending). Then they can help negotiate on your behalf. They also had better rates than the dealership. I haven't bought a car in 8yrs, though, so not sure how this compares these days.