Drive Financial Help!

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone, I currently own a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix GT with 109000 that going to die on me any day now .I financed this car (it’s paid off now) through a company that wasn’t reporting my payments to any of the credit bureaus. It was a 3 ½ yr loan and when I contacted the company in the beginning to ask why they weren’t reporting the payments the owner told me because they had less than 400 loans they can’t report.

 I’m now trying to get a car and is having a hard time because it appears that I’m a 1st time buyer and my scores are bad (EQ 586, TU 518). I called a dealership and explained the situation (bad credit) and the rep told me that should be able to get financing because I have a trade in plus $2000 down and I make 48K per yr and has been with current job for 4 yrs. They ran me though Chase and I didn’t get approved. I went to another dealership and they got me approved with Drive financial for $19223 on a 2006 Nissan Murano SL AWD with sunroof, back up assist etc. They wanted to give me $1000 for my trade in addition to $3000 down. The mileage was 51750 on the SUV and the interest rate was 20.25% with 60mths at $519.00. I told them I wasn’t interested because the mileage was too high, the car wasn’t still under warranty. I had gone to the same dealership the previous evening and they had a 07 Murano SL for $17995 with only 20000 miles and still under warranty and was told I wouldn’t be approved for $17995 but he had a car in another location that he would pick up and get me financed for (the car he picked up was the $19223 with high mileage; if I couldn’t get $17995 why am I being approved for $19223. I’m not that stupid!)  

Anyway they have a 07 Mazda CX7 with 35000 miles for $14995 and he told me he could get me approved for that at 18.99%. He still wants $4000 down ($1000 trade and $3000 cash) I told the dealership I would think about it and return today ( I don’t trust them and wanted to do a carfax on the vehicle before getting into anything) I went home last night and googled Drive Financial and it was all BAD! Not one good review! 

My question is, if I go ahead with Drive Financial and  pay on time for 4-6 months and improve my score do you think I could refinance with a reputable company? Would I be too upside down? I’ve also read that the trade in value for the CX7 isn’t good. Do you think it’s a good price ($14995)? I really just want to get my auto credit situation sorted out but if Drive Financial is going to be a nightmare I don’t want to go that route. Please advice. Thank you,

Message Edited by CBlair08 on 06-26-2009 08:14 AM

Message Edited by CBlair08 on 06-26-2009 08:16 AM

[Anonymous]

Without knowing more details about the CX7, using my NADA software I am showing the clean retail value of a 2007 CX7 4D GT  2wd with 35000 is $18100. The trade in value is $15400. So it sees like a good deal. I would also check on autotrader.com to see how much other dealers are selling the same vehicle.

Depending on your credit, 4 to 6 payments on an auto will not significantly raise your score. Your best bet is to find a CU that will finance it. With your EQ credit score, you should get an interest rate of 11% - 14%. But that is without seeing your full credit profile. Good luck to you!

[Anonymous]

How come your scores are that low?

[Anonymous]

My scores are low because of the following:

1. Charged off credit cards (due to fall off in 2010 & 2011)

2. I had a roomate who could not pay the rent so we had to break the lease and its reported on my credit.

3. I only have 1 type of credit (credit cards, no installment loans)

4. One of my charged off cards was a Sears credit card in collection by LVNU and they keep reporting a late payment every month and its showing on the accounts section instead of the collection section of my report so my CR keeps showing a recent missed payment.

5. There is a T-Mobile collection for $640 (opened account for my sister and she couldnt pay the bill after having a new baby)

The positives on my CR is 4 credit cards that I have never been late on for over 2 years currently at 22% utilization rate. I'm going to pay down the balance to get them below 5%.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My scores are low because of the following:

1. Charged off credit cards (due to fall off in 2010 & 2011)

2. I had a roomate who could not pay the rent so we had to break the lease and its reported on my credit.

3. I only have 1 type of credit (credit cards, no installment loans)

4. One of my charged off cards was a Sears credit card in collection by LVNU and they keep reporting a late payment every month and its showing on the accounts section instead of the collection section of my report so my CR keeps showing a recent missed payment.

5. There is a T-Mobile collection for $640 (opened account for my sister and she couldnt pay the bill after having a new baby)

The positives on my CR is 4 credit cards that I have never been late on for over 2 years currently at 22% utilization rate. I'm going to pay down the balance to get them below 5%.

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OK.

Unfortunately I do not see that many companies financing someone who, for all appearances, has continual trouble paying/making their obligations.

Drive may be your only option.

Your better option would be to try to keep your current vehicle, get it repaired and keep trying  to settle up your debts and save a larger down payment.

