Capital One Auto Pre Approval

[GBguy]

I got a pre approval letter in the mail the other day from Capital One Auto.  It said that i was pre approved up to 35k at a local car dealership.  I just have a couple questions regarding this.  Am i restricted to the dealership on the pre approval letter only?  Also, If i accept the offer are they going to hard pull my credit report?  The dealership that is on the letter is one that i am not fond of.  I bought a car from there years ago and would prefer to get elsewhere.  I suppose i could just go to my credit union, but i just thought id check.  Has anyone had positive experiences with Cap One Auto?

[Anonymous]

I got a similar offer today for a Kia.  Now I don't need or even want a $35,000 Kia but the offer sounds very similar to the OP.  

[Anonymous]

Be careful about "Pre Approvals".  And, yes, they will pull your credit. I am guessing that, if you read the fine print, it will tell you that you are "pre approved" based on PARAMETERS of your financial life....income etc...But there is no guarentee that they are just going to let you walk on the lot and walk out of there with a car loan.  

I have had "pre approved" credit cards sent to me only to be turned down when I actually applied back before my credit was where it is today (Equifax 727).  

A pre apporval is nothing more than a ploy to get you to apply and now, it seems, send you to the credit manager of a specific car lot before you do.  

Questions:  Are they telling you what the interest rate is?  No.  Are they telling you what the terms of the loan are?  No.  

It is trash mail guys.  Burn it.  

[Anonymous]

Yes, they have a thing called "preferred dealers" that you can only shop at. There is a lot to chose from just go to their website and check there for all within your zip code. Yes they do pull your credit takes a minute or so on website of which they will tell you how much you get approved for can be 35K or less so take caution there I got only 21600.00 approved out of a 30,000 pre approval letter. If you do with them I would advise your start shopping once the check is activated not once it arrives but once you call and verify it is ready to use as some report it takes a week once it arrives. Also calculate the ltv limit as you can only write the check from the value of the car to the 110 percent lev. For example I got a 13 charger @ 16,9995.00 times ltv came out to 18,041 and I could only write it up to 18,000. In all they are great just make sure you do your homework of what you need to do beforehand the dealer will also help.