Interesting.... I get that interest rates fluctuate all the time, but that's quite the jump, especially since your scores were lower back then! Sounds to me like they're strapped for cash and want to make money any way they can.
We went to 2 jeep dealerships today... the one we went to last weekend when we didn't have our trade with us, and another one right up the street from our house. The 1st, we didn't even get to talk numbers because the sales guy we were working with wasn't there and the used car "expert" that came out to give us a number was so insanely insulting and dismissive to the fact we were even considering buying a car that we just left. Said he was going to give us 15k tops If we were "lucky" for a car worth 17 at the least in trade value. And when he realized I had done quite a bit of homework, got rather flustered.
The second one, was a much better experience. Not sure what's going to happen there, but the sales manager came out to speak with us and said he was going to personally call their preferred lender tomorrow to explain a couple things on our credit report and see what kind of rate he could get us. So, I'm hoping there is a God and he gets the right person, but at the same time not getting too attached to it.
At dealership #2, the salesman we were working with was kind enough to pick up my notebook after it slid off my car... it was full of notes about prices from a few other dealerships and a bunch of numbers here there and everywhere. And he made the statement "wow, you really did do your homework, huh?"... idk if that helped me or hurt me but the one handling financing said it's his job to push cars out the door and said he'd give it his all