Hey everyone, I don't usually post in the auto loans...but hello 
So a little background: Got into a car accident two days before Christmas, which smashed the front portion of that car into oblivion. Bright side? My family and I knew that car wasn't gonna last much longer, since inspection was in August and it definitely was not going to pass. My parents were looking into possibly getting a new car this summer anyways. Bad side? The car that would have been mine at graduation is now my brothers up at school, since he frequently needs to travel.
With four drivers and two cars, things get a little hairy, to say the least. Not to mention my brother and I live at school, so whenever I'm home and he's not, that's one car for three people. My parents often car pool to work.
Anyways, in case my parents aren't able to get another car this summer for my brother to drive around, I'll be looking at getting a new car on my own. With a full-time position in my field looking good for me at graduation, this is completely do-able, and the fact that I'll be living at home makes everything a whole lot easier expense-wise. Not to mention I'm likely going to do an on-line graduate school, further deferring my student loans (I still make payments towards it, though).
I was checking out auto loans, and noticed that PenFed consistently has 0% offers, mostly through their car-buying service. I'm a sucker for 0% offers, and after doing a quick calculation for the car I want (Hyundai Tuscon; as a meteorologist who needs to drive up to NW NJ from NE NJ, AWD and a car with some weight is necessary during the winter!) for 36 months (max offer), and a 20% down payment, looks like a $482 monthly payment.
Of course, offers could change by the time I'm ready to buy a car this summer. But I do have a few questions:
- I'll likely join PenFed right when I'm ready to buy the car, to take advantage of the one pull for membership + auto loan. I'm eligible because I am part of the Ladies Auxiliary, so I'll just have to sacrifice $5 for the savings. Is this still accurate to date? Also, I do remember the PenFed Platinum Rewards and I believe the Platinum Cash Rewards card got devalued. Is this still the case? If so, I'd rather not apply for it and instead get the Fort Knox one. If the Cash Rewards is simply straight cash back and an auto loan will waive the annual fee, then definitely something I would highly consider.
- How does their buyer program work exactly? Do I fill out the info, apply, get the check first, then go into the dealer, or fill out the information, apply, go to the dealer, get the necessary information, fax back paperwork, THEN go back to dealer to buy the car? Or some weird combination thereof?
- Any other recommendations on crossovers with AWD that may be cheaper, and/or frequently have 0% offers at the dealer? 
- Any other credit unions/banks that offer 0% auto loans I should be looking at?
Thanks all for any and all help! Obviously, it would be my first auto loan, so I want as much info and maybe some tricks of the trade as possible before going in. My mom is more of a spread it out person, costing her lots of money in interest, while I prefer to pay 0 or as little interest as possible. My mother would likely frown at the nearly $500 monthly payment, and wonder why I'm not getting an 84 month loan with some interest and a much lower monthly payment. *sigh*
Scores and profile is below in siggy, if needed for any responses/recommendations. Also included is an approx $25k student loan, deferred until May but will be further deferred as soon as I confirm graduate school.
Welcome to our little corner!
I'm going to preface my comment with this: You seem like my type haha (no interest, saving money, higher payments no problem). So I actually have a longer response that'll hopefully help you on your first car purchase. Only thing is I don't have the time/energy during the week. Check back here this Sunday I'll have my longer post up for you with some advice. 
If you decide to move up buying, post here so I'll summon the energy to write it up before you buy/apply for penfed.
But I'll answer your questions for now:
1) Pretty sure you are accurate on the $5 thing. Good call on joining closer to the date. I believe PenFed uses same pull for 45 days? Don't quote me on that. PenFed's cards did indeed get devalues. You need 5900 points for $50 in rewards. I think Ft Knox is better for gas, PenFed for groceries. I will say that I think AMEX's Everyday Preferred card which will come out soon kicks a**. If your grocery spending is less than 6k/yr, it'll beat both ft knox + penfed. In other words, if you don't manufacture, AMEX everyday preferred is probably the best card out there for gas and grocery.
2) Pretty sure the order goes fill out the info, apply, get the check first, then go into the dealer if you did Buying Service.
3) I think the new Grand Cherokee looks sick, but it's probably out of your price range.
4) Not that I know of. BUT keep in mind there's a trade off here. If you're good at negotiating (more on this in my later post), you can do better NOT buying with buying service. Sure, you'd pay 1.29% interest with a CU like DCU, BUT you could hypothetically save 1k+ on the car. Last new car I bought (an Accord and technicallydid the negotiating for a friend who wanted it), I saved him over 1.5k by going outside of buying service. Yes, he's paying 0.9% APR on a 36 month loan with Honda, but still, I think it was MUCH smarter (spend $200 in interest, save $1.5k in car cost).
By the way seems like you don't yet have a job? You'll typically need two/three paystubs to be approved at a lot of CUs, especially conservative ones like PenFed.
