Dream car bought... financing a mess! Expert help appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Hello myFICO,

I've been a long time browser here... and finally became a member! Great advice and information given here. Hopefully you guys are able to provide me with a bit of that help as well!

So here is the short version of my situation:

I ordered and took delivery of a brand new Mercedes ML350 in May replacing a G37 lease. I purchased the ML350 due to the fact that my yearly mileage simply doesn't allow for a lease to make sense. I was able to get financing through MB Finacial for 2.99%, 0 down, on a $52,500 SUV for 66 months. Payments are $960/month.

For the last 4 years, I've been actively and passively searching for my one and only "dream" car. We all have them, don't judge! That car: Aston Martin Vantage.

Everything was still on pause for that "dream" until Friday of this previous week when it became a reality. An opportunity presented itself, within the price I wanted to pay and condition of the vehicle, and a deal was made. It was done completely within 24 hours. The deal was brokered through a local BMW dealership for the owner of the car who had it there on consignment. I had BMW do the financing because 1). They said they would and 2). it was 7:30pm and my options were short. The owner of the car had another buyer set for 9:00am, cash in hand, if I didn't make the deal that night so finding outside financing at the time wasn't going to work. 

So, I went with their financing. Told them my back story, told them it'd be best to call in to the underwriting and fax over my proof of income as well as other items to get me the best rate. He comes back after 20min and says, here is the best rate I can do right now. All the other banks are closed and won't be around until the morning which will be too late.

2010 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster (Convertible)
White on Black
9,239 miles

BMW Finance's offer:

$0 down, $85,233.44 total financed.
60 months @ 8.25%
72 months @ 8.54%

I offered as much as $40k down and BMW would not budge on the rate. I highly suspect the dealer wanted to broker the deal with a big finance perk. I took the 72 months rate immediately knowing I would try to fine a better rate and brought her home. So here I am!

Now, here is some background on me:

Age: 28, single, no kids.
Income: $225,000/year
Employed 11 years, 2 months, current position as Vice President
Zero credit card debt
No mortage

Liquid cash: Around $65k
TransUnion Score: 707

Blemishes

Tax lien from 2007: This was added 2 years ago after a previous CPA to our company filed our taxes incorrectly, resulting in quite a bit of money owed. The CPA has since retired and is no longer living in the United States. Deal reached immediately with the IRS for a very fair interest rate (they were very understanding of the circumstances) and a payment plan was established. This is nearly paid off as of today (2-3 months remaining).

Infiniti Finance/Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp (AVOID IF POSSIBLE): I have had two Infinitis in my life time. Great, fun cars. My first vehicle from 2008 was a G37 coupe lease that was eventually bought back by Infiniti for lemon law purposes. Lease closed out in 2011, no further issues. In Jan of this year, Infiniti randomly added (6) -30's to my credit report in 2009/2010 for a car I haven't been in for over 3 years. Multiple calls and an absolute enormous amount of time led no where. I provided them banking evidence that they cashed my checks in a timely manor including signed letters from Chase further verifying this information. Not a single returned call/email. Same treatment to my lawyer when a letter was sent. Long story short, about 3 weeks ago I've started litigation against IFS/NMAC for false credit reporting. This entire debacle caused an immediate 58 point drop in my score at the time!

That's it. Start of this year before the Infiniti issue, my credit score WITH the tax lien was 763. With the lien removed, I believe I would be closer to 810.

Anyway, Mercedes and the finance manager at the dealership listened to this same story with backing information. One call to their underwriter at MB Financial Services and I was approved at their prime rate with $0 money down.

My question for everyone here... with my Aston, can I get a better rate given my entire story/situation above or should I settle for 8.5% and just pay off the loan ASAP?

Prior to this post, I've applied to the following:

Innovative Funding Services (via LendingTree)
Wells Fargo (via LendingTree)
RoadLoans (via LendingTree)
DCU (Pending Reply)
Achieva (Local Credit Union)
Consumers Credit Union (Local Credit Union)

I've heard excellent things about DCU so my fingers are crossed for them but I'm absolutely open for suggestions.

Again, thank you very much for reading my short novel. Looking forward to adding to this community and everyones response. Thanks!

[StartingOver10]

This is my opinion only:

I think you can get a better rate with one of the CU's because you have 1) proof of payment on the tax lien so that is a non-issue and 2) you have proof of payment on time for the vehicle loan.  You can always provide the proof to the CU's + you have the ability to put down a substantial down payment.

If it were me, I would refi out of that 8.5% asap and bring cash to the deal if the CU was looking for a lower LTV. I would stay far away from Wells or Roadloans for any type of financing.

PS Normally I don't agree with getting these types of vehicles but you clearly can afford it and its your dream car so - why not enjoy it while you can? Congrats!

[Creditaddict]

1. Who do you bank with?

2. you rent or own your home outright?

[Anonymous]

1). Chase & Scottrade. Chase already declined because I have a credit card which I use for work... I put about $5-7k in expenses every month but pay it off in full every single month. I've had the card for close to 9 years now... never carried a balance. Apparently they do not like this.

Scottrade Bank does not provide auto loans.

1). I rent... I do not own. I won't own until I'm settled down in life.

[Creditaddict]

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@Anonymous wrote:
1). Chase & Scottrade. Chase already declined because I have a credit card which I use for work... I put about $5-7k in expenses every month but pay it off in full every single month. I've had the card for close to 9 years now... never carried a balance. Apparently they do not like this.

Scottrade Bank does not provide auto loans.

1). I rent... I do not own. I won't own until I'm settled down in life.

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where do you live? 

This is when the big bank has failed you... you have your $225k paychecks going through chase and use their credit card and denied... id practically close up shop and walk from them... but i know 1 hand isn't shaking the other on that... but i think you need a credit union but they can't be to small to be like WHAT, you want to buy what!/?!

[TheFate]

I'd love to see pics of your Aston.. That car is sweet!

If you just can't get approved for a better rate my advice is to pay as much as you can monthly to bring it down and avoid interest as much as possible

[Creditaddict]

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@TheFate wrote:

I'd love to see pics of your Aston.. That car is sweet!

If you just can't get approved for a better rate my advice is to pay as much as you can monthly to bring it down and avoid interest as much as possible

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If you were offering BMW $40k down have you tried getting a hold of someone at chase to review the app and see what they "Would" approve and at what rate?

[coterotie]

You say you're a vice president, surely your company has a banking relationship with a local bank.  If is just a "branch" of a big outfit then you will need to make that relationship happen.  WHen I was a banker, you would have had my home number and when you were at the dealership you would have called me, I would have told you to write a personal check for the car and we'd take care of the paperwork in the morning.  So you need to find a real banker, or get hooked up with some banks E and P department (that's executives and professionals). 

You have some time to get this worked out and you can likely get it done before the first payment.  When you say Chase turned you down, was it some automated system, some dweeb at a desk in a mini-mall or a real lender in a real office with a real desk and a real title like VP/commercial lender,  I killed for deals like this.

Credit unions are probably not the answer in this situation because of the dollar amounts involved.  But it wouldn't hurt to find one that has a good reputation for financing high dollar stuff.  As an example, I used a particular CU for my boat loan because they had a reputation among the boat dealers for doing deals at good rates and terms.

[redshift1]

Speaking of Infiniti financial services,  I leased a 2009 Infiniti which I traded in on a car for my daughter.  Oddly enough on my Transunion CR it showed as a debt of $650.00 per month even after Ford payed them in full. I had to file a request for removal with Transunion CR.  No idea who dropped the ball .

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for their replies. I had an extremely busy day. Here are some updates:

Banks Applied & Status

BMW Financial Services: Approved, 72 months, $0 down, 8.54%

Innovative Funding Services: Didn't do anything... said to wait 6 months since BMW already took up the loan.
RoadLoans: Loan Amount Too High
WellsFargo: Approved, 72 months,  $10k down, 8.50%
Achieva Credit Union: Loan Amount Too High
Consumers Credit Union: Declined. No prior history large of combined auto loans.

DCU: Application moved to Senior Loan Officer

Chase: Declined. Too high of a balance on personal credit cards. *This was a digital send through the dealer.*


Regarding Chase, yes... I will certainly be discussing things further with our business banker. We use Chase primarily for our business (credit cards, banking, and lines of credit) as well as Citi Bank. I do have leverage there however my experience before with Chase is that you're either a prime borrower at a great rate or an ok borrower at an awful rate. Either way, I will be making the phone call tomorrow.

I absolutely agree regarding the comments of dealing with Chase. $225k/year in deposits, usage of their credit card services, full business profile with most all services, and a long standing customer on both sides (10+ years personal and business) only to be auto declined. If all of the above fail, I certainly hope they come through and provide me with a rate that blows my mind. I may just consider jumping ship on both the personal and business end.

On the opposite side of things... DCU seems promising. I had a fairly long phone call with them today, giving them my background, and everything went smoothly. I just hope they're able to come back with an offer as I've seen nothing but good things from others on here about them.