Best way to finance auto loan?

[Gmood1]

PENFED uses an old scoring model (Nexgen).
Their scoring model is always lower then my FICO 8 scores. I wouldn't sweat it.

[thegrapelady]

Good to know! I nearly had a heart attack. My score has never been that low! Thanks.

[pipeguy]

Personally I've found DCU to be a better lender than PenFed and I've been a member of PenFed for going on 40 years - today I do most of my "Credit Union" stuff through DCU. You can prequalify for an amount up to - say you think $20k ask for up to $25k and you can apply for the loan prior to joining DCU. 

My last two cars through DCU (new "used" 2013 in 12/13 and new new 2/2016) In both cases I had preapprovals in hand through DCU - good for I think 6 weeks, might have been 30 days. Makes buying a car (about any car you want - probably not a HellCat or Demon) your choice and you won't have to deal with dealers shotgunning your report with inquiries. 

[thegrapelady]

Thanks. I'll check out DCU. Now as of this morning I've gotten 2 notifications from credit cards that I have a credit increase. I hope that won't cause any problems. Lol.