Way to find out how much they'd lend without applying ?

[6speed8]

 I know it varies with downpayment/credit scores,etc but is there a way to get an idea what a lender will finance on a particular car with out applying first ? Like what they'd max out at on said vehicle, credit scores,etc not withstanding...

For example, I know the general rule of thumb with a mortgage is 80/20. If you're looking at a $100,000 house, they generally will only lend $80,000. I was just wondering if the same applies to a car loan.

[settleordelete]

Everything depends on your situation. Some lenders will finance the entire price of the car, plus add-ons, fees and taxes with no down payment.

[6speed8]

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@settleordelete wrote:
Everything depends on your situation. Some lenders will finance the entire price of the car, plus add-ons, fees and taxes with no down payment.

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Gotcha. I was just wondering if they did something similar to mortgages.

[Anonymous]

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@settleordelete wrote:
Everything depends on your situation. Some lenders will finance the entire price of the car, plus add-ons, fees and taxes with no down payment.

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+1! It depends on a lot of things. With poor credit, sometimes they'll only finance up to 80%

Try the cap1 auto prequal, maybe. It'll give you some sort of idea what you might be able to get. But I do believe they're more generous than most lenders, especially if your credit is poor. I was pre-approved for up to $40k at a rate below 10% (varies based on length of loan/car year), which I believe will not be matched by any other lender. The car I want is a 2015, and the rate for a 72 mo loan was 3.72! I'm less than a month out of Ch 13 BK, and my own CU won't lend me 10 cents, lol. So I'd say give it a shot, it's a soft pull so you don't need to worry about inquiries. The only caveat is that if you do use them, you have to use one of their preapproved dealers.

[settleordelete]

I find the 80/20 rule isn't really in use today in the auto industry. Even though 20% down is recommended or required by the lenders, some car buyers don't have the money. But they may have the credit and income to get 100% of the deal financed and the dealer discounts/ factory incentives fits in where the down payment is missed.


I've bought 3 cars in recent years with no down payments but the deals were packaged with dealer/factory. Good luck to you.

[6speed8]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@settleordelete wrote:
Everything depends on your situation. Some lenders will finance the entire price of the car, plus add-ons, fees and taxes with no down payment.

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+1! It depends on a lot of things. With poor credit, sometimes they'll only finance up to 80%

Try the cap1 auto prequal, maybe. It'll give you some sort of idea what you might be able to get. But I do believe they're more generous than most lenders, especially if your credit is poor. I was pre-approved for up to $40k at a rate below 10% (varies based on length of loan/car year), which I believe will not be matched by any other lender. The car I want is a 2015, and the rate for a 72 mo loan was 3.72! I'm less than a month out of Ch 13 BK, and my own CU won't lend me 10 cents, lol. So I'd say give it a shot, it's a soft pull so you don't need to worry about inquiries. The only caveat is that if you do use them, you have to use one of their preapproved dealers.

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Since I get 5+ pre-qual offers from Capital One a month, I checked out their "approved dealers" list to see if there's actually more than the notices I get and sure enough... I posted previously about the Sonata and Optima being my car of choice at the moment - although the Mazda 6's looks are wearing down my dislike for the stand-up radio/nav screen - pretty much every Hyundai and Kia dealer in a hundred mile radius is "approved" lol.

[6speed8]

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@settleordelete wrote:
I find the 80/20 rule isn't really in use today in the auto industry. Even though 20% down is recommended or required by the lenders, some car buyers don't have the money. But they may have the credit and income to get 100% of the deal financed and the dealer discounts/ factory incentives fits in where the down payment is missed.


I've bought 3 cars in recent years with no down payments but the deals were packaged with dealer/factory. Good luck to you.

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We did that in 2012. Traded the hubby's 2008 Sonata for a 2012 Forte SX. They basically paid off the Sonata and drove the Forte out with nothing down. He had a Capital One pre-approval for $21,200 even if he didn't trade the Sonata. The car stickered at $24,800. They asked if they could pull his credit for possibly better rate. He said OK but I said: "Even if you get a better rate, we're still not paying more than $21,200 out the door." They came back with 2-3% better  from TD Bank so we went with it. Last year, refinanced with Capital One for even less for the same term of payments left.

[settleordelete]

Hyundai Sonata? Great choice. I lease a new Santa Fe Limited a few weeks ago for my wife. I used Hyundai financial services plus the factory to dealer incentives which were applied as a down payment. So like I said, no money down, no security deposit... Just the first month's payment.

- I don't believe in leasing but I'm married so... LOL.

[6speed8]

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@settleordelete wrote:
Hyundai Sonata? Great choice. I lease a new Santa Fe Limited a few weeks ago for my wife. I used Hyundai financial services plus the factory to dealer incentives which were applied as a down payment. So like I said, no money down, no security deposit... Just the first month's payment.

- I don't believe in leasing but I'm married so... LOL.

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Nice lol. I leased one car but at that time in my life it was a mistake. I drove too much. Now that I'm disabled / retired lol, even with the two of us I could pull off a lease without mileage being a worry. It's an option.

I drove German cars for years. VW's mostly with a couple of early 80's Benz diesels that I bought with 250,000 miles + on them. They're about the only German cars I'd buy today. After 30+ years of working on cars, as much as the Germans are "nicer" to drive, you get spoiled by the Asian reliability. We bought the 2008 Sonata already a year old in 2008 with 27,000 miles. An ex rental car. Traded it at 110,000+ for the Forte in 2012. Besides routine things, the only "repairs" were the drivers door handle breaking - $40 and 5 minutes of my time, and the typical floppy sun visors. Common for the springs to break in them. Funny, in my searching dealer inventory within a hundred mile radius, I actually ran across it at a dealer in east Texas for $3500 with 238,000 miles on it lol. The Forte at 75,000 miles now has been pretty bulletproof as well aside from an odd wheel bearing issue.

[C7LT1]

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@6speed8 wrote:

 I know it varies with downpayment/credit scores,etc but is there a way to get an idea what a lender will finance on a particular car with out applying first ? Like what they'd max out at on said vehicle, credit scores,etc not withstanding...

For example, I know the general rule of thumb with a mortgage is 80/20. If you're looking at a $100,000 house, they generally will only lend $80,000. I was just wondering if the same applies to a car loan.

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Like others has said try Cap1 prequal site. What a lender will finance on a vehicle is going to depend on several things in your credit profile. Income, current DTI ratio, credit score and past auto loan history among other things. Give us a snap shot of your current credit status and we may be able to get  you a better idea of what you could be approved for. Granted you would know for sure until you apply. Also, take a look the Auto Loan Approval thread it goes about 9 years.