When to apply for cap navigator and how best to use it?

[Anonymous]

If I know I plan to get a max 15k car loan, do I apply through cap 1 nav first to see what they will approve, or should I have a specific car picked out? 

Also when at the dealer do they basically force you to apply for other lenders? Or can I take the cap 1 approval as basically having a loan approval that makes the process much smoother?

I'm basically new to auto loans and especially cap 1 nav. 

I don't trust most car dealers so easier process is a plus 

[Anonymous]

I used Cap Auto Nav twice and have not been disappointed.  It was a very easy process.  I hear it has changed a bit since I used it back in 2018 though but what I did is filled out the app and it gave me a limit and dealers that worked with their program.  When you do find something at a dealership make sure you tell them to ONLY RUN capital one for credit and nothing else (you can write this on a plain piece of paper and sign your name)  that way only one credit pull is done and you should be good to go.  I got my rate when I picked the term of the loan I wanted.  I was even able to call customer service while waiting for it to go though from the dealership and they told me in real time we see the request and it has been approved.  Their AutoNav was great and I purchased a vehile literally over the phone and just showed up to the dealership to sign the paperwork (city was an hour away so I wanted to do as much over the phone as possible) 
Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Yes that helps. Seems like it gets pretty good reviews so I'll give it a shot. 

[Jannelo]

I didn't have a car picked out.   I was pre-qualified.  I accepted.  And then you  go on their site and pick out cars.   It's great.  You can end up getting estimates on your car payment really easily, and it will show your interest rate.   It varies depending on age of car, loan length.   I don't remember it giving me a range I was accepted for.  Although, I wasn't going over 14,500 for a used car anyway.

It's so easy going to the car dealer.  I didn't say a word until I told them I was buying the car.  Then I told them I already had a car loan in place for it.  I gave them the info from CapOne, and the dealership ran it and it was approved.  I had picked out cars off of the Auto Navigator site.  I put them in order of preference as far as which car I would look at first.  I called ahead to the one I liked best, and they answered all of my questions about other fees.  They had it ready for me when I got there.  And I knew I was going to buy it before I even test drove it.. 

The mistake I made -- everybody on here tells you not to go for it -- but they asked to run my credit to see if they could get a better car loan for me.  They didn't pressure  me, but I felt pressured for some reason.  I guess it's a  female thing.  I knew, with my credit, they couldn't match it.  They couldn't, of course.   So, then, on my CR, I saw they had run it out to four places.   Ugh.  So that's my big regret.   But other than that, it was the easiest car buying I've ever done.   I was in and out of the car dealership pretty quickly.  Painless.

[Anonymous]

Yeah it sounds easy so I'll go for it. Plus seems like cap one often gives better than expected rates which is nice. 

[Jannelo]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yeah it sounds easy so I'll go for it. Plus seems like cap one often gives better than expected rates which is nice. 

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I knew all of my fees attached to the car before I went there, because I called the car dealership, except gap coverage.   So the other mistake I made was that I didn't research gap insurance before I went in.  And somebody on here said to definitely do that.  So I got it at the dealership, and I paid too much for it.  I remember that.  

[Anonymous]

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@Jannelo wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yeah it sounds easy so I'll go for it. Plus seems like cap one often gives better than expected rates which is nice. 

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I knew all of my fees attached to the car before I went there, because I called the car dealership, except gap coverage.   So the other mistake I made was that I didn't research gap insurance before I went in.  And somebody on here said to definitely do that.  So I got it at the dealership, and I paid too much for it.  I remember that.  

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The finanincg should be all set. Just need to find the right car. 

Its crazy times. 6 weeks ago I would have felt comfortable with a 500-600  max car payment but now I'm trying to stay around 250 to 300 max. Things changed fast with this virus stuff 

[KLEXH25]

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@Jannelo wrote:

I didn't have a car picked out.   I was pre-qualified.  I accepted.  And then you  go on their site and pick out cars.   It's great.  You can end up getting estimates on your car payment really easily, and it will show your interest rate.   It varies depending on age of car, loan length.   I don't remember it giving me a range I was accepted for.  Although, I wasn't going over 14,500 for a used car anyway.

It's so easy going to the car dealer.  I didn't say a word until I told them I was buying the car.  Then I told them I already had a car loan in place for it.  I gave them the info from CapOne, and the dealership ran it and it was approved.  I had picked out cars off of the Auto Navigator site.  I put them in order of preference as far as which car I would look at first.  I called ahead to the one I liked best, and they answered all of my questions about other fees.  They had it ready for me when I got there.  And I knew I was going to buy it before I even test drove it.. 

The mistake I made -- everybody on here tells you not to go for it -- but they asked to run my credit to see if they could get a better car loan for me.  They didn't pressure  me, but I felt pressured for some reason.  I guess it's a  female thing.  I knew, with my credit, they couldn't match it.  They couldn't, of course.   So, then, on my CR, I saw they had run it out to four places.   Ugh.  So that's my big regret.   But other than that, it was the easiest car buying I've ever done.   I was in and out of the car dealership pretty quickly.  Painless.

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When I went to the dealership, I had already qualified through Capital One Auto Navigator at around 10% and DCU at around 7.5% after months of shopping around. When I went to the dealership, I decided to let them run it, and they managed to get me 5.99%, so I don't regret it at all! It's worth a few hard pulls if it could save you money.