Hello everyone,

Simple question here, I would appreciate to hear how your process was when you bought your used evo.

What was the best way to finance? Bank,credit union, insurance? How much did you put down? What was your interest rate, and how quickly did you pay it off? Any other helpful information will be gladly taken. I mean that. I hate to admit it but, I am not the brightest person when it comes to financing. I know the best way to go is pay with cash, but in this case it is not a possibility, so I must take some kind of financing. I do have 5K to put as down payment.

Ive just come back from a dealer, after interest a 06 evo with 75k miles on it would cost me 26k. I think I can do better than that! At least I hope so! If I was paying that much the car would need to have much less miles. Any insight would be very helpful, as I am quite determined to find the "right" one! Danke!

 

First before you fall in love with a car, and NEED TO HAVE IT. Go to your local banks/credit unions, and so forth and tell them that you're interested in buying a car and want to try and pre-arrange financing for it. Tell them the year, make, model. and what you are looking to pay for it.

They will then give you the rates and terms. Shop around, and get at least 5 different quotes. If you do this all within the same couple weeks, it doesn't look like you are "hunting for money" on your credit report, it looks like you are shopping for a loan, so it won't hurt your credit. You can also use this as a price negotiating tactic. "I know you want 28,000 for that car, but I have only been approved for $23,000, and after discussing the numbers with my bank, that really is what I can afford" They will say "well, we can get you approved for $28,000" repeat to them, "No, $23,000 is what I can afford, so it's what I would like to spend"

Once you have the best deal and terms, find that car of your dreams. If you buy it from a dealer, tell the dealer "I already have financing arranged, but I'd like to see what you can offer" And see what they come up with. Don't lay your cards on the table till you see what they can come up with... as their finance officer is trying to squeeze as much money out of you as he can as well as the salesman. Be careful of loans with balloon payments at the end, as they sometimes try to squeek those in to show you a lower monthly payment.

Also, don't get suckered into the "monthly payment" numbers game... Talk final price and interest rate, and let the monthly payment fall where it may... a few extra dollars each month means a lot in the end... $20 on a 5 year loan is $1200 extra you are paying on the car.

In doing this with a couple motorcycles and a used car, the federal credit union I have banked with has given me the best rates. Yet with new car purchases with both GMAC, and purchasing my Evo, the dealership got me better rates than I found on my own.

I don't remember the rates I paid, but on my GM it was EXTREMELY LOW as GM was in financial hardship and GM was trying to move inventory.

I put $15K down on my Evo when purchased new in 07, and had it paid off in 08.

 

well put ^^

 

Pentagon Federal Credit Union 1.99%

 

Thank you very much for taking time to write this, I appriciate it.