Looking to finance a BMW

[CreditPacMan]

I wanted to ask around before I make my decision to buy. I am looking to finance a BMW 640i with BMW Financial services - how do you see BMW FS?

Is it better to apply online or go directly to the dealer? My income supports getting the 640i but my credit isn't in the greatest shape (620 credit score) .. mainly for high utilization (around 40%). Nothing else is bad on my report except for one late payment from 2011.

My question is: how much do people usually put as a down payment, and how does that affect approval chances? I asked a dealership in Seattle and they told me the break point for BMW FS is a score of 675. At that rate I would get a 3.3% interest and with a 10,000 down my pamyent would be $1600 a month (car's value is $90 k). If I apply now the rate would  be 8%.

Even with a good score , do you believe that given the situation that it's a good deal?

[Anonymous]

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@CreditPacMan wrote:

I wanted to ask around before I make my decision to buy. I am looking to finance a BMW 640i with BMW Financial services - how do you see BMW FS?

Is it better to apply online or go directly to the dealer? My income supports getting the 640i but my credit isn't in the greatest shape (620 credit score) .. mainly for high utilization (around 40%). Nothing else is bad on my report except for one late payment from 2011.

My question is: how much do people usually put as a down payment, and how does that affect approval chances? I asked a dealership in Seattle and they told me the break point for BMW FS is a score of 675. At that rate I would get a 3.3% interest and with a 10,000 down my pamyent would be $1600 a month (car's value is $90 k). If I apply know the rate would  be 8%.

Even with a good score , do you believe that given the situation that it's a good deal?

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I think it would be better to apply at the dealership, thinking if you apply online now, they would still want to run it while you are there, so essentially, wasting a HP.

If you truly dont have any other baddies except for the late in 2011, I would hope for a higher score, like as much as 100 higher.  If the UTI is what is holding down your scores, maybe using money to pay that down and increase your score would be good, before going for the loan.

In any case, its a nice car.

As to it being a good deal - its an expensive luxury car and if thats the choice you want to make for spending your money, then its good.  I am not familiar with the prices for those cars, so I'd say check with True Care, or one of the  other car buying services.  For a purchase that large, even buying a Costco membership for 50 bucks to use their car buying service makes sense.

 Lots of other people are very happy with that car and I think its rated highly in that segment.

HTH

[StartingOver10]

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@CreditPacMan wrote:

I wanted to ask around before I make my decision to buy. I am looking to finance a BMW 640i with BMW Financial services - how do you see BMW FS?

Is it better to apply online or go directly to the dealer? My income supports getting the 640i but my credit isn't in the greatest shape (620 credit score) .. mainly for high utilization (around 40%). Nothing else is bad on my report except for one late payment from 2011.

My question is: how much do people usually put as a down payment, and how does that affect approval chances? I asked a dealership in Seattle and they told me the break point for BMW FS is a score of 675. At that rate I would get a 3.3% interest and with a 10,000 down my pamyent would be $1600 a month (car's value is $90 k). If I apply now the rate would  be 8%.

Even with a good score , do you believe that given the situation that it's a good deal?

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^^^Don't do it. Spend the time getting your utilization rate on your credit cards down so you have a decent score when you do decide to apply.

Getting a high interest loan (8%) for long term on a high dollar amount is the opposite of financial responsiblity. Get your score up, then get your dream car. If you pay down the current revolving debt, you should see a big jump since you only have one baddie from 2011. 

[Klesko]

Score seems low for 40% util and only one late payment 4 years ago. Is any card over 70% util? If possible I would highly recommend getting any cards util below 30% to maximize your score.

But with that said it wont hurt to go into the dealership and explain it to the finance manager and have him run your credit for BMW finacial servies only and see that tier you come in at. Your auto fico might be higher than you think. 

[dabrian]

Get that utilization down before applying.

[CreditPacMan]

Thanks - great advice. That's what I was thinking too - I probably can qualify for the 3% interest rate if my score was higher. I am not in a rush - I'm currently leasing an Audi A6 so I can wait until that is over and see what my scores look like then. And yes, I have many cards with 0 balance but a few that are over 80% utilized. 

[Creditaddict]

How old are you?

How long have you had credit cards?

Can you list credit card limits and balances?

Your scores are not adding up for someone with very long history and no baddies besides 1 late... My EQ with BK and Settled Collections is higher than yours and EQ is the death of me!

[CreditPacMan]

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@Creditaddict wrote:

How old are you?

How long have you had credit cards?

Can you list credit card limits and balances?

Your scores are not adding up for someone with very long history and no baddies besides 1 late... My EQ with BK and Settled Collections is higher than yours and EQ is the death of me!

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I'm 27 and I've had credit cards for about four years now. I have about 11 cards ranging with limits ranging from $3000 to $13000. I have 7 cards with balances with 4 at over 85% usage. That's what's keeping my score down .. 620 is the average (from two months ago when I leased my Audi). I pulled my EX yesterday and it says my score is 644. Still low for BMW.

[Creditaddict]

If you have income to support a $1600 car payment then you need to pay ALL the credit cards off first because you don't have the income to support that payment if you are revolving that much debt... Sorry
You are utilizing over 70% of your cards and over 50% of total limits by sounds of it... 2 things combined that are crashing score and saying you can't afford a luxury car.

[CreditPacMan]

Yes - that's what I indicated I plan to do. I will reduce my debt then apply. Thanks for the input

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@Creditaddict wrote:
If you have income to support a $1600 car payment then you need to pay ALL the credit cards off first because you don't have the income to support that payment if you are revolving that much debt... Sorry
You are utilizing over 70% of your cards and over 50% of total limits by sounds of it... 2 things combined that are crashing score and saying you can't afford a luxury car.

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