Hi all, i was discharged about 3 weeks ago (ch 7) and am going to be looking to buy a car in the next few months, ill explain my situation and plan, just wanted some opinions/advice as to how my plan sounds and what i can do to make it better
heres a little history, about a year and a half ago, had an unexpected baby (found out g/f was pregnant (she didnt look it) about 3 weeks before he was born, happy and healthy fortunately) the exact same month my student loans started repayment (at almost $1100 a month based on intrest rates at the time) missed a car payment and couldn'd catch up quick enough, they repo'd it. decided to file shortly before chase came looking for money, because i couldn't come up with the dollar amount they were looking for (after repo fee's the balance and all their extra charges) for the mean time i was driving her car while she was home with the baby during the day
now that all this is over, shes going back to school soon, and well, is going to need the car when i'm at work, i commute about 1hr each way and need a car all day due to the nature of the job (IT consulting) so i cant wait til i have enough to pay cash, im planning on buying a new jetta TDI, the only reason im going new rather than used is due to the fact that i cant register one with less then a certain amount of miles/years old in Massachusetts due to the fact that until this year they were not 50 states certified and i will have the car til the day it dies or becomes worth less than it costs to fix and would rather know the maintenance history then take someones word for it.
so heres my plan, im thinking may/june is my time frame, before then, i have already gotten an unsecured card through capital one to build credit, and i have my student loans reporting that i have never been late or missed a payment on since the day they started repayment (about 1.5 years) reporting as well. In the mean time i'm also going to be going over my credit report til its acceptable to me in terms of accuracy.
I will have somewhere between 8k - 10k cash to put down on the car and based on research, between tax title and registration, plus the cost of the car, ill be financing 12.5k and 14.5k of a 23k sticker price car (i expect to pay about 21k for the car based on the average price people are negotiating locally)
so, for the financing, i was thinking of calling and talking to someone at capital one and applying over the phone rather than online so i can discuss terms, interest rate, etc with someone and hopefully get approved with a lower rate based on the positive equity the bank will have in the car from day 1. I have noticed people have applied online or though lending tree, etc. If i get approved, im basically planning on using it as leverage to see if i can get the dealer to give me a better interest rate, if not then capital one will be who i use for my car loan (if they approve me)
So, what i'm wondering is, how does the plan sound in terms of the best path to get the best financing deal? should i be doing something different between now and then? would i be better off with a different lender as my first choice? Id rather keep my credit inquiries low, right now there is only the one to get the card from capital one on there, im not going to apply til all 3 reports are satisfactory and accurate to avoid extra inqueries.
Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for the input =)
heres a little history, about a year and a half ago, had an unexpected baby (found out g/f was pregnant (she didnt look it) about 3 weeks before he was born, happy and healthy fortunately) the exact same month my student loans started repayment (at almost $1100 a month based on intrest rates at the time) missed a car payment and couldn'd catch up quick enough, they repo'd it. decided to file shortly before chase came looking for money, because i couldn't come up with the dollar amount they were looking for (after repo fee's the balance and all their extra charges) for the mean time i was driving her car while she was home with the baby during the day
now that all this is over, shes going back to school soon, and well, is going to need the car when i'm at work, i commute about 1hr each way and need a car all day due to the nature of the job (IT consulting) so i cant wait til i have enough to pay cash, im planning on buying a new jetta TDI, the only reason im going new rather than used is due to the fact that i cant register one with less then a certain amount of miles/years old in Massachusetts due to the fact that until this year they were not 50 states certified and i will have the car til the day it dies or becomes worth less than it costs to fix and would rather know the maintenance history then take someones word for it.
so heres my plan, im thinking may/june is my time frame, before then, i have already gotten an unsecured card through capital one to build credit, and i have my student loans reporting that i have never been late or missed a payment on since the day they started repayment (about 1.5 years) reporting as well. In the mean time i'm also going to be going over my credit report til its acceptable to me in terms of accuracy.
I will have somewhere between 8k - 10k cash to put down on the car and based on research, between tax title and registration, plus the cost of the car, ill be financing 12.5k and 14.5k of a 23k sticker price car (i expect to pay about 21k for the car based on the average price people are negotiating locally)
so, for the financing, i was thinking of calling and talking to someone at capital one and applying over the phone rather than online so i can discuss terms, interest rate, etc with someone and hopefully get approved with a lower rate based on the positive equity the bank will have in the car from day 1. I have noticed people have applied online or though lending tree, etc. If i get approved, im basically planning on using it as leverage to see if i can get the dealer to give me a better interest rate, if not then capital one will be who i use for my car loan (if they approve me)
So, what i'm wondering is, how does the plan sound in terms of the best path to get the best financing deal? should i be doing something different between now and then? would i be better off with a different lender as my first choice? Id rather keep my credit inquiries low, right now there is only the one to get the card from capital one on there, im not going to apply til all 3 reports are satisfactory and accurate to avoid extra inqueries.
Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for the input =)
Comment