The only thing that will counter act your current score will be a very high down payment.

[Anonymous]

Hi... my current loan is with Drive Financial.  Actually, it started with another

company and my loan was sold to Drive Financial.  I personally have not had

any issues with them.  You mentioned all the bad things you had been reading

about Drive.  I think as long as you pay your payment, you will not have problems.

It seems like the people that complain about them are ones that aren't making

payments, their vehicle gets repo'd and they are mad at Drive.  I'm sure there are

better auto finance companies out there but.. hey.. if that's all you can get... it's

not that bad if you pay your payment as agreed.

Do you have a company called CARMAX in your area?  If so, they are a great

source for good quality used cars at a fair price.  They also use Drive as one of

their lenders.  Have you tried applying with a company called Road Loans?

You can apply on line and have a decision back the same day. If approved, they

send you a check in the mail and you can go out and shop like a cash buyer at a dealership

and not have to put up with the dealership financing B.S.   They do approve bad credit.

Check it out.

Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

I decided not to go with Drive Financial or the shady dealership I was dealing with yesterday. At told myself I would try one last dealership and if I didn't get approved I would just fix my Pontiac and save my money. I went to Carmax with the hopes of getting a Nissan Murano or Mazda CX7 and while they were checking my car to estimate the trade in value I started to walk the lot and found a red Volvo S40 that I absolutely fell in love with. The mielage was 35848 going for $15450.00. The rep submitted my info and to my surprise I was accepted by Capital One, Wachovia and Wells Fargo. I decided to go with Wells Fargo since they were offering 13.96% while the others were at 15%. My trade in was $1700 and I added $1318.33 as a down payment.  I added GAP and extended warranty and my payment will be $330.51

I can't believe the previous dealership was trying to take advantage of me last night because my scores are low. They wanted to give me $1000 for my trade and for me to add $3000 as downpayment in addition to the trade for a 2006 murano ($19223)  with over 51000 miles with financing at 20.25% through Drive Financial. I'm glad I followed my instincts and didn't sign anything. 

I'm so happy I plan on putting down more money towards the principal every chance I get.

[Anonymous]

 Congrats on getting your approval and the new car!

LVNU - i would dispute this with the CRBs since it shouldn't be reporting as an open account, also if you have the money to do it see if you can arrange a PFD on that account

The tmobile one - I would take some of that extra money you plan on applying to the car payment and see if you can do a pay for delete for this.

Get your balance down below 9% on the credit cards and try to only have one of the 4 reporting a balance with the other 3 showing nothing.

When the last charge off falls off in 2011 then you should see a great increase in your score if you get rid of that tmobile and see what you can do with the lease thing!

Then you can refinance for an even better rate

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@Anonymous wrote:

My scores are low because of the following:

1. Charged off credit cards (due to fall off in 2010 & 2011)

2. I had a roomate who could not pay the rent so we had to break the lease and its reported on my credit.

3. I only have 1 type of credit (credit cards, no installment loans)

4. One of my charged off cards was a Sears credit card in collection by LVNU and they keep reporting a late payment every month and its showing on the accounts section instead of the collection section of my report so my CR keeps showing a recent missed payment.

5. There is a T-Mobile collection for $640 (opened account for my sister and she couldnt pay the bill after having a new baby)

The positives on my CR is 4 credit cards that I have never been late on for over 2 years currently at 22% utilization rate. I'm going to pay down the balance to get them below 5%.

---

[Anonymous]

Susyquk thanks for the advice; the lease is due to fall off 08/2010. I will PFD T-mobile and see what happens. I should be able to pay down my credit cards within 3 months.

As for LVNV Funding ..I received a letter from Resurgent Capital Services offering a settlement for LVNV so I immediately sent them a DV letter. They responded and said they were waiting to get the DV from Lvnv. It's been around 4 months now and I haven't heard anything since then. I plan on sending another DV letter to LVNV and Resurgent since they continue to collect and report late payments on my credit report and if I dont receive a response I plan on taking them to small claims court. The LVNV collections is also beyond the SOL for my state.

[Anonymous]

I am AMAZED.

Were the scores you quoted having what you were told were your Auto enhanced or were they scores you received from some other sources.

Cause unless you make great monthly income with little to no monthly debt load, with a great Job history and living location history, I just do not see you getting financed with those scores you listed.

I mean sometimes the financing fates are working with you, but 3 approvals, you are not scoring sub 550. That is sub sub  prime. There just has to be something extenuating. 

And 1700 on a 100,000+ mile car WOW. Somthing I never see.