The recent financial turmoil is really getting on my nerves, as I am waiting for the delivery of my new Fit sport and I don't have the cash to pay for it. Normally I wouldn't worry about getting an auto loan because I have excellent credit (just checked) but now I heard that it's really difficult to get an auto loan now, or any loan. Did anyone here having any issues recently? I am trying to borrow 18k.

 

Almost no down payment? It you have a job and good credit you should be able to get a loan.

 

for those w/ excellent credit (lender dependent, but