Used Car Auto Loan - 597 Credit Score

[xlaurenx]

I am trying to find out the best method for financing a new or pre-owned vehicle, as my 2009 Nissan Cube is slowly eating dust. (After 115K miles, I have to say I am really unimpressed, as I bought a Nissan on the principal that you should be able to drive them into the ground. That's a whole different story.)

Anyhow, I am having a heck of a time figuring our financing for my next vehicle.

I was approved through Toyota Financing with horrible terms - they wanted $5000 downpayment and the payment was $399/month for 72 months at 9.99%.

My credit score is currently 597 TU - 510 EX - EQ - 600 - not pretty. I modified my mortgage in April, which put a huge ding on my score (brought it down from 670's), and if I could, I would wait for things to improve but my car dilemma has gone from running not great to not being reliable at all, and I have to drive to commute to work.

I also do not necessiarily want a Toyota anymore, so the financing terms they gave me are fairly mewt.

I have owned my home for 3 years and make 102K base salary with around 30K in annual bonuses.

My current credit utilization is around 87%, and my monthly payments total around 3000 currently.

My question is...where else should I check for financing? I live in MA, I was denied by DCU and I am afriad to keep applying and have a bunch of new inquiries to my report.

I can put up to $2500 down comfortably. Any insight would be super helpful as I really don't know what to do and need to act in the next 2 weeks!

[Bluedog23]

Could you possible pay down the cc utilization some? That 87% util. Is likely putting a hurt on your scores.  Not an ideal rate, the 9.9 but it may be considered pretty good for those scores. Do you have lates on your last auto loan?Maybe you could take the rate, pay down the cc debt and see a good boost in scores. Then in 6 months to a year refinance for a lower rate? Just a thought. Bottom line you gotta have a way to get to work right? Good luck with whatever you decide.

[BluesFan]

I have very similar scores at this time (610,595,604) and the loan offer you just described is much better than what I have been getting offered, but I am sure the details have something to do with that.

I have been getting the options to either put down a large downpayment and get about 12% or no downpayment and upwards of 15%, Needless to say I will be waiting at the very least a few months.

The APR you were offered is actually my goal at this point, which (no offense) saddens me.

I would try to come up with the 2500 or shop around to see if you could get the same rate somewhere else with less downpayment.

Even though I won't be using it Roadloans gave me the best terms outside the dealer, an Infiniti dealer got me 7.9% which is the lowest I recieved by far but wanted 10k down on a 40k Q50

[04Cobra]

I have to agree that 9.9 is great considering OP's scores. I used to be in the business and with those scores, APR's in the 20's were the norm. OP, most finance companies have no pre payment penalty, meaning you can pay off your loan early with no penalties. You'll definately save on interest by making additional payments. Good Luck

[04Cobra]

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@xlaurenx wrote:

I am trying to find out the best method for financing a new or pre-owned vehicle, as my 2009 Nissan Cube is slowly eating dust. (After 115K miles, I have to say I am really unimpressed, as I bought a Nissan on the principal that you should be able to drive them into the ground. That's a whole different story.)

Anyhow, I am having a heck of a time figuring our financing for my next vehicle.

I was approved through Toyota Financing with horrible terms - they wanted $5000 downpayment and the payment was $399/month for 72 months at 9.99%.

My credit score is currently 597 TU - 510 EX - EQ - 600 - not pretty. I modified my mortgage in April, which put a huge ding on my score (brought it down from 670's), and if I could, I would wait for things to improve but my car dilemma has gone from running not great to not being reliable at all, and I have to drive to commute to work.

I also do not necessiarily want a Toyota anymore, so the financing terms they gave me are fairly mewt.

I have owned my home for 3 years and make 102K base salary with around 30K in annual bonuses.

My current credit utilization is around 87%, and my monthly payments total around 3000 currently.

My question is...where else should I check for financing? I live in MA, I was denied by DCU and I am afriad to keep applying and have a bunch of new inquiries to my report.

I can put up to $2500 down comfortably. Any insight would be super helpful as I really don't know what to do and need to act in the next 2 weeks!

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Generally speaking, the newer the vehicle, the easier it is to get financed. Shopping for a new car will generate several new inquiries but usually the credit bureaus will count that only as one inquiry if it's made within a short time. Have you tried your local bank? If you can, a big down payment will also help. Good Luck

[Anonymous]

Can't offer much more than others have said about the rate... But..my daughter had one of the same year cube. A drunk driver caused an accident and she went head on from going 70 to zero mph and walked away from it. I always thought that car was odd, but never would have thought it would have protected her like it did. It saved her life.

Good luck with the loan.

[xlaurenx]

Thank you so much for the insights, this actually makes me feel much better. This has been super helpful and I'll certainly post my results and what I end up with. It can be frustrating to go through this process but it certainly helps to have a community of like-minded people who have been through similar scenarios. Much appreciated!!!!

[xlaurenx]

Also, thanks Chris for sharing this story. I have always felt incredibly safe in my Cube - and I have driven it a lot. The mechanical issues have been a bit of what I hope is an anomaly, I hope, as I still really like to Nissan lineup. Glad your daughter was unharmed in that accident!

[Webpagesby23]

When you went to infiniti. What Credit bereau did they use. Mines pulled my equifax. Which is a 599. But I though dealers pull TU which mines is a 663. Also they are wanting me to put 4500 down for a demo q50 with 4-6000 miles on it