Buying a "new" car - need opinions

[theurge]

I've been thinking about buying a new car here pretty soon and wanted to see what everyones opinion is. I've been looking at a vehicle at a dealer (ford dealer actually) and the car I am looking at is only $3,000 (its a 98 Crown Vic Police Interceptor - I love these cars ). I do have a trade as well which I'm expecting to only net me about $500 for a trade. My bk was discharged in January and after cleaning them up my scores from Experian and Transunion are around that 675 mark (equifax was lower for some reason -575). I did apply for a 'second chance" loan thru the dealer online - I just applied so I haven't heard anything back yet. I don't have any money to put down but since its for a small loan hopefully it will be ok...

What are my chances of being approved? Also does anyone have any guesses what my interest rate will be like if I get approved?

[FilingOnMyOwn]

You'll probably get approved with an interest rate of about 19.9% on a car that old. I think its a good buy tho. Cars with a police package are much more durable than regular.

[tinroofrusted]

My goodnes.. I read that and my first thought was "Ohmygod what about the gas for that thing?!" =)

I drove an old cop car as my very first car in high school and it just guzzled!

[theurge]

Nah, they aren't too bad on gas - not any worse than my Explorer is getting anyways 16mpg city and 22-23 highway. They are alot better than you'd think.

[Roadrunner]

I think smaller loan amounts are harder to get in general-they don't bring as much profit to a lender!

Have you heard about Prosper.com? That might be an option. (I've heard about it on the news, from the people behind EBAY and you can put up a listing for a personal loan, where other people can bid on it.)

[theurge]

Well I just got off the phone with the finance guy at the dealer and he said they "should" be able to help me out. I have to go in tomorrow and talk with him to see what he says. Hopefully everything goes well...

[theurge]

Well the deal fell through. The only thing they could approve me for was a buy here pay here loan at 18%. They wanted me to do bi-weekly payments etc. I don't need a car that bad... Oh well.

[no_it_all]

You will find it much easier to finance a new car than one that is almost nine years old...If your FICO is indeed 675 you should be golden.....

[tinroofrusted]

Americredit and Road Loans are two BK friendly creditors.

You might want to try them!

[debtisbad]

One thing I have noticed from friends who filed is they try to get you right back into bk. The dealers will not let you buy used. They only want to sell new and charge a high interest rates. Then, they want the phone numbers of 5 people you know, and they call them to verify that they know you. My problem with all this, is I want to know how long this goes on.

[theurge]

One thing I have noticed from friends who filed is they try to get you right back into bk. The dealers will not let you buy used. They only want to sell new and charge a high interest rates. Then, they want the phone numbers of 5 people you know, and they call them to verify that they know you. My problem with all this, is I want to know how long this goes on.

Excatly - which is actually called predatory lending. Jacking up rates to people who have bad credit, people just out of bk etc. I thought about it and it didn't take me much to figure out that I was setting myself up for something bad.

On a good note though I made some money arrangements with family(which worked out really well - I'll just leave it at that) and it looks like I will have the 3k after all! Since I'll have "cash" in hand I should be able to work out an even better deal than before. I won't have the money till next weekend but if they still have the car on their lot it should be mine next week. I was going to hold off but I started thinking about it - my truck has been acting up lately and yesterday it just so happens it was overheating really bad so I think its a good time to get a new vehicle. Anyways I'll keep everyone posted.

[edwards2]

theurge...Ford Motor Credit is definitely BK-friendly. They financed a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado truck...4 wheel drive, tinted windows, ext cab, etc...for our son at 10%. Not great but we got it approved 2 months out of BK. Another suggestion...I work for the BBB in Tennessee and the number one complaint for people buying used vehicles is they fall apart almost immediately. Please take the car to a reliable mechanic and have him check it out...usually costs about $48 and well worth it. He should be able to tell you if the transmission, engine, brakes, etc. are okay. Then I would go online and check the vehicle history report out at carfax.com. It costs about $20 and in fact some dealerships will do it for you at their expense right there in their office. Ours did. I wish I had a dollar for the number of complaints we get on used vehicles. If the dealer will not let you check it out ...DONT BUY IT..

[jaura6588]

[tinroofrusted]

One thing I have noticed from friends who filed is they try to get you right back into bk. The dealers will not let you buy used. They only want to sell new and charge a high interest rates. Then, they want the phone numbers of 5 people you know, and they call them to verify that they know you. My problem with all this, is I want to know how long this goes on.

No offense, but this is absolutely not true.

I have a used 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier, that I financed through Americredit. I only had to have two references, and they didn't even call them. They called to verify my employment, and that was it.

The reason that a lot of lenders want you in a new(ER) car, is so that if you default on the loan (which, you ARE a high risk after BK) is so that the resale value on the car is still there, because is should have lower mileage on it.

Go to LendingTree.com and see if you can get approved through them.