I've changed my mind about USAA [Successful Refinance!]

[Anonymous]

So, I got my first ever loan October 2017. Chrysler Capital gave me a loan for $25k or so at an incredibly high 19% interest rate. Finally, I applied for refinancing through USAA the other day. 

USAA explained they can only lend up to 100% of the car's value, which they say is $20,800. On the phone, I learned that my payoff was STILL $24k something (high-interest installment loans suck) so I had to pay about $3k out of pocket to refinance it. 

• My monthly payment was lowered from $578 to $460
• The interest rate dropped to 16% (they approved me for lower but I accidentally locked in that rate when exploring the different term options)
• The guy said I can put as much extra towards the principal balance as I want, something Chrysler Capital support confused me on

Anyway, I'm happy because it's PROGRESS!! ...and I no longer owe more on it than it's worth

[Appleman]

Congrats on improving your interest rate. Not sure where your scores sit but hopefully you can get refinanced again to get that rate into the single digits!

[Anonymous]

My score is 722 right now. I actually was looking at numbers yesterday and decided it would be smarter to take money from my savings (earning a measly 1.75%) and pay down the loan. Lowered my principal balance from $21k to $9k this morning and then I ended up budgeting so that I can pay it off completely by the end of the year. No more interest for me!

[Harmony12]

With your scores what made you settle with USAA’s offer?

[Anonymous]

From what I could tell, no one wanted to give me a better rate than that, but I didn't want a thousand dings on my credit report trying to find out. I'm planning on paying it off in full in the coming months and just moving on. 

EDIT: I did want to go through Capital 1 but they wouldn't even give me an estimate because the truck is 2009. I ran into that a few times.