Getting Finaning In Advance Vs Captive Lender

[ldkcivilservant]

Is there ever really a time where getting financing in advance is better than a captive lender when you are tier 1 credit? 

I understand that you usually do not get the rebates when taking captive financing, but it seems pretty rare to me that the numbers offered by (for example) NFCU will ever beat what a captive lender can offer you. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

The previous time I bought a Truck I was not tier 1, so I did get financiing in advance and got 4.69%, but now with scores of 800ish across the board I don't see a CU being able to match anyting like what Ford Credit would do.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

My buddy works for the local Ford dealer where I live and I went ahead and asked his opinion. In a situations like yours, where you have excellent credit, he advises clients to take the deal from the captive lender that gives you the highest rebates possible. The trade-off is that you will not get the really low interest-rates.  Where we live, credit unions give rates as low as 1.99% , so it makes sense to take as many rebates as possible and refinance right away. This can sometimes get you over 10 grand off MSRP and a very low rate.