I just bought a 2012 SE hatch with no options and a manual transmission. (Love it, by the way...) I went to the dealership with a blank check from Capital One for 3.17%. The folks at the dealership advised the best they could do would be to match the rate if i wanted to take advantage of the $1500 rebate. I can't complain about the price... ($15,538 + tt&l + $150 doc = $16,670 OTD), but it seems they took advantage of me tipping my hand about COAF's rate. My FICO score is 806... I understand the F&I guy wanting to make some reserve, but I'm curious as to what I should have qualified for. I assumed 1.9% would be it...

Thanks in advance!

I would say with that score you should have been able to get 1.9 but I am no expert. I got about 3% interest rate with my car being used. Buying a new car it is to my understanding that you normally get lower interest rates. I have found credit unions to be way better with loans rates than banks.

806 is a great credit score should have been in the 2s.

at least you didn't try to get a loan through that Indian bank, whatever it was called..... I caught the APR in their disclaimer at the bottom of the screen on the tv ad: 89.95% on a 10k loan!

edit: right, Western Sky!

edit again: wow! pulled this right from their site:
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: The APR for a typical loan of $5,075 is 116.73% with 84 monthly payments of $486.58, with a loan origination fee of $75

Now that is rediculous ^! You would have to be really desperate and really stupid to accept that crap!

yup. sorry I don't mean to pull it off topic but that just amazed me.

84 monthly payments of $486.58=$40,869 for $5,000

What a steal

Well on their end it is their job to make money, 1% rate on a $15,000 loan isn't a heck of a lot of money. I know you are after the best rate but if you're near 3% you're not exactly bad credit or bad deal.

They have to eat too.

Well on their end it is their job to make money, 1% rate on a $15,000 loan isn't a heck of a lot of money. I know you are after the best rate but if you're near 3% you're not exactly bad credit or bad deal.

They have to eat too.

LOL I know, I know... I was just curious. It only amounts to about a $550 difference over the life of the loan, so no biggie. [thumb]

My credit score of 762 was enough for a 2.9% rate with 0 down FWIW, on a used car at that.

IF you finance through the dealer, they will want to make some money off financing.
They can add a one percent plus easy to your loan to make a kickback from the financial company they use.
I do not know if Ford allows this with Ford financing.. but certainly any outside financing arranged via the dealer is going to have this as part of the process.

At the lower rates it is not such a big deal anyway. Only when you get into the 8% and up it starts to hurt...
If you are paying 18% it really hurts for big money..

anyone care to find out how much that focus would cost if you used western sky financing??

edit: if I did it right, its somewhere around 1660 a month for 84 months. so around $140k!

^ They even say in the commercial that the loan is expensive. Who in their right mind would pay 89% interest.
Pay your way through med school with them..... ouch! [smackbum]

oh wow yeah.

I have no idea... they say pay it off fast, but I don't think its possiblr

I think the 1.9% is a special rate that isn't available with the $1500 incentive. Should be one or the other. I think in your case choosing the incentive was a better option than reducing your APR by a little over 1 percentage point.

I remember back in 2008 before the bank crash.. I went to a ford dealership that was selling a used 2004 yellow z3 hatch with 20k on it for 10 grand. My credit score was 780 and I had a down payment of 4k out of 10k. I was denied the loan.

My credit score of 762 was enough for a 2.9% rate with 0 down FWIW, on a used car at that.

Not to make you feel bad...but my 19YO daughter bought a certified used 2010 Focus last December, never had a job, has no income, zero credit, going to college, had me co-sign the loan and she got a 1.9% 48 month loan thru Ford Credit using my 02 Ranger as down payment...I was surprised too...

Not to make you feel bad...but my 19YO daughter bought a certified used 2010 Focus last December, never had a job, has no income, zero credit, going to college, had me co-sign the loan and she got a 1.9% 48 month loan thru Ford Credit using my 02 Ranger as down payment...I was surprised too...

