Car Max financing process versus other dealerships

Anonymous · ‎04-29-2015

I thought it would be good to have a thread that talks about the process of getting auto financing at car max versus other dealerships. At the end of last month I went on the carmax website and found a car that I was interested in so I filled out the finance application on the website. I got a call in about an hour or so telling me that I was approved thrugh american credit acceptance with an apr of 15.95%. I know that is high buth ihave a 540 credut score so i was expecting the interest to be higher than that if I got approved at all. I was told the only documentation needed was four references. I really didn't want to have to deal with trying to get references so I went on the website of a toyota dealership and find a 2013 camry, the vehicle i got approved for on carmax was 2013 nissan sentra. The camry at the toyota dealership had less miles and was about $600 cheaper than the sentra so i went a head and did the finance application on the website. Some one called me and asked me a few more questions and said the finance person was still working on the application. I went ahead and got the sentra from a carmax a few days later the lady called back from the toyota dealeship and left a message for me to call her back. I didn't call her back since i already had the sentra i assum that I did not get approved anyway. To me I felt like it was easier to apply for financing online so I would only have to go down to the dealership if I got approved for financing. In my opinion the car max process was a lot easier and straight forward. Here is a pciture of the car. My sentra Others should post their experiences with car max versus other dealerships.

Anonymous · ‎04-29-2015

I should also mention that credit karma shows there was only one credit pull from toyota and one credit pull from carmax, they both pulled equifax. I thought carmax would had more than one credit pull since they shop your application to different lenders.

Anonymous · ‎04-30-2015

I bought my BMW 6 years ago from Carmax and was amazed how simple the process was. These days though I won't walk into any dealer without a preapproval. Two months ago I joined NFCU and was preapproved for a refi on our Accord, it was amazingly easy so I plan on getting preapproved through NFCU for now on, if the dealer can beat it great if not I don't have to worry about financing.

04Cobra · ‎05-01-2015

Carmax financing is usually guaranteed. If a dealer says "you're approved" and drive away without bringing papers home, that's a spot delivery. Chances are you're credit is a little shaky and may have to return car after driving it a few days or so.

Creditaddict · ‎05-02-2015

I'll add Carmax pulls EX too and usually approvals are based off your EX... did they not give you a letter that stated your credit score they used? (sign up for credit sesame if you don't have it to watch your EX pulls)

I love carmax and talk about it alot... I woud just apply in store when you have the car picked out because it's done with the sales person in a cubicle on the computer and it's almost like applying for a credit card... all the banks they work with have 5 minutes to give an approval or denial and the terms of the approval and then you can see them pop up all at the same time and click the one you want (if more than 1) and it's done... documents are printed to finance and you wait your turn to go sign.... if no conditions show with the approval, no conditions will come... they are a bulk dealer, so they have made these arrangements with the financing companies they work with to require little to no docs and give approvals that are final on the spot.

it's fantastic!

Anonymous · ‎05-02-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
I bought my BMW 6 years ago from Carmax and was amazed how simple the process was. These days though I won't walk into any dealer without a preapproval. Two months ago I joined NFCU and was preapproved for a refi on our Accord, it was amazingly easy so I plan on getting preapproved through NFCU for now on, if the dealer can beat it great if not I don't have to worry about financing.

I agree...

Anonymous · ‎05-03-2015

wouldn't a low document or no document auto loan also mean that the minimum rate you qualify for will be 5% or more? Is that just one single hard pull or multiple pulls?

Just guessing.

Creditaddict · ‎05-03-2015

My partner and I got 4.49% on our Prius.
And it was 4-5 pulls.... They have carmax, citi, wells, road loans, extender I believe it is that it goes out to.

Anonymous · ‎05-04-2015

Does anyone know if Carmax auto financing reports payments? It says they do on the website but a dealer I went to said they only report if you are late/miss, not payments made on time. I am not sure if this was a sales pitch type of thing or if it is true.

Creditaddict · ‎05-04-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Does anyone know if Carmax auto financing reports payments? It says they do on the website but a dealer I went to said they only report if you are late/miss, not payments made on time. I am not sure if this was a sales pitch type of thing or if it is true.

they report