I have been a lurker on here for about 6 months now. I found myself in need of a vehicle when the Dodge Nitro I had been happily driving since 2010 died on me in April 2021 on the freeway of all places. It had 265K miles and I literally drove the thing until I couldn't anymore. The last few years I had to put a few thousand into it to keep it going because I was not ready for a car note. I was driving 62 miles and 1 hour each way to work everyday so it definitely got its wear and tear those last few years. It still sits in my yard as I am probably going to get a used motor thrown in sometime in the summer and get the ABS system fixed. (Yes, I have a problem letting go of things I know LOL but I think it has a little more life).
Just like many people on this forum I have had some credit issues. When I was younger I made some mistakes with credit cards and paying my bills on time and I had to file Ch 7 bankruptcy in 2017. I had no repos or late car payments. I've only ever had one car note prior to this and I paid it on time and was done with it in 3 years. I tried my local credit union who financed my original car loan and I was turned away as they said I was too much of a risk because of my bankruptcy (I've been there 17 years in good standing I felt some type of way).
I was renting a car at $250 a week and had limited time to look for a vehicle but I took 2 days off work and decided I had to get into something; basically, I was desperate! I got pre-approval from Capital One @ 17% (yikes) and so with that I went car hunting. I ended up finding a low mileage 2017 Nissan Rogue with all the trimmings (LOL) that I really liked. I consider myself a rather smart guy, but I can't lie I do get intimidated & nervous when it comes to purchasing large items. I was very adamant about not letting the dealership run my credit and I was very determined to stick with the Capital One approval (or so I thought). My sales guy informed me there were certain discounts I would be privy to and perks if I used their financing and not Cap One. I warned him it wouldn't go through but I let him talk me into doing it anyway. Of course Nissan told my application to go straight to hell and it ended up in the hands of Santander one of their affiliates they called it ( yeah ok ).
Now understand I had never heard of Santander and when he told me they came back with 15% instead of 17% at Capital One it sounded all good to me. I went ahead and signed and loaded all my stuff from the rental to the new vehicle and the salesman followed me down the street in my new SUV so I could drop my rental off at Enterprise. And just like that I became the latest casualty of Santander.
It wasn't until the dust settled that I realized I had made a huge mistake and probably would have been better off sticking with Capital One. I googled Santander one day just out of curiosity and I read all of the horror stories and it was actually how I found this board. I was reading how horrible this company was and how most people got stuck in upside down loans and were unable to refinance themselves away from this company. I was crushed and felt like I had been bamboozled. My only option was to do overtime shifts at work (I love the medical field overtime is unlimited in certain jobs) and dig myself out of this hole and clear some debt.
I decided to do a few extra shifts a pay period and start paying off some debt and making sure my car payment was never late; or that any payment was ever late. I would love to come on here and complain how Santander was horrible but honestly I have not had any issues. The online account set up process was easy and I was able to schedule my car note payment each month and everything went smooth (knock on wood I still have to tie up loose ends with them next week). So here I am 10 months later I have paid off some credit cards and kept a great payment history with all of my bills. My credit score went from the low 500's to 618. My debt to income ration is still quite high but I stopped using my credit cards last year and I am determined to clear even more debt. My initial goal was to wait until I had 1 year of on time payments to try and refinance my vehicle. However, I kept getting mail from different high interest refinance companies quoting me 8 or 9 percent interest for a refinance. I junked all of those mailers, but then I got to thinking maybe I should apply at PenFed just to see if I could get an approval that was below 10%. That was my goal to go from 15% to 9 or 10% I wasn't expecting anything less because my credit is still on the mend.
I've only been with PenFed for about a year and I started there with a limited account because of my sketchy credit, but I kept my account in good standing and got more privleges to finally get a debit card and checking account and atm card. I literally had to crawl before I could walk with PenFed. I deposited funds into my limited account every pay period and I didn't touch it. It took some months but I gained their trust and they finally gave me full access.
A few days ago I decided to just shoot my shot and if I crapped out I would try again another 6 months down the road. I applied for the PenFed refinance fully expecting to be denied and something magical happened instead. I was approved 7.2% @ 72 months. I know a lot of you will look at 7% and frown thinking that is way too high, but you have to understand I was at 15% and my car note was basically $500. My car note is now under $350! I; a grown man...literally almost cried I was so happy!
Thanks to everyone on this board for doing what you do to help and encourage those of us who have credit issues. A lot of things I just did not know would impact me in the long run. I used a lot of great advice from this board to make this happen. My PenFed check is in the mail and I couldn't be happier about meeting this goal!
To those of you who had to get that high interest bad credit loan for a car do not be discouraged. You can ease your situation and come out of that bad situation into a better situation. I'm not in the best place financially but I am certainly not where I was 10 months ago! The next time I buy a car I anticipate being below 5% interest and more in control of my future. I also have to thank Santander because although their loans do seem predatory and unfair they are taking a risk and they took a gamble with me so I appreciate them. I needed a car badly and if it weren't for them I wouldn't have been able to get into a car so smoothly and without much stress. I didn't have the horror stories most people had with Santander and I thank God I was never late or had to deal with anything negative.
I have a co-worker who had to go through CarMax for a Ford Focus after a divorce and her interest rate was 24% and she was paying over $600 a month! So no matter what your situation is just remember there is someone out there in worse shape so be grateful, keep your head up and do what you have to do. I sacrificed my shopping habits and eating out so I could pay more on my bills. Yes this sucked, but I did what I had to do and look at the results. I plan to do my best to hit the 700's on my fico score by the year's end so I can eventually see what this home ownership you all speak of is all about (LOL). Thanks again guys for all of your input on this message board you never know who you are able to reach and help with your knowledge!