I don't feel bad. I didn't say we took it ;). 1.9% was on the table for us as well for our certified car but even with 3k down I didn't feel comfortable with the payments. I'd rather have a lower payment, be safe, and be able to pay extra (sometimes up to double) every month than have a substantially larger payment and possibly have trouble making it. I forget the exact numbers now, but even at the interest we're at, I'll still be ahead by paying $25 more on each payment and by paying every two weeks instead of every month. And if there's a month where we're a little lean, I can just pay that month at the normal, "lower" payment. I'm still fairly young, but I did learn what not to do, and what to do from my parents' and friends' mistakes with credit.

Not to make you feel bad...but my 19YO daughter bought a certified used 2010 Focus last December, never had a job, has no income, zero credit, going to college, had me co-sign the loan and she got a 1.9% 48 month loan thru Ford Credit using my 02 Ranger as down payment...I was surprised too...

Well, if you co-signed for her then she really didn't qualify for that rate - you did. At least that's my understanding. I mean, without a credit history or income, there's no other way they would have considered her but to have a co-signer.

I think the 1.9% is a special rate that isn't available with the $1500 incentive. Should be one or the other. I think in your case choosing the incentive was a better option than reducing your APR by a little over 1 percentage point.


Gracias. That was my thought exactly. [thumb]

Well, if you co-signed for her then she really didn't qualify for that rate - you did. At least that's my understanding. I mean, without a credit history or income, there's no other way they would have considered her but to have a co-signer.

Exactly!!

Heres the deal I got...

Back in 2008 after my cavalier was paid off.. I just started putting 500 a month in to a Total Stock Market Index Fund... until March of this year when my old 2003 Cavalier started to fall apart...

When I went to pull the money out of that mutual fund to buy my new (used) Focus, I had a 1900 dollar capital gain on the shares of the fund i sold.
Figuring what I spent on the car plus my trade which wasnt near as much as i hoped.. but not bad considering the clutch was gone and the front end was worn out.

Turns out it was like a 13,000 car loan in reverse with a 12% interest rate... I spent only 11,100 of my own money and 1900 in capital gains...

Only draw back is next year when i have to pay 5% capital gains tax on that $1900...

the interesting thing is .. that mutual fund after buying the car still had over 25 grand in it...

For those with high interest car loans, this is something to think about..
that car loan is costing you a fortune..

15% you mean

I remember back in 2008 before the bank crash.. I went to a ford dealership that was selling a used 2004 yellow z3 hatch with 20k on it for 10 grand. My credit score was 780 and I had a down payment of 4k out of 10k. I was denied the loan.

Really? WTF...

Also guys 1.9% ain't that great of a rate, did a deal the other day 1.59% 4,500 rebate plus $3,300 discount.

15% you mean

15% on what? the rate of return or the taxes?

the rate of return came out to about 11.8 something so I rounded up to 12% based on the mutual funds realized gain/loss calculation..

as far as the taxes... Based on my income level, Capital gains rate is 5%
my income tax rate is 15% though.

Once the Bush Tax cuts expire though.. that won't be true anymore..

Bought my 2012 Focus Titanium on Saturday. 1.49% approved from credit union. Dealer got me 1.99%. Credit score 795. Took dealer financing as it was easier for $6/month. I can always take the credit union loan and pay off the dealer loan. Got the $2000 rebate too.

Focus Titanium hatchback, premium, sport, cold weather, sunroof, MFT/Sirius/Nav. Sticker $27,050. Out the door just under $24k.

Really enjoying it.

Tim

^what he said id take the rebate then re-fi into a lower APR if its offered.

When I refinanced my Focus through my CU, I got a 2.2 rate. And my Fico score was at the time 765.
Not to add salt in the wound, but with an 806 score, you should have easily qualified for the lowest rate. Good luck with your new toy.:)

...
Not to add salt in the wound, but with an 806 score, you should have easily qualified for the lowest rate. Good luck with your new toy.:)

No worries at all! [thumb] I'm glad to hear everyone's experiences. And yeah, I'm driving the snot out of this car! [headbang]

dude dont worry, even if they say 6% take the $500 finance incentive and as your walking out the door call your bank and refinance through them...you get your $500 refund, pay it off with the rfi and enjoy your new low rate... sometimes I sit there getting my new loan as the guy is still printing out the paper work for the dealer loan...