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Smart Shopper Questions About Financing New Vehicles
2253 messages, Last post on Nov 18, 2009 at 12:07 PM
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| A low interest rate on your car should be part of the whole deal. On my last car purchase with my Nissan Quest, I set the purchase price: invoice +1% minus the $1500 incentive, minus the blue value/trade-in on my 94 Quest; then, I let them know I was aware of the 5.9% rate Nissan is offering and made the deal contingent upon getting that low rate. | |
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I am going to buy a Toyota 4Runner. The salesman told me that their 6.99% finance rate will end this month(3/31). Is this true? Or is it likely that this rate will continue next month? Thanks, TF |
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| Tao, I can't guarantee this but I doubt that 4Runner interest rates will increase significantly even though Toyota's programs end on March 31st. Most dealers have a large supply of Sport Utility Vehicles on their lots because of the mild winters in many areas. Although it is sometimes true, dealers frequently tell their customers that a program is going to end soon because they want to pressure them into a quick deal. | |
| I have only lived in the US for about a year and don't yet have a credit history here, although I do have one in Canada. How hard would it be to get financing based on my Canadian credit history, or is this even possible? | |
| That is a very good question, Dale. As long as you had good credit in Canada and could proove it I really don't see any reason why you would have a problem getting financing. | |
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I'm looking at a new Chrysler and have read about their "gold key plus" program which is similar to a lease, but you own the car..???? Anyone experienced or knowledgable about the program and its advantages and disadvantages? I would appreciate any wisdom! |
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| Parker, I believe that the Chrysler "Gold Key Plus" program is what is referred to as a "balloon" program. This is actually a type of financing so you do own the car, but people associate it with a lease because of its low monthly payments. Basically a balloon note allows the customer to make much lower monthly payments than normal financing, however at the end of the note the customer must make a large "balloon" payment to pay off the rest of the car. This final payment is usually very high. Depending upon the price of the vehicle it can be well over $10,000. This is not a very popular type of deal because people rarely have the cash to make that large payment at the end of the note. Although I have heard of individuals who get a balloon note on a car and then finance the large payment at the end. I believe that this type of program is much more popular in the South. | |
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Greetings All, I would like to mention that after purchasing my 1998 Toyota Sienna XLE the other day, I applied for financing at the http://www.peoplefirst.com web site. Got 7.25% for 5 years. When you fill out the application (about 5 minutes), they will call you in about 15 minutes to notify you of their answer. You can get a draft check overnight as well. Great staff I talked to and the service was perfect. I got a call to make sure the check got to me overnight and they asked me to call them with any questions. Great financing service!! Scott |
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| I understand that you should have your financing arranged before you go to the dealer. How does this work with leasing? Can you arrange a lease before you go to the dealer if you know what you want? How do you find the residual value of a vehicle? | |
| Geoffrey, calculating a lease payment is a little more complicated that calculating a finance payment. In order to calculate a lease payment for a vehicle you must have two very important numbers. One is the money factor or the rate of interest that you will be charges. The other is the vehicle's residual value, or how much the model will depreciate during the course of the lease. These two numbers very widely between vehicles and even between leasing companies. Unfortunately, it is not really possible to have your leasing arranged before you begin to shop. If you have any specific questions about a vehicle's residual value please feel free to ask me and I'll see what I can do for you. | |
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