I just came back from looking at a 95 2500 2wd, reg cab long bed auto at a used dealer, and I would like to get it only because the price is right and I need a work truck I can commute with for relatively cheap, as the 4wd I have now goes through parts too fast when putting 30-40k on per year. I'm going to be driving about 2 hours round trip per day, compared to 30 min round trip now.

The dealer is asking 5900, with 137k mi. Truck is clean, no rot, no oil leaks at all, completley stock and appears to be maintained. Only problems are a torn drivers seat, dented rear quarter/bumper (bumper needs replacing definetly). My only problem with getting the truck is I have about $3000 cash, could probably come down in price a few hundred, and I can't really get an auto loan. Only capital one will loan something older than 2000, but their minimum loan amount is $7500.

What else could I do? I was thinking of getting a loan for $7500 and paying the ~$2000 back, but I would still be left with high loan payments for a little while, which I don't think I could afford on top of insurance. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

what about a credit card with 0% interest? or a atleast a low rate

brett

 

Since you only need $2900 go to a credit union and get a signature loan. I only deal with credit unions for any loan I need. You'll probably get a slightly higher rate for a signature loan but it'll beat the heck out of paying for a $7500 loan you don't need. Remember to shop around for loans just as much if not more that you would for a vehicle.

 

Gorms, check your PMs.

 

http://www.lendingtree.com

Local banks will SCREW you. I've gone through lending tree on auto and I'm fixing to go through Lending Tree on my next mortgage loan. You'll get a lower interest rate, cheaper closing costs (mortgage), and you won't have to go through the hassle that a local lender will give you.

I'd at least check 'em out.

 

That's not true. I've never been screwed by my local bank...and I know I would get a better rate than Lending Tree....My wife is a loan officer.

 

I use credit unions for all loans and havent even asked a bank in about 10 years. Surely a credit union will finance something earlier than a 2000. They may charge a percent or 2 more for a vehicle over 10 years old but usually have a minimum loan amount of $1000.

 

My credit union through work does 4.99% on all car loans and 8.99% on personal loans/lines of credit. I think that is pretty good. And they either approve or deny, none of this we can do it, but at 12% interest stuff. I think the credit union may be a good idea.

 

if you own a home, a home equity loan is great. they may laugh at you if you only need 3K though.

The reason I say a home equity is great is because...

1. the interset you pay is tax deductible.

2. your not going to beat the interest rate (the better the security, the better the rate).

3. Lets say you borrow 8K at 6.25%. you can use your 3k then put the 5k in a money market account for say 4.5%. now your paying 6.25% on your 3k for your truck (plus the interest is deductable) and your only paying 1.75% on the other 5K that you can just leave there for emergency. 5k @ 1.75% is only $87.50 per year to have it out. the $87.50 is also tax deductable.


do you see where i'm going with this?

 

You might also look at State Farm Bank, carried by some insurance agents (those who have chosen to get the banking license to carry the financial services).

You don't have to have their insurance to get the loan, but I think they give a point on the rate if you do.

 

try smaller banks,they are easier to deal with,and are more willing to talk loans on older trucks,at leaste that's what i found out when I bought my 93.

 

For that amount the bank should be able to open an line of credit. When I bought mine it was cheaper to open a line of credit than it was to take out a car loan. You only pay interest on what you use. For example the smallest line of credit my back would do was $5000, now if you only use $3000 of it you only pay interest on $3000 or whatever you owe. Its also nice(or bad) as you only need to make payments on the interest. So if you have a tight month you just make the minimum payment, whatever the interest was that month. If you have a better month you can make a large lump sum payment without penalty. Works well for me as I run a side bussiness in the summer so have more cash then in the winter months. Downside is its easy to get over your head, had a line that was $35,000, took a LONG time to dig out of that one! Even the min payment on that is big and it never goes down making only the min payments.

 

I'd do the credit card thing too if you can. When I got my 07 there were no financing incentives. I used Chrysler Finance just to get into the truck. then I transferred it all to a couple of 0% credit cards. I will still pay the same each month but all of it will go towards the principal. The drawback for me is that some of these cards only give you that rate for a year or so. That means I will have to switch some balances over again in the future but it's worth it. It definitely helps that my 03 trade-in was paid off so I didn't have to finance that much..

Most dealers, on new cars, won't allow you to put more than $500.00 on a credit card towards the purchase of a vehicle. I'm not sure how they would handle this particular purchase....

 

You need to be really careful with those 0% interest rate cards.. READ THE FINE PRINT!!!!

Some of them say that if you are late on ANY CREDIT CARD OR CREDIT PAYMENT (yes this means any other card from any other company) than your interest goes to the default rate which is usually 19% or more. Some of the others are only 6 months or a year.. some are just late payments on that particular card..

Read them and know what you are getting into because 19+% is ridiculous!!

Gerry

 

banks look at credit card debt as "bad" debt. they look at auto loans as "ok" debt and real estate as "good" debt.

what I guess my point is, lets say you could owe 10K on credit cards. the same individual with a 10K auto loan is likely to get a much better rate on there next loan. the person with a 10K well secured real estate loan will get even a better rate and so on. what it does is improves your credit score.