Need a new car: Financing?

Aumni

Hi guys, so my current car's front-right spring just exploded and shredded my tire pretty fierce. Was only pulling out of my parking space so nothing serious. Got it toed and it's basically time for a new car.

My finances are in a good spot thought I did just buy a house (moving in on Feb 1st) and that is going well. I have a decent chunk saved up for emergencies like this so I'll have enough for a down payment. My concern is financing - what's my best option? I'm looking own, not lease. I'd like to try and cut down my payments to around $200/mo (versus the 300+ on the dealer sites), and I'm looking for a cheap, new car in the 15,000 - 18,000 range.

The dealer sites are quoting some outrageous APR (11%'ish), while my bank (USAA) is advertising auto loans for 1.9-3. I'm guessing I want to take a loan to buy a car so I can save some monies.

Are there any people who have any suggestions, recommendations, or experiences that they could share to help me out?

Thanks guys.

Quid

We literally just bought a car in that range through USAA. Definitely go through them for the loan.

USAA has a car purchasing service where you put in the kind of car you want, options, colors etc and they contact three dealers near you with a targeted price. Before taxes we got our Fiesta for about a hundred and change over the target price but with a ton of options that should have bumped it an extra five hundred. We basically had three dealerships competing with each other for our business which was nice.

And for what it's worth we got a Ford Fiesta which falls in to that range. After taxes and registration it came in at about 17.5k. Though that was with an active duty military discount. We've only had it a couple days but so far we love it, though the added options are definitely a factor in that.

Aumni

Wow Quid, thanks for that tip on the USAA car buying service.

Put in a request to look at a Fiesta (Which the reviews are really good on, and I'm assuming why you bought one as well) and had two dealers call me within 15 minutes. Also put in a loan application too.

Good ole' technology.

Quid

Nice. They should cut your rate down a little more since you used the service too. Only reason we didn't was we have Navy Fed whose rate was nearly identical and had the benefit of us picking up the loan check on the spot.

Good luck with the car!

MushroomStick

Looks like Ford is offering a 0% financing deal on Fiestas that would be worth looking into, should you ultimately decide on that car.

Shadowfire

Yes, but you should always walk into the dealership with financing already figured out, if you can. That alone puts you in a way stronger bargaining position.

Thanatos

FYI: As a rule, anytime you have the option of doing something through USAA, you almost always want to do it through them.

Get your insurance through them. Even if it costs you 10-20% more, for the love of God, get your insurance through them.

ThunderSaid

I've done financing through a credit union, and financing through the dealer. Each time, I just chose the option that made the most financial sense. Basically, the dealer almost never offers a better rate than a credit union, but sometimes they're running a promotion that makes the car cheaper if you finance through them. The important thing, though, is that you should line up financing that you're comfortable with before going in to purchase the car. That way, you can take a better offer from the dealer if it presents itself, but you don't have to take their financing if it's crap.

Also, my current car is a Nissan Cube, which is in the price range you mention. It's kind of funky, so it may not fit your taste, but you will be hard pressed to find a car in that class with more head room. (I'm tall, so that's important to me.) Plus, the mileage is good. I'd recommend taking a look at one.

Jasconius

Why pay USAA for more insurance? I'm currently being put through the ringer on USAA auto insurance and was about to switch

on topic: the Fiesta is a fine car and certainly one of the best options in your price range

Thanatos

Jasconius wrote: »

Why pay USAA for more insurance? I'm currently being put through the ringer on USAA auto insurance and was about to switch

on topic: the Fiesta is a fine car and certainly one of the best options in your price range

I work with the insurance industry, and have been involved in an accident with someone who had USAA at the time. You are literally the first person I've ever heard complain about them, from either side (either having the insurance, or having to put in a claim with someone else who has the insurance). You may just have a shitty agent/adjuster, but statistically, they're about the best insurance you can get.

zepherin

With a new car, make sure you know the invoice price of the car and the holdback, for most new cars you can get them for the invoice cost, and the dealership will get the holdback as profit, anything over that is gravy for them, so use that as your number, if USAA can go lower than that, awesome, if they go higher, you can probably do better.

Getting financing before stepping into the dealership is adviseable because the only thing you can talk about is price and trade in, and hell if you know what car you are getting. You can walk in ask for the difference and if you don't like the number walk out. Changes car shopping into a 15 minute ordeal.

Make sure that they set the purchase date correctly, sometimes they get shifty and try to date the purchase so that you get put into some wierd financing scam.

And make sure you know what fees they are charging. You can get them to credit 50 dollar BS fees they sneak in on you.

Aumni

Thanks everyone for the tips! I ended up getting a slightly used fully-loaded 2012 Ford Focus SEL for 17500. Having the loan in hand (and my folder of information) definitely helped cut out a lot of the BS talk.

Jasconius

Thanatos wrote: »

Jasconius wrote: »

Why pay USAA for more insurance? I'm currently being put through the ringer on USAA auto insurance and was about to switch

on topic: the Fiesta is a fine car and certainly one of the best options in your price range

I work with the insurance industry, and have been involved in an accident with someone who had USAA at the time. You are literally the first person I've ever heard complain about them, from either side (either having the insurance, or having to put in a claim with someone else who has the insurance). You may just have a shitty agent/adjuster, but statistically, they're about the best insurance you can get.

I'm paying 40 dollars more a month with USAA than an array of the usual suspects with identical or slightly better converage. I called USAA directly and asked why, and they said it wasn't a mistake, that's what it costs...

No comment on the service since I've never been in an accident with them

kaliyama

Jasconius wrote: »

Thanatos wrote: »

Jasconius wrote: »

Why pay USAA for more insurance? I'm currently being put through the ringer on USAA auto insurance and was about to switch

on topic: the Fiesta is a fine car and certainly one of the best options in your price range

I work with the insurance industry, and have been involved in an accident with someone who had USAA at the time. You are literally the first person I've ever heard complain about them, from either side (either having the insurance, or having to put in a claim with someone else who has the insurance). You may just have a shitty agent/adjuster, but statistically, they're about the best insurance you can get.

I'm paying 40 dollars more a month with USAA than an array of the usual suspects with identical or slightly better converage. I called USAA directly and asked why, and they said it wasn't a mistake, that's what it costs...

No comment on the service since I've never been in an accident with them

Welp, Thanatos gave you your answer on that front.

Dr. Frenchenstein

as an ex erie customer, sometimes it's worth it to pay a little more for insurance so your company doesn't try their best to bend you over.

Thanatos

Jasconius wrote: »

Thanatos wrote: »

Jasconius wrote: »

Why pay USAA for more insurance? I'm currently being put through the ringer on USAA auto insurance and was about to switch

on topic: the Fiesta is a fine car and certainly one of the best options in your price range

I work with the insurance industry, and have been involved in an accident with someone who had USAA at the time. You are literally the first person I've ever heard complain about them, from either side (either having the insurance, or having to put in a claim with someone else who has the insurance). You may just have a shitty agent/adjuster, but statistically, they're about the best insurance you can get.

I'm paying 40 dollars more a month with USAA than an array of the usual suspects with identical or slightly better converage. I called USAA directly and asked why, and they said it wasn't a mistake, that's what it costs...

No comment on the service since I've never been in an accident with them

Yeah, $40 a month is probably worth looking at someone else. I've always heard they're competitive, though. And generally, if you ever have to put in a claim, you're really happy you have them.