Best time to apply for loan

[Anonymous]

I know which car I want to get, but wanting to wait until the end of this month (hoping for some incentives for memorial day weekend). When is the best time for me to apply for an auto loan with my credit union and then I will also be having the dealer run my CR as well (so i can see who will give me the best interest rate). Should I check my credit union a week before? I know you have a 2 week window for hard inquiries and will only be counted as 1.

[kahmyah]

my suggestion..have  the financial side of it all lined up.  so when you walk into the dealer all you essentially have to do is sign and drive. i just finished lining up all the financial stuff..got theloan approved, had my credit report pulled, etc.  also, don't be surprised if you have this part done that your score will go down by 1 point.  mine did essentially due to the fact that i applied for the auto loan.  but he biggest headache is over with.  so now, like yourself, i can shop around for the car i want and wait for the deals if any to come up to take advantage of.  but like i said, line up your financing now and go to dealerships mainly to see how the service dept is and what its like..remember your not only buying a car your buying a potential long term relationship..hope it helps..

[Anonymous]

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Have you tried calling your CU branch LO to ask what rates are available with your scores? My CU pulls EQ and I generally call or email my branch manger and ask her what rates I qualify for with my score and let them know I don't want a report run yet. You can also look on the CU website and get a general idea what the best rate's are and if your cu participates in a rewards program like mine then you can see what the rate would be with those rewards. By calling and getting a general rate you can also use that to your favor when dealing with the dealers.Dealer said AHF was doing 4.64%, I told the dealer I was approved at 4.24% with my reward program and scores they said they would match it, I told them they would have to do better than match if they wanted my loan financing (because I had financed 4 loans with cu) so they gave me 3.9%. Good Luck!