Already approved, still want to look around

[ChrisAFguy]

Hello all,

First off let me say that my BK is not discharged yet, it should be around 4 April or so. However, I have been looking around at dealers and vehicles and have settled around a 15,000- 18,000 dollar car. I was contacted by a few dealers already, one said that they already got me approved and wanted me to come in and look at some vehicles. I know that I can't buy anything until after the discharge due to the courts, which is fine with me, i'm a patient person. The one dealer wouldn't tell me what my interest rate was going to be, they said it shouldn't be too bad, nothing close to the 14 I figured I would end up getting. My question is what kind of interest rates should I expect? I know I won't be getting 3.9 or anything like that, but should I expect to pay astronomical rates for the first year? I really don't want to be paying 400+ a month. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of scores did you all have when you went into the dealers, what did you do to negotiate with them, and how friendly/ judgemental were they? My scores right now are 592, 598, and 618. What dealerships were the best to deal with? I have heard from a few people that Honda seems to be a good one to go to.

[Kuya]

Congratulations . . . BUT I agree with your ability to be patient.

I can't say for sure, cause who knows . . but normally it works like this:
Come on in, we got you approved? Oh yeah ? Great, what's my interest? Well, I am not fully sure, I need to get the work from our Finance guy, but it shouldn't be that bad . . When can you come in?

9 times out of 10, they can't give you an interest rate because:

1) They really have not gotten you approved anywhere. But they are confident they can do it once they get you in the door.

But more than likely, it is this game:

They can't tell you the interest rate because you have not decided on a car yet. . . . Well, the interest rate will play a large part of the Dealer's profit, AND it allows them to play that wacky numbers game where they hit you from all sides until you agree to buy a car and don't even know how much you actually paid for it . . because they keep telling you that they may have to knock some off the price of the car if the bank won't accept it, or if the rate is too high . . . to get you financed.

In the mean time . . . you would fair much better if you only negotiate the price of the car . . and walk in the door pre approved from another bank, and have cash to put down, no trade.

I am in a similar situation. . . . I have done my homework, crossed my T's and dotted my I's . . . . and still, I shake in my boots lol.

My BK13 is done. Just waiting for the Judge to sign the discharge (long long story about that though lol). Should be any day now. In the meantime, I have polished up my credit and pushed myFico score to 672 (just checked about an hour ago). Instead of trading my car in, I sold it privately - last week. That gave me $7,000 cash to put down, which will help put me in a better finance position. I also have $2,000 that was refunded by my Trustee, and I am adding $1,000. Gonna be hard for a dealer to let me walk out . . . with my cash still in my pocket.

Still, I am concerned about my rate. The minute my Discharge hits my credit bureaus (I monitor all 3) I will test the waters at a few banks and see my rate. Then I will be better prepared to just negotiate the price of the car . . . and not worry about rates and payments.

I estimate that I could land anywhere between 4% and 12% . . . depending on incentives and banks. If I can get 8% or better, I will close the deal . . if not, I will walk.

Anyway, good luck! But don't trust anyone who says "I got you financed . . but Not sure what the rate is yet"

[dumpinmydebt]

You are pre-approved, not approved. There is a difference.

The dealers you have received offers from are probably on some list when people file for bk (I've received about 30 of these letters), and then they send out these soliciting letters to the people. You are "pre-approved" because this is what they specialize in, however, that is NOT a guaranteed approval. If you were 100% approved, you would have your rate and terms.