Credit Unions Auto Loans

[Anonymous]

My DW and I are going to get a car loan hopefully this month or next month (her old car is not worth repairing). We do not currently belong to a credit union.  Can a regular person just walk into a credit union and apply for a car loan, or do you have to be a member for a certain length of time?  

[Anonymous]

Credit unions require people using their services to be "members"

 Membership for most has some sort of eligibility requirement, either you employer, residence, or some activity you participate in.

You would be suprised to find what credit unions you may be eligible to join.

It is best to build some sort of banking relationship with them before asking for a loan, esp is you have suspect credit.

One important thing: each credit union has its own lending standards, membership by itself does not guarantee loan approval. The Credit union down the street may have lending standards more stringent then the big bank in town. Do your research before applying for membership.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. Yes we will join the CU this week, I was just wondering about a time frame before getting an auto loan. I see people raving about Alliant CU and how they hand out auto loans like candy upon acceptance. We will join a local CU that is good about giving auto loans, but my worry is that they want us to be members for say 6 months or a year. I will have to ask up front.

My wife has near perfect credit with very high scores, so we are good on that front.

While it may be easier to get a big bank loan, don't CU's give better rates, even on used vehicles?  

[Anonymous]

Pappy,

Generally a CU is just looking for evidence that they will be your "primary" financial institution.  If you establish a direct deposit with them or submit the forms to close your "old" bank account and transfer the funds to your new CU account they are more likely to approve your loan early in the relationship.   

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

While it may be easier to get a big bank loan, don't CU's give better rates, even on used vehicles?  

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IN SOME CASES, you have to do your own research. Just because it is a credit union does not mean you will get the best possible rate that exists.

Just at a dealership they could have 0% on new or a 2.9% rate on a certified pre owned.

I have 16 CUs in my county. All have different best APR rates (as in rates start at X.XX%).All have different lending standards. CU1 may have a 2.75 rate that you will not qualify for and they may give you a 4.89, while CU2 has a 3.9 rate and qualify you for 3.9.

its like saying just because something is being sold at Wal Mart that the Wal Mart price is the cheapest price you can find.

Message Edited by usmc58555 on 05-02-2009 12:10 PM

[havlow]

I'll put my .02 here as well and say that a CU is a lot more willing to look at your suspect credit and work with you on a loan than say the dealer or a bank.  I've been a member of a CU for years and they know be my name and it really does help to build that relationship.  Additionally using them as a primary financial institution opens you up for better rates on those services.  I live in NC but my CU is in TX and I use them primarily as my savings account since it's much harder to get the money out  

A few benefits that I've seen from my CU that really have worked out well for me have been:

- I applied for a loan with a bogus tax lien on my credit reports (CR's are in the process of removing them) but I had the paper work to show that they were an error.  As soon as I faxed that paperwork to my loan office she approved my 15 minutes later for 3.9 percent for 60 months. 

- My credit union as runs promotions to get people to apply for loans.  They have a "spin the wheel" feature that allows you to spin a wheel to see if you can "beat the rate" that you just got.  I spun the wheel and my rate dropped from 3.9 percent for 60 months to 2.1 percent for 60 months.  Banks and Dealers would NEVER do this!

- I've also been in talks for them to refinance a consumer finance loan I had (18.25%) to a signature loan (4%) with them.

- Last but not least they offered me a new credit card (I'm not ready for it yet) with a 5k limit even though my current Utilization is over 75% (I'm paying this off in June) all after not having really done a lot of business with them for the past 10 years due to the distance.

Additionally my CU has extremely strict lending standards similar to PennFed. Myscores are 660 and 680 for TU and EQ respectively (Although they pulled 690 from EX when they approved me for the car loan) and I have had two car loans and about 17 years of credit history.  Again YMMV on the CU you choose but I've been extremely happy with mine and even though it's still over a thousand miles away I still can't  find anyone locally to beat their services.

Hopefully you'll find a fantastic one that can assist you in getting you what you need!