I already knew what car I was buying (2015 Forester) and the price, just not which specific car on the lot. I know my scores aren't the best (EQ-654, TU-624, EX-623 as of 10/29), but I heard NFCU is good and I have an account there already. So before I went to the dealership, I went there and applied for $25,000 for 60 months. Within 10 minutes, I was approved for $31,000 at 60 months at 2.29%. Then I went to the dealership. They could only approve me for $25,000 at 3.99%. Total with tax, tags, etc, plus extended warranty from 3/36 to 7/100 was $29,500. Even though I could've financed the entire thing with the NFCU amount, I put down $6,500 and only financed $23,000.
I couldn't believe NFCU approved me at 2.29%, and the preapproval saved me about $1,050.
