Buying/financing advice?

[null_x86]

Hey guys, I'm looking at getting my first purchased car and I thought this would be a good place to get some advice on purchasing. I'm 17, 18 in October, and I'm looking at getting a job so I can get the 2LT/RS Camaro (listed in sig). I've been in love with the car since I first heard about it, and I want one now that I'm of age. My question is what are the financing options available on the Camaro, if any? Are there any discounts that I can get on it, like a college student discount(Freshmen) or a first time buyer discount? Any thing like "No Payments for 12 months..."? Sorry if I seem like a noob, but I gotta start somewhere. I already figured out about how much I'd be looking at for a monthly payment thanks to GMAC payment calculator, but I cant really get any more official info. Hopefully you guys can give me some info. Thanks in advance, null_x86

PS - Mods, if this is in the wrong section/sub-section, I apologize.

[WildClay]

Originally Posted by null_x86

Hey guys, I'm looking at getting my first purchased car and I thought this would be a good place to get some advice on purchasing. I'm 17, 18 in October, and I'm looking at getting a job so I can get the 2LT/RS Camaro (listed in sig). I've been in love with the car since I first heard about it, and I want one now that I'm of age. My question is what are the financing options available on the Camaro, if any? Are there any discounts that I can get on it, like a college student discount(Freshmen) or a first time buyer discount? Any thing like "No Payments for 12 months..."? Sorry if I seem like a noob, but I gotta start somewhere. I already figured out about how much I'd be looking at for a monthly payment thanks to GMAC payment calculator, but I cant really get any more official info. Hopefully you guys can give me some info. Thanks in advance, null_x86

PS - Mods, if this is in the wrong section/sub-section, I apologize.

Here is a good place to start on both learning about your loan options and tips on getting a loan, the next two links lead to the same site, one on current deals and rates, and the second on car loans specifically:

BankRate.com - Auto General : http://www.bankrate.com/auto.aspx
BankRate.com - Auto Loan Basics: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto...loans-101.aspx

These two will give you a lot of tips. Financing is tight right now especially if your credit rating is marginal and the deals for "no payments for x months" are hard to get on a Camaro.

A lot will depend on two things, if you have a job or source of income and second is if you have a credity rating, like have you had a credit card, do you have a bank account that has a track record of deposits, etc. Having a sizable down, anthing over 10% out the door cost will help, 25% will open a lot of doors.

Getting someone like your parents to co-sign a loan will likely get you the best interest rate and improve the ability to get a loan if you have no credit rating.

Get prequalified for the loan, this will put you more in the drivers seat working with the deal and you will go in knowing you have to money up front.

The most likely loaner will be a dealer or school credit union if you have an accout with the credit union. A dealer loan will have an ugly interest rate for a new borrower, same as most other places, but often will loan when no one else will.

Having the biggest down payment possible will help, having no debt is a mixed bag, no debt gets you points for no debt, but costs you points if you have never had a loan you have paid off.

A car loan is best done from a position of knowing a few things. The first is your credit score, the next is what you can afford including insurance+car payment+car related expenses, % down payment (amount you can get together).

No matter if it shows on the loan papers the loan officer will take all of this in to consideration. Now the current rates from banks, credit unions, and dealer rares.

Shop your loan around rates can vary literally over 10%, your student status may also help get discounts on the car (but I would not count on that right now with the Camaro), but it might help on the loan.

Best rates if you qualify: (Parents), School Credit Union, Other Credit Union, Bank, Loan Broker, Dealer, Private Lendor(don't even consider Guido!!)

On most cars you can find finance rates and openness to loan so they can sell the cars, alas on the Camaro you will not find this, right now they are not having much trouble moving the cars, where on some cars you can get 0% for x years, "anyone qualfies with a pay stub..."

As for no interest for first year, take GREAT care, these come in two flavors, one with interest and one without, I doubt you will find the latter on a car. No interest and payment for x months is OK, just look at the interest rate. No payment/interest for 12 months but an interest rate of 12-14% is a lot more costly loan than 7% for 36 months or even 60 months.

No payment loans that charge interest during the no payment time are offered all the time and are a total rip off, during that no payment time the interest is racking up.

You biggest assets to getting a loan and if you can get one, how low the interest will be:
1. Co-Signed Loan, 2. A job that pays enough to cover the payment, maintenance, and insurance. 3. High Credit Score, at you age you can pretty much count this one out unless you have borrowed small amounts and paid it back on time, you have one or more credit cards and have perfect payment record. 4. Down payment amount from your own source, such as from a bank account. 5. Good grades from high school, does not sounds like you have grades from college yet. 6. Low expenses, ie living at home / on campus on paid scolarship/parents paid tuitiuon.


Biggest tip I can give you is not to get in over your head, buy the car you want, but think it out with great care. Beware, very aware, of a deal too good to be true, this is usually from a real low life dealer but there are plenty of them, the often run late night ads and offer loans to anyone, like the one that does it for $1 down and any current pay stub, I have seen interest rates as high as 18% from these guys.

Shop around for all discounts that apply to you, google is your friend for finding these, that is the good news, the bad news is many dealers are not honoring many types of discounts on the Camaro, you have picked a hot selling car which limits your options.

It is very possible, provided you can make the payments, you will be offered high interest long term loans 60-72 months to get the payment in your range. These suck as far as the total cost, but may be the only way to get a loan without a co-signer. (The co-signer does not have to be parent, it can be anyone willing with a job and fair-good credit rating.)

Wish I could be more specific, there are lots of loan types out there, and deals, there are student dicounts but varied rules to qualify, you have to check them out. Also, dealer loans are not all bad, there is no harm in asking the dealer to pre-approve you to a $ amont.

No matter how you secure a loan you a better off knowing if you qualify up front, the biggest advantage being you can get the best terms generally, the other, is some dealers will offer you a better price and loan to finance though them, again, read the terms carefully.

Shop the dealers, and don't limit yourself to a local dealer (although that is best) if you are ready now labor day sales should be good. My first car was dealer financed and while a little higher then a bank loan, it was not a lot worse.

The key things to get down pat before you start, a. Total cost for car you can afford, that includes the car cost, tax, title, license, and other fees, b. what is the max you are willing to pay if less than "a." c. The max interest you are willing to pay, over what amount of time 12-72 months.

Good Luck!

PS -- Any respectable lender will give you a copy of a loan agreement, all filled in but not signed/executed for you to "sleep on". It is key to ask for the paperwork before you sign, it gives you a change to read it in detail without the presure from the dealer or lender, get someone else to read it and compare it to others.

[null_x86]

Originally Posted by WildClay

<snip>

Whew, thats a mouthful. thanks a lot, I really appreciate it though. I asked my family a little, and my grandmother said to get a credit card (gas card, credit card, etc) and buy small ammounts and pay it off as soon as the bill comes. If I do that when I start my job up until the time I am able to purchase, would that be enough to qualify for credit? Other thing I'm looking at is that by the time I do purchase the Camaro, I'll be dont with at least two semesters of college, so i should have some solid grades by then. I checked the links you gave me and I got this:

60 Mo New Car BB&T 7.74 No fee
36 Mo New Car BB&T 7.60 No fee

Is that reasonable? I'm in the process of finding out how much the insurance will be on the Camaro, and I know that my grandmother will be co-signing on it. Now i do have a question about ordering custom (like getting the "Transformers" package): Do I order from a dealer and then wait for it to be shipped, or something else? Thanks for the good advice so far