PenFed amount recon?

[Anonymous]

I was insta-preapproved last week for a PenFed auto loan, but for $10k less than I asked for. One of the reasons stated was that I am "overextended". I pay about $200/mo for student loans and that's it (well, besides rent and all that other stuff, but my actual DTI is super low, probably less than 2%). My gross monthly income is, well, plenty to indulge on a fancy automobile. I'm nowhere near overextended. I'm barely even extended, hah

The other reason was "value or type of collateral insufficient". I didn't enter a vehicle, just did an open ended pre approval for now. The vehicle I want is valued about $60k and I plan to put about $20k down. I was preapproved for $40k. Would putting in an actual car have helped my cause?

Do they budge on auto loan limits? Should I even bother poking the bear, as my credit is kinda crappy still and I'm surprised I even got preapproved by them at all? I only need an extra $3-4K to pay TTL. The car I'm looking at is hard to find, and I just found one locally... so I don't want to wait another month to save up another couple thousand if I could just boost up the loan amount a tiny bit.

(And yes I know a car is a huge waste of money, I don't need it, I want it. I know my credit sucks, but it sucks because I was making like 1/8th of my current salary trying to make ends meet while paying $80k worth of student loans. I can easily afford this new payment now.)

[Anonymous]

There's no reason not to ask for the extra couple grand that you need.  Not going to hurt anything and I would put in the info for the exact car that you are looking at.  If they don't budge, I'd consider using one of your CCs to pay for the extra dollars you need.

[Appleman]

Glad you are in a position to afford your new car.

A couple of things to consider:

Your Chapter 13 was finalized 2 months ago.

And, you were insta-approved which is great.

I doubt you are calculating your DTI correctly. The bank will look at rent/mortgage (still debt), student loan payments and various other obligations including the anticipated payment for the loan you are applying for when making the calculation.

How long have you been at your current salary/job?

PenFed is easy to work with and think you should consider calling them and providing additional information. It may help for them to know which car and what the total cost for the car will be. Also, let them know you plan to put money down, and it sounds like a significant amount. That will likely help your case as well.

Also, a lender may get spooked if they know you will have $100 left in your account after making a purchase like this, being able to show that you have working capital for your home budget can also be a positive thing (and needed for a mortgage).

And I have to ask, what car is it you are looking at?

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Irish, I was contemplating using a credit card to cover the difference. I do have two with 0% for another 10 mos.

Appleman, ahh, I was mistaken. I read somewhere where rent didn't count towards that. I thought it was odd. Including rent, my DTI is 20%, if you add in my projected car payment it'll raise it up to about 25%, which I think is still decent. I think I read DTI should be below 30 from what I've read.

I've been at my job for 7 years now, but only at this salary level since October. I started out 7 years ago at an academy making $20k/year, now I make a little less than that per month. It's a very stable job, and I get about a 3% raise per year, not worried about being laid off or losing pay.

I don't have plans anytime soon to buy a house, I know renting is wasteful, but there's just something so nice about someone else having to come shovel my sidewalks and come fix the furnace and I don't have to foot the bill, haha. If I did buy something, the mortgage would likely be way lower than my rent though.

The car I have my eye on is an Audi RS5 convertible. Really wanted to buy one new but they're revamping the A5/S5 line and no longer selling the RS5 in the US. Also the fact that they retailed for $90k new and are now selling for $60ish with low mileage, the depreciation would've killed me, so I think I'm better off buying used anyway. Don't really want a payment over $700/mo even though I could afford it. I've always driven sensible cars, I want something a little more fun now!

[bsal]

Hey iamletired first congratulations on your success. Can I ask what are your myfico scores and what is your next generation penfed scores reason I'm curious because Im also trying to get approved with the same amount they gave u give or take a lil so just trying to see if I match up

[Anonymous]

Hey bsal, not sure exactly what my next gen score was, I believe around 646 from the CC denial I got the same day as the auto loan approval (apped after the auto loan approval just for the heck of it)... My scores in my sig are accurate, If you can see them. Between 665-680. BK discharged 2/2/16. I think they used an old pull from mid March when my scores were in the 610 range, but then did a second pull too, which I didn't think they would, since I've read on here they use pulls for 30 days. I'm guessing my scores were higher on that one, but I'm not sure exactly what they were.

[bsal]

Thanks for the info