HVAC financing

[RobotDR]

Looking to get an AC installed and they said they have a 0% deferred interest option for 18 months.

i can cover it 100% but if someone is offering me a free loan I'll take it. 

question is, are these installment loans or do they treat it like a revolving credit card and max it out, screwing up my utilization?

I requested some documentation and phone numbers so I can ask directly but thought I'd start here while I wait and also incase I don't get good answers from the issuer.

hust curious anyone is aware of industry standards etc. thanks!

[FicoMike0]

Probably one of those sync deals where if you're one day late on a payment, they hit you with 18 months interest at a million % and they make the due date a secret.

[FlaDude]

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@RobotDR wrote:

Looking to get an AC installed and they said they have a 0% deferred interest option for 18 months.

i can cover it 100% but if someone is offering me a free loan I'll take it. 

question is, are these installment loans or do they treat it like a revolving credit card and max it out, screwing up my utilization?

I requested some documentation and phone numbers so I can ask directly but thought I'd start here while I wait and also incase I don't get good answers from the issuer.

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I got financing from Service Finance through my AC provider. It was an installment loan, although it might have been considered a consumer finance account (CFA) which can have a small score impact.

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@FicoMike0 wrote:

Probably one of those sync deals where if you're one day late on a payment, they hit you with 18 months interest at a million % and they make the due date a secret.

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AKA deferred interest financing.

[markbeiser]

Check with your HVAC contractor to see if the price is lower without the financing.
The 0% financing "deal" they offered comes with an up front cost the contractor has to pay the financing company, and is part of the cost of the job they quoted you.
The finance company gets their profit up front, even if you pay it off before interest kicks in, and all the costs are passed on to you.
Depending on the total cost of the job, it can be thousands of dollars.
I've been in the HVAC business for over 30 years, and have found that people with good to excellent credit can do better finding their own financing and paying cash for the system installation nearly 100% of the time.

If you go with their financing, it may look at first like an approval for a credit line, but once everything is finalized and the system is installed, it will show up on credit reports as an installment loan.
The biggest player in HVAC financing I'm aware of is Wells Fargo, which won't show up as a CFA, can't speak for others.