Help understanding loan rates quoted by CUs

[SecondToLastDraftDodger]

Hi all,

I'm new to credit and especially auto financing. In the past I simply paid for vehicles outright; however, I am looking to buy a new car late this year / early next year. I have been trying to learn everything I can, and I wanted to ask about how to read loan rates quoted by CUs.

So, for instance, I'll look on a CUs website and it'll say loans with APRs as low as 5.39%. But on here, I'll see someone got approved at the same place for 3.99%. I looked at the year of the posts to make sure I wasn't reading a post from four years ago or anything like that. So I'm just wondering if the APRs quoted on a CUs website isn't the actual lowest rate one could get, and how that gets computed.

[Adkins]

The fed has been raising interest rates since last year. Due to this, an APR from last month may not be the same today. 

[AutisticPretzel]

As the other Individual said, auto loan rates have been going up a lot lately. The best rates you can hope to realistically find will start at around 4.5% and go upward. 5.39%, unfortunately, is the new 3.99% for the foreseeable future.

[dunn2500]

also the length or term of the loan will affect rate.....lowest rates are for shorter terms, so look for that as well.....36 month and 84 month will be alot different for example.....obviously credit score as well

[pizzadude]

All good points above, generally the rate quoted on their website will be the lowest available rate.   Rate terms generally go higher as the loan term increases.  

In some cases they may offer a lower rate to match a competitor's offer also.