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Walt_K wrote:

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pipeguy wrote:

Best bet IMO is what I always do.... Have a pre-approved Auto loan from a bank or Credit Union in hand before you go "serious" shopping. I have no problem letting the dealer try to beat my in hand loan, if they do I'll go with the dealer's source, but if they can't or they try to play games - the loan is already "bought" so you are covered.

 

In my experience, having purchased a lot of cars over the last 40 years, about 50% of the time the dealer can beat the in hand loan, and I'll also say I've never had a loan deal "go bad" after the papers are signed.

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Yes, but isn't the problem that this is targeted at people who do not have this option?

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Yes based on the article, but this is a quote from the article that could apply to anyone who finances through a dealer:

Dealers say most auto sales today are conditioned upon financing – you get the car on the spot, even though the loan approval isn’t final. In other words, when you finance through the dealer, in most cases the dealership reserves the right to unwind the deal if it doesn’t make enough money selling your loan on the open market. 

3 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks later even those with good credit could get caught in this trap - they have options but can you imagine going to your bank 6 weeks after you bought a car and say I need a loan now, like yesterday, give me your best deal. I think many if not most buyers would just re-sign the documents at a higher rate because of the pressure to get the deal-loan done.