Questions about Nissan Auto financing (Edit: went with Honda)

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone. I usually spend my time in the CC and mortgage sections, but I have an auto related question today. As luck would have it, our car broke down today in NY and we live in RI! Fabulous, huh? Anyway, I swore that the last big repair I made on this car was going to be the LAST time. It's 10 years old, and ready to be laid to rest.

I applied online for the Nissan financing, as they are offering some incentives in my area along with 3.99% financing. I was preapproved for PenFed also for 3.99%, but of course that doesn't come with any incentives. 

I received the preapproval letter in my email box and it simply states that I have been approved for a payment of up to $650 per month.  (Uh, yeah, no plans on that!)  It doesn't have any of the terms outlined and it's a pretty generic letter. It does, however, state that I should bring it with me to the dealership along with my ID and SS#.  So, here are my questions:

Is this really an approval? Or can I still be denied?

Do I need to bring income verification, it didn't say to on the letter, so I want to be prepared and not need to drive home for it?

Why does it not outline the terms? Should I expect them to try to screw me with crappy terms? 

TU and EQ are both over 760, not sure who they pulled though. 

Just want to basically know if this is a legit preapproval and what to expect. 

Thanks in advance. 

Message Edited by UpUpUp on 06-30-2009 08:18 PM

[marty56]

IMHO I would go with the CU unless the letter was from Nissan and they offer a better deal  or an incentive.  Worst case the INQ with the PenFed and Nissan and possibly others will count as one.

I like dealrs that use multiple lenders.  My choice would be the auto company finance or a CU.  Commerical banks can go (fill in your choice).

[Anonymous]

The letter was from Nissan. Well, NMAC or something like that. I honestly HATE PenFed and was suprised to see the preapproval thingy show up on my account since they only gave me a $1,000 CL a year ago.  Each encounter I've had with them since has been confirming my loathe of them. Of course, if it was the only place to get the good interest rate, I'll suck it up and do it, but I find them to be a pain in the arse at best.

The letter goes through the whole bit with the CONRATULATIONS you have been preapproved...yada, yada, but it simply states that I have been approved for a payment of $650. I hate that because I'm sure that's a marketing gimmick just to get you into the worst terms with a high payment. Luckily, I'm no pushover and have done my homework. 

I guess what I'm really worried about is that I go down there and think I am walking in preapproved and the stinkin' letter is a hoax or something. If that's the case, I'd might as well be ready for PenFed to request my first born again to offiically approve me. 

It just seemed to easy to get approved, so I guess I'm skeptical. Typed in my info. - it said it would take up to 30 minutes to get a response. I logged into my email and voila, approval letter was there. Oh and the lack of terms I didn't care for either. Especially when I applied on a page that said it was offering 3.99% or 2.99% depending on the vehicle Tier 1 financing. 

How does one find out what Tier they qualify for?  

[marty56]

IMHO since the letter is from Nissan and your score are over 760, you should be in Tier 0 (best).  Most of the Tier 0 scores in adds were around 720 - 730.  When I got my auto loan last June, my TU score was 775 which got me the best rate my CU offered but It hink that 720 would have been good enough.

You should be good to go at the best rates.

[Anonymous]

Alrighty, then. I guess I'll give it a go this week. I'll be sure to post back and yet you know how it went! Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Well, I did a lot of research last night and it seemed that the end of the month is the best time to buy. Atleast that is what I read. So this morning I started emailing with a few local dealerships and negotiated my price online. So much better than having to listen to some schpeal.  I wound up going with Honda again, as I got a much better price and this will be my 4th. Was really considering the Altima but really didn't want to spend too much so I would have had to go with the lower end model.  I wound up getting a new 2009 Honda Civic LX for $15,701. Not too shabby considering the sticker price was $18,925.00. I'm pretty proud of myself and very happy with the price on a brand new car!

From start to finish, this was like a dream.  The people were friendly, no one pushed me to buy extra crap, the online preapproval through Honda was seemless, no need to provide anything but my license and an insurance card and I was on my way at 3.90%!  I was really waiting for someone to come out of the back and say "Just Kidding!"

AWESOME experience. And, this coming from a girl that hangs on to her cars forever, is cheap, cheap, cheap when it comes to wanting to shell out the $ for a car and can't stand sales people (most of the time). 

Honestly, the BEST experience buying just about anything!  I am in utter shock right now!

Thanks for the guidance.

[cw81]

Congratulations   enjoy your new  whip   you cant go wrong with Hondas I have owned 2  and they have  gone past  200K with no  major problems. If you don't mind put your info in the auto approvals  thread so folks can see

,

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Thank you!

I didn't know there was a loan approval thread, I'll go find it now and add my info. 

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you!

I didn't know there was a loan approval thread, I'll go find it now and add my info. 

---

Could you post your Honda terms since your Nissan Terms are not really terms, just an approval.

[Anonymous]

I posted in the approval thread, but it was 3.90% for 60 months. Scores were between 750-760 by the time Honda pulled. Probably around 755 because after they pulled it was 750.  They pulled TU I am in RI.  All the information was in the computer at the dealership and it was the EASIEST thing ever. No income verification, just an ID and proof of insurance and I was done.