Capital One Blank Check New Car Question

[Dustink]

Negotiate as much as you can. Get the price of the car you are looking at down ($3k off MSRP would be easy) and the amount for your trade up (at least a category above the true condition kbb value wise. IE if it is in fair condition get the price for good condition) . Do not buy any extra's, none. If the car deal is right, you will not need gap. Spending 30k on a car, you also better not need a warranty. Plus it has a factory warranty.

Then if you do not want to deplete your savings. Assuming utlization is not an issue, put some money down onto your credit card. You will earn some rewards and keep your emergency fund in tact. Pay off the credit card with your wife's first couple checks. 

If crap1 offered that rate. You can likely do better at the dealer with promo deals ect.

[dnbluprints]

Thanks Dustink,

We've decided not to trade in the Subaru and just pay it off so I can use it instead of purchasing a used car for around the same price for myself. I've done some shopping online and the dealer in Denver is offering either the TDI or the Hybrid at almost 5k off MSRP with its internet pricing, so I have some better idea at where to negotiate. The drive to Denver might take 350-400 but to save 5k it would be well worth it, but maybe the "local" dealer will work with me at those prices. Unfortunatly, its the only VW dealer in Wyoming from what I can tell from a quick look at the offical site, so I guess they can be more cocky with their prices. If we could get 0% for 60-72 months that would be great but I'm not sure our scores would qualify. We don't have anything to lose aside from some inquiries by trying though. 

I was a commiss salesman for eight years, but I've only ever bought cars from private sellers so this is a bit new to me. I've read about all the extras they try to throw at you though and I've prepared my girlfriend for the scenario that we might just have to walk out too without a car if they aren't willing to work with us. Obviously the salesman wants to make money and I can respect that so I think we can give a little vs. having to sit in the car for 7 hours to go to Denver. 

[Poki]

Good to hear!

You can save money by expanding your search area. I drove 4-hours into a neighboring state - Ohio, for my recent car purchase. The same make/model/configuration (used car) was about $2,000 - $4,000 more in my local marketplace than what two dealerships wanted in Ohio and Michigan.

Could be a pain if you have a busy schedule, but it turned out to be a nice road trip for me at least. They (usually) don't care how long of a drive you had, I still had to battle with the dealership. Getting up to politely walk out quickly changed things, and I was able to get the much needed alignment and the price further lowered $200 since one of the expensive tires was miss-matched with a cheap Chinese brand. You would think the alignment wouldn't need to be begged for? 

[dnbluprints]

On a side note, we just got our Capone check in the mail and the scores they give us are pretty strange. I have a 690 EQ from here with a 700+ TU also from here and a lower 650 EX; my girlfriend has a 649 EQ. According to our documents, she has a 650 and I have a 595... not sure where they got those scores or how we got 4.5% with those. I know there is an auto enhanced score but those seem really low for the rate. 

[Creditaddict]

I'm going to start a thread to ask the question if it's good but wanted to post for you just for reference also...

I just spoke with our local dealership regarding a 2013 Jetta SEL Premium Hybrid - MSRP about $31,300+

This is based on Tier 1 which not sure credit requirement but:

selling car for $27,044.00

$2k down

36 months

10k miles a year

$311/month + Tax

or 0% for 72 months.

[dnbluprints]

Just an update,

We went to the dealer today with Capone check in hand. We tested the hybrid and the TDI and the hybrid really felt flat and boring, so we went with a TDI, which felt much more fun. We might not have gotten the greatest deal on the price but we got dealer invoice minus a few hundred including I opted for the windshield protection crap as the only extra because of how common it is to have your windshield cracked here. I think it was worth it not having to drive 7 hours to Denver though as the lower price I got from the dealer in Denver was only if you leased their car (stipulations in the fine print). We got ready for financing and low and behold, thanks to the myFICO community, my score was good enough to qualify for 1.9% instead of Capone 4.56. It took all day but we drove home in our first brand new car.

You could smell the depreciating value like a new car scent! =D

We averaged 50 mpg on the 2 and a half hour drive home using about an 1/8th of the tank.

Thanks everyone for the input.