topic Re: Questions on DCU loan process and used car suggestions in Auto Loans

Questions on DCU loan process and used car suggestions

bkelly906 — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 21:17:42 GMT

I will be purchasing a "new" used car probably within the next month. I just opened a savings account with DCU so that I could become a member and I will apply for a loan with them. I need to double check my EQ FICO 04 score before I do but I think it is just above 675. I doubt I will do DD because of the hassle of changing everything over but I will be happy with 1.99% if I qualify.

My main question about the loan is how does funding work? I will apply for the loan, hopefully be approved and then pick out the car I want. Once I negotiate a price and have a signed contract it is my understanding that either the dealer or myself will upload the document to DCU. So approximately what is the time frame to hear back from DCU whether or not they will fund that deal? Minutes, hours, days??? Also, once you know DCU is good to go how do they get the payment to the dealer? Is it wired, check overnighted or regular mail and to me or the dealer?

I'm sorry for all the questions but I want to prepare myself because I know once I finally find what I want and I not going to want to wait but it sounds doubtful that everything can be done in one day from what I have read.

Also, I will be looking for a mid-size car with good fuel economy. I do not have my heart set on anything and plan to start test driving soon. I am putting myself on a budget of no more than $18k but would like to stay closer to about $15k. Any advice on a model you think is a great buy? I am interested in the Altima, Maxima, Camry and Accord...but once again I very open about this purchase.

Thanks for your help and I am open to any and all suggestions!

Re: Questions on DCU loan process and used car suggestions

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 01:15:05 GMT

Long answer to your questions i know but knowledge is a great thing to have when shopping for a car. I did DCU for my car a month ago. Like you I set a limit on what amount I wanted. I did the auto financing for approval before the membership. Income stip was all that was needed. Once i found the car i wanted online and made a deal with the dealership I had them email me a buyers order with the final figures on it. Emailed the purchase order to DCU at 2pm on a Wed and had my check in hand (by fed ex) the next day before noon. Simple and easy. what I did was shopped the internet within 300 miles of my home. didn't mind the drive to get a deal.. I was a little open to my choice of cars. I new this was my last purchase of a new car so the deal was more important to me. I found Brand new (20 miles) Mini Cooper that i got for about $8500. off sticker. turns out that the same car is selling on the used car market at about $1,000 more than i spent. Great deal for me. If you are thinking used car use the internet to see if there might be a older New car close by.. I retired after 30 years in Auto retail business and just thought i would give you a little insite.

Re: Questions on DCU loan process and used car suggestions

bkelly906 — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 01:55:08 GMT

It sounds like you got an excellent deal and I appreciate your insight. I am going into this with an open mind and not set on a specific car either so hopefully that can work to my advantage. Since I am looking at used I will have to go in to test drive but I will definitely shop around and see what kind of a deal I can get on an older new car also.

Thank you for sharing your loan experience with me! It sounds like everything went very smooth which is what I'm hoping for also. Hope you're enjoying your new ride!

Re: Questions on DCU loan process and used car suggestions

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 07:28:10 GMT

I will chime in on the question about a good car at 15 to 18k. The great thing about buying cars these days is they are all really pretty darn good, they all will get decent gas mileage, unless you drive a ton a 1 or 2 MPG difference won't really cost you anything significant so I wouldn't only shop MPG. All cars sold these days are engineered for 200,000 mile life spans and if cared for properly most will hit that without too much hassle. When buying used a lot of people get focused on mileage, it is important but not as important as condition. If I have to choose between a ok condition car with 20,000 miles or an exceptionally clean one with 40,000 miles I would go with the later because there really is no substitute for condition. You can go to Edmunds.com or KBB.com and enter a hypothetical car and mileage in and you will see mileage doesnt move the value nearly as much as changing from an fair or average car to a exceptional car.

We shopped last year for a car in this class and drove pretty much everything in the segment except the VW, Nissan and Kia products. I drive a 2014 Malibu for work and while it isn't a great car in some areas, if you get one with a power seat (which is as good as my BMW seat!) and in good shape they can be a great deal, they come with a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty and depreciate quite a bit in that first two years which means you can get a nice one in your price range easily.

The cars that stood out for us are the Mazda 6 (might still be over your price range because it is a new model), the Ford Fusion and Hyundai Sonata. All three were pretty good and drove nice, the Mazda was tied with our final choice which was the Honda Accord. We don't buy Nissan products because we had a terrible experience with our Nissan Murano, mechanically it wasn't terrible although it had a oil seal failure and two power steering failures under warranty in addition to some other little issues. The big issue is that the interior did not hold up even though my 100lb wife drove the car and it was always parked in a garage (at work and home). It rattled like crazy and looked terrible despite very light use when we traded it in. We paid 36k for that car in 2004 and I felt ripped off.

I guess I would suggest you do some research at Edmunds.com, you can read old reviews on cars to see how good they were and also see reliabilty data. The Honda and Toyota cars hold their value really well so to get one in your price range you are looking at probably 4 years old and 60k plus miles. If you go with a Ford or Chevy you will be able to get one a year or two old with probably far less miles.

Best of luck

Re: Questions on DCU loan process and used car suggestions

bkelly906 — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 16:19:39 GMT

I appreciate your response and will definately start researching! That's a shame about your experience with Nissan, I have not heard that about their interior before. I have a 2 year old and a 10 year old so I need the interior to be able to hold up to them. I will see if that is still a common occurrance.

Thanks for the ideas you gave me for years and models in my price range. Buying a car is a full time job if you do it right!!

Re: Questions on DCU loan process and used car suggestions

Anonymous — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 18:04:17 GMT

I new this was my last purchase of a new car so the deal was more important to me. I

Where are you going?