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This all started with me being approved for a ZYNC. There's nothing like testing your credit in the real world; it's addicting - mainly because an approval is proof that your hardwork is paying off. Anyways, I was shopping for a used car with a $3500 budget. A new car was out of the question because I "knew" I would not be approved for an auto loan, and didn't want to deal with a $350-$400 payment anyway. After weeks of finding junk, and having to worry about the reliability of a used car driving across the country (I'm relocating soon for the Military) - I heard about a National lease special going on for the Volkswagen Jetta: $159/month, $1999 down. My frustration set in, and I wished that I could fast forward to amazing credit so I could finally qualify for one of those National specials.
On a whim, I emailed a Volkswagen dealership asking what kind of credit score I would need to qualify for that deal. I will reconstruct the important details of our email conversation. The salesperson is in red, I am in blue.
In order to qualify for the $159 lease special that you see online you would need a credit score of 700 and above. We do actually have one black 2012 Jetta S in stock and would love to invite you in for this special deal. What time works best for you today?
Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I have a 637 so I don't think it's going to work right now.
We can still get you approved for the lease on this vehicle but your payment will increase because of the money factor.
What kind of increase are we looking at? $20-30 would be doable. $100 and I wouldn't want to waste your time.
What kind of money factor are people within my range getting approved for, and is it through VW or another lender?
Just to give you more info, here's a snapshot of my credit history:
Is the 637 score an auto FICO or did you get that from a commercial credit report site? My manager would have to take a look at your entire credit bureau in detail to see what tier we could get from VW, thus determining the money factor and payment. I attached a credit app for you to fill out and send back if you don't mind.
It's a real FICO (lender pulled by USAA), but it's not an auto-enhanced score. I don't want an inquiry on my CR until I have a better idea of where I stand as far as the approval and the type of payment. I understand that it can't be exact without pulling my report, but based on the amount of volume your store does I'm sure you can give me a reliable ballpark figure. I have $2000 for the drive off, and can afford a payment of $180/month. If my current credit situation doesn't enable me to get what I'm asking for, I will have to wait until my credit gets better.
The National special is $1999 + drives coming to $3288.57 total with a payment of 159.00 + tax = 172.91
At this point I'm jumping for joy, but it's not official yet because they haven't ran my report. However, given that he was willing to do all of this work over email I filled out the credit application and submitted it. Everything looked good, and right before I was headed to the dealership I got the dreaded phone call.
You haven't left yet, have you?
No, why?
You have a repo that is reporting monthly.
I told you about that in the email. It's 6.5 years old and falls off in May 2013.
Have you taken care of it? Is it paid?
The original lender sold it, I have an agreement with them.
Can you send me documentation so I can show my manager?
Sent.
Okay, give us a few minutes to look this over and I'll give you a call back.
Okay.
I'm thinking, "I knew this was too good to be true." But sure enough 5 minutes later I get a call from the sales manager, who had Volkswagen on the line and wanted to confirm some detais about the repo. I gave her the details and she said she'd give me a call back. Three minutes later I got a call back stating that Volkswagen approved the deal! I can't believe it! This all happened last Wednesday, but I didn't want to post anything until I took delivery this afternoon. Is it the flashiest car? No, but it's cheap, it's reliable (free maintenance for all 3 years), and it's helping me rebuild. So I'm happy!
Moral of the story for those that have been rebuilding is that your credit is probably better than you think, so keep at it! My scores suck and I still got a great deal. Maybe not a Tier 1 National Special deal, but at $20 more it's pretty damn close. And the approval was from a prime lender! See my sig for the auto-enhanced scores that were pulled.
Congratulations! I too am hoping to get a lease this month. My scores should be 670+ with a perfect paid auto loan on history, so your post gives me hope. Thank you
@Anonymous wrote:Congratulations! I too am hoping to get a lease this month. My scores should be 670+ with a perfect paid auto loan on history, so your post gives me hope. Thank you
Thanks, and good luck to you! I think you'll be good with perfect auto payment history (I had 3 or 4 paid off autos with one repo). One thing I found helpful was finding a dealership that was willing to "deal" through internet. There's no BS involved, no 4-square, no gimmicks. When they have you in the dealership, they play on your emotions - they know you want the car! Through email, they had to sell me on price. Any dealership that's unwilling to do that isn't confident in their pricing. Best of all, I only spent 30 minutes at the dealership signing paperwork because the deal had already been made. Had I not been trying to get the special, I think it would have taken longer though. I would have had to negotiate the money factor, etc. I actually spent more time today taking delivery waiting for the porters to wash the car.
Congrats OP. This definitely gives me hope.
Congrats OP
Congrats. Yes indeed it does give me hope.
Congrats!!!!!!
I'm new to this board, have been hroughout a horrible time but am rebounding. Povery as very encouraging
Congrats!!!! Enjoy your new car!!!
Congratulations!