@Remember0 wrote:Welcome to our little corner!
I'm going to preface my comment with this: You seem like my type haha (no interest, saving money, higher payments no problem). So I actually have a longer response that'll hopefully help you on your first car purchase. Only thing is I don't have the time/energy during the week. Check back here this Sunday I'll have my longer post up for you with some advice.
But I'll answer your questions for now:
1) Pretty sure you are accurate on the $5 thing. Good call on joining closer to the date. I believe PenFed uses same pull for 45 days? Don't quote me on that. PenFed's cards did indeed get devalues. You need 5900 points for $50 in rewards. I think Ft Knox is better for gas, PenFed for groceries. I will say that I think AMEX's Everyday Preferred card which will come out soon kicks a**. If your grocery spending is less than 6k/yr, it'll beat both ft knox + penfed. In other words, if you don't manufacture, AMEX everyday preferred is probably the best card out there for gas and grocery.
2) Pretty sure the order goes fill out the info, apply, get the check first, then go into the dealer if you did Buying Service.
3) I think the new Grand Cherokee looks sick, but it's probably out of your price range.
4) Not that I know of. BUT keep in mind there's a trade off here. If you're good at negotiating (more on this in my later post), you can do better NOT buying with buying service. Sure, you'd pay 1.29% interest with a CU like DCU, BUT you could hypothetically save 1k+ on the car. Last new car I bought (an Accord and technicallydid the negotiating for a friend who wanted it), I saved him over 1.5k by going outside of buying service. Yes, he's paying 0.9% APR on a 36 month loan with Honda, but still, I think it was MUCH smarter (spend $200 in interest, save $1.5k in car cost).
By the way seems like you don't yet have a job? You'll typically need two/three paystubs to be approved at a lot of CUs, especially conservative ones like PenFed.
Thanks, Remember! Very helpful, and as I get closer, I'll certainly post more info right when I'm ready to buy!
Lemme go one by one with the responses:
1.) I think it's 60 days from the initial pull, after reading around, so definitely good to know! Do you think the Cash Rewards is still okay with PenFed (5% gas as long as you have a qualifying account)? I have taken a look at the Everyday Preferred, but I feel like I'd be hoarding MRs for a while since I plan to travel (well, airfare and hotel travel) only once a year. Any other travel may wind up being cheapy hotels down the shore or such. For example, I'm planning on a Phoenix trip the first week of Jan for a conference. I usually travel coach, since I don't mind it. Would MR still be worth it? But yeah, 4.5x on groceries (3x plus 50% bonus for 30 purchases) and 3x on gas (2x plus 50% bonus) seem very very nice for people who utilize MR!
2.) Thanks, that certainly makes it seem much less of a hassle!
3.) I'll have to check it out! Not completely out of my price range, but I'd like to save up a bit more for it in that case!
4.) Since I doubt I would know exactly what I'm talking about, I would assume I wouldn't be much of a negotiator...i'll have to bring a buddy/family member who's good at negotiating, in that case! Certainly worthwhile to research a bit and shop around before setting anything in stone.
I have both a part-time job and a freelance gig going, with variable hours. There are also numerous investment accounts in my name or joint through family members that I don't personally handle, but have reasonable access to, but I assume that will likely not be included in the auto loan process. So my paychecks are never really consistent, but more than enough for a college student. The full-time job would give me an actual salary with a more dependable income (don't need to guess my annual income based on flunctuating paychecks!). If the 2-3 paystub is a definite with PenFed, I may have to go another route and go through a college graduate program instead. The only thing I don't like with the college programs is I'm not sure what the terms would be for the loans, and, though typical in the car buying process, I'd like as few inquiries as possible :X but just gotta roll with the punches for the best deal, eh?
Thanks again for responding and helping make the process a little less intimidating!
@Remember0 wrote:Well, they'll take 2-3 months bank statements or tax returns too typically. How much income are we talking about? If you make 24k/yr+ between what you do now, there won't be an issue at all.
EDIT: Also hope you're excited to be graduating soon from the sound of it! I'm also graduating this May and am super excited haha!
Unfortunately just short of that! Looking more like $15k-$20k in part-time/freelance income, but if they're itching to look at investments and other sources of income, that amount skyrockets substantially.
I am actually VERY excited! I'm looking forward to working and taking some courses towards a Master's! 
@Remember0 wrote:Good idea. Often times with many manufacturers, you get an extra $500 for going through a captive lender if you're graduating.
And no, you don't have to worry about being stuck with a subprime lender. People with your credit profiles, especially those going through graduate programs even if they have no history, will almost always be paired with the captive lender for that manufacturer.
Perfect! Excellent to know! I'll have to look around on some 0% or other low-interest offers this summer to pair with the college plan
Thank you so much for you help!