Filed Chapter 7 on 3/4/2013, discharged 7/11/13. Credit card debt, divorce, blah blah blah. Reaffirmed Chase auto loan. Never late on a car payment. Decent income (squeaked past means test by a few hundred dollars.) 16 year old son just got his license so I need another car.
Applied online for new Chase auto loan (one payment left on current note) -- requested $22500 over 5 years and got the "we are considering your application and will let you know within 24 hours" message. Checked online the next morning and was approved as requested with interest rate of 2.89%, 0 down (obviously very pleased with this one year out of bankruptcy.)
Went to dealership with preapproval in back pocket, negotiated a satisfactory deal on 2014 Honda Civic Sedan EX ($20472 out the door.) Explained to finance lady that I would be using preapproved financing. She stated that the price I negotiated was only good if I used Honda financing. Completed online Honda financing application, (including social security number), and upon running my credit the dealership discovered my recent bankruptcy, smelled blood and tried to flip my financing.
First lady showed me a fancy chart illustrating my bad credit (myFICO score is currently 679 -- she had a number of 659) and stated that the best they could do was $21800 sale price + taxes & fees, 6% interest, $5000 down. I explained to her that it was not my intent to apply for credit and that I would like to use Chase to finance at agreed upon price. She walked away and about 10 minutes later another gentleman approached me with a bunch of numbers handwritten on a piece of paper -- different down-payment scenarios with different payment scenarios all working off the base price of $21800 + taxs and fees. He expressed empathy for my bad credit situation and vowed to do everything he could to help close the deal. I stated that it had not been my intent to apply for financing and that I had preapproved financing which I wanted to use to pay for the car at the agreed upon price or I would go elsewhere. He looked at me and said "I didn't know you have preapproved financing -- if someone had told me that in the first place you'd be out the door by now." He directed my to the finance desk, I took a seat, and shortly thereafter a woman sat down and said "good news -- we can get you financed zero down and slightly less than your preapproved rate -- 2.69%" I asked her if this was at the previously agreed upon price and she replied "yes." The dealership had been keeping that offer in their back pocket the entire time.
Based on this experience I'd say get preapproved through a bank or credit union if at all possible before heading to the dealership, especially if you have some measure of financial vulnerability -- a bank's first loan offer will be at or near your true loan market rate (high or low based on your particular situation) whereas dealers will shamelessly deceive.
Applied online for new Chase auto loan (one payment left on current note) -- requested $22500 over 5 years and got the "we are considering your application and will let you know within 24 hours" message. Checked online the next morning and was approved as requested with interest rate of 2.89%, 0 down (obviously very pleased with this one year out of bankruptcy.)
Went to dealership with preapproval in back pocket, negotiated a satisfactory deal on 2014 Honda Civic Sedan EX ($20472 out the door.) Explained to finance lady that I would be using preapproved financing. She stated that the price I negotiated was only good if I used Honda financing. Completed online Honda financing application, (including social security number), and upon running my credit the dealership discovered my recent bankruptcy, smelled blood and tried to flip my financing.
First lady showed me a fancy chart illustrating my bad credit (myFICO score is currently 679 -- she had a number of 659) and stated that the best they could do was $21800 sale price + taxes & fees, 6% interest, $5000 down. I explained to her that it was not my intent to apply for credit and that I would like to use Chase to finance at agreed upon price. She walked away and about 10 minutes later another gentleman approached me with a bunch of numbers handwritten on a piece of paper -- different down-payment scenarios with different payment scenarios all working off the base price of $21800 + taxs and fees. He expressed empathy for my bad credit situation and vowed to do everything he could to help close the deal. I stated that it had not been my intent to apply for financing and that I had preapproved financing which I wanted to use to pay for the car at the agreed upon price or I would go elsewhere. He looked at me and said "I didn't know you have preapproved financing -- if someone had told me that in the first place you'd be out the door by now." He directed my to the finance desk, I took a seat, and shortly thereafter a woman sat down and said "good news -- we can get you financed zero down and slightly less than your preapproved rate -- 2.69%" I asked her if this was at the previously agreed upon price and she replied "yes." The dealership had been keeping that offer in their back pocket the entire time.
Based on this experience I'd say get preapproved through a bank or credit union if at all possible before heading to the dealership, especially if you have some measure of financial vulnerability -- a bank's first loan offer will be at or near your true loan market rate (high or low based on your particular situation) whereas dealers will shamelessly deceive.
Bankruptcy Wizard
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