My wife and I got our 2005 GSR w/SSL with 0% financing and then 1 month later Mitsubishi sold the loan off to another company.

685 was the taget score for the 0%.

 

I got the 0% thru Mitsu also... and they sold my loan the first month lol... I think this was the procedure for most ppl Mitsu did the 0% with

 

I turned down the 0% for $2000.00 in free gas, put 15K down and financed the ballance @ 5.6% for 72 months. I'll pay it off in a year or less(Deo Volente!), my interest would be less than $800. $2000.00 free gas was way better than the 0%!

 

My credit score is 688 and I only had credit a little over a year. No loan payments, mortgage or any of that stuff. I don't pay off full balance every month either. Bought my used 03' two days before I got word of 0% financing though. Probably wouldn't have gotten it anyways since I only work part time through college.

 

Personally, putting 15k down on a car is a horrible idea since a car is NOT something that appreciates in value. You'd of been better of investing that kind of money.

0% if FREE money regardless.

 

my cousin put 40k down on a mercedes S430

 

I would've put down less, and taken the financing. It's always great to put down as much money as you can for a down payment, but at the same time, there are a lot of "What Ifs."

Ok, if you live at home with your parents, "What Ifs" aren't as big a deal, but let's say you're out on your own, married, with children and a mortgage. What if you get laid off? What if one of you obtains a serious injury that all of health coverage isn't going to cover? What if you need a new roof or HVAC system? You have to plan, and look ahead. But, like I said, if you don't have these things to worry about, then that's great. But at the same time, "WHAT IF you want to move out, and you have no saved moiney because you dropped it all on a car?"

 

Yeah, but I didn't want a huge payment(would've been arround 750.-800 per month!) and I wanted the free gas. I'll get a 5700.00 deduction this year since I'll be using it to make sales calls. The 0% was only 60 months when I bought it. My payments are around $260. now. I suppose I could take the cash balance and invest that rather than paying off the loan in a year, but I'd rather eliminate any debt.

 

I got 0% finance on my 05' and I'm 18.........then again...my dad co-signed with me, and his credit is perfect..

 

You bring up an excellent point. NOBODY needs a $750/mo payment. That right there is nearly a mortgage! Keep in mind for every $1000 you put down, it's about $20-$25 off of a monthly payment.

What you could've done was put down LESS, take the financing, and have the same $260/mo payment, just because of no interest.

Either way, $260 isn't bad at all. I put down $11,000 on my 05 STi, and financed for 6 years at 1.9% apr. My payments are $331/mo, which is about $20/mo more than my 2002 1.8T GTI cost me at 5 years, and 4.9% apr. I financed around $16,000 on my GTI, compared to $20,000 on the STi. It's clear how much of a difference that interest can make........

 

Having too much available credit used to hurt your FICO, but nowadays you generally should NOT ever close accounts. Cut up unused cards, but unless you have to pay a yearly fee, don't cancel them.

 

If I was really thinking, I would have invested the money and saved up untill I could pay cash in full. But, alas, I wanted the car badly enough that I made the less wise decision.
The danger with this car is you can easily loose your objectivety very quickly! It's SO much fun! I actually look forward to driving now! I was bored this afternoon, so I went out for a drive. About an hour ago, I figured I wanted something to drink from wallyworld and away I went, only bummer was "johnny law" was near by so I couldn't have much fun!

On another note, you know you have Evoitis (pronounced "Evo-eye-tis") when you slow down before entering or exiting freeway onramps so the slow cars aren't in your way, thus allowing you to work those tight curves!

 

PS.
Having too much credit CAN hurt your beacon score! That's not oppinion, it's fact, I was just talking with a loan officer about the very subject.

 

Generally, it's smart people that have good credit and get 0%.


Cabo

 

FICO, BEACON, and EMPIRICA are all derived based upon a formula from a company called Fair, Isaac & Co.

Here's an article you should read. (Scroll down to the second article) Here's a quote:

"...Fair, Isaac & Co. of San Rafael, says it unequivocally: Closing credit accounts can never help a credit score and might hurt it."


More info on manipulating your score