I believe the "deal" is the out the door price of the car. One thing you do not want to get into with a car salesperson is "how much you can afford a month". Once you have determined the price of the car then you can talk about financing. The smart way to buy a car is to obtain the best financing you can find for yourself and then see if the dealership can beat it. When you are auto finance rate shopping you can get multiple inquiries yet FICO scores them as one as long as they are all pulled within 30 days. After being financed is when you will know your monthly payments.
The only way I know of keeping the dealership from pulling your credit is if you pay in cash at the time of purchase. That would present with another set of headaches. I would just ask the dealership what you would need to do to purchase a vehicle without incurring a hard inquiry by the dealership. In this day and age, it is a foregone conclusion you are going to get a hard pull when buying a new car.
I have had my financing already in place when purchasing a car and the dealership informed me they needed to pull my credit just in case the bank financing for some reason fell through.
Perhaps other MFers have more information or a better idea than I have.
@Anonymous wrote:If you are providing your own financing dealer should have no need to pull credit.
They may want to run so they can make money off the financing but I can't imagine you have to let them.
FICO score-wise, it does not matter how many times your file is HP while rate shopping. You got a HP to get financed and it is rare for people to pay in cash for a new car. Yes, the dealership whats to try to make money on financing the deal but the average buyer would want a better financing rate if the dealership can find it. FICO and creditors understand rate shopping whether it is for a home or an auto so expect multiple inquiries.
Waiting for your outside financing check to clear the bank and then pick up the car from the dealership is the only way I see avoiding an inquiry from the dealership.
You don't have to let the dealership run your credit and the dealership doesn't have to let you leave with the car until they are satisfied they are going to get paid.
@sccredit wrote:When using a NFCU check for financing the dealership said they had to run credit for "Patriot Act" compliance. I told them it wasn't going to happen, it was a deal breaker. They called NFCU, verified that the check was legit and the financing fully approved and came back and said ok. That was my experience.
NFCU has exceptional customer service. One of the few financial institutions that have 24/7/365 call center access. The dealership was able to verify the check was good and let you drive off the car lot.
Many car deals are finalized after banking hours and this is not an option for a lot of people.