Considering a refinance, recommendations?

[Anonymous]

So I have an auto loan threough Wells Fargo Dealer Services currently.  I absolutely loathe the company; see my thread here for more information as there's no need to bore anyone with that in this thread.  http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Auto-Loans/Stay-away-from-Wells-Fargo-Dealer-Services/td-p/4542550

I'm considering a refinance and would like some recommendations on a company or two to consider for it.

When I got my loan through WFDS about 15 months ago my credit score was about 100 points lower than it is now, so the rate was 6.99% which is obviously pretty high.  I've paid the principle balance down from $14.6k to $10.2k over those 15 months.  My monthly payment is $250, so I generally do pay more than the monthly payment.  So, my goals are the following:

1 - Significantly lower interest rate.  I hear things in the radio for 2.99% and such which would be nice.  My current FICO scores are all mid 700's btw.

2 - The ability to pay extra principle EASILY every month ONLINE.  That is if I want to pay an extra $200 to principle that month I want to be able to type it into a box and click submit.  No phone calls, BS, etc.

3 - I want to see exactly how my payment is broken down every month online:  which portion of it goes to principle, interest, etc.

That's really all I'm after.  Also, is it better to get a 3 year loan and pay the monthly payment required or better to get a 5 year loan and pay extra toward principle each month and pay it off in 3 years?  I always find myself paying more than required every month, be it an auto loan, mortgage, etc.  Thank you for the feedback and direction on this one everyone as I've never refinanced an auto loan before.

[Anonymous]

I looked at CK and on there it gives me probably 10 places that I can refinance at 2.49%-2.99% which seems decent, but I know nothing about any of these different lenders... pros and cons of any of them etc.  If anyone can offer up some feedback perhaps on who they've dealt with and there experiences it would be appreciated.  Thank you.

[Gmood1]

With mid 700's you easily qualify for the best rates. If the vehicle still considered new by lenders. You can get a new car rate. 1.99 isn't out of the question.

[Anonymous]

Not sure about that.  It's 4 years old, maybe valued at $13-14k now and I owe $10k on it. 

It was suggested in another thread on here that I try with my local credit union (I am a member already) for a refinance since they offer decent rates usually.  Can't hurt I suppose.  I just wasn't sure if there were dedicated auto refinance companies out there that offered good rates that were highly rated/recommended on this forum.

[Anonymous]

DCU and PenFed are two of the best as far as I'm concerned.

[RonM21]

Like above, I was going to say check a CU

[Anonymous]

DCU!! gave me 3.99% with mid 600 score; will take 0.5% off if you set up direct deposit with them, and will reduce by 0.25% for 3 months of on-time payments (up to a total of another 1% off for me). So a year from now I will be doen to 2.49% interest on a loan I got with scores right under 650. I have seen DCU go as low as 1.49% with direct deposit set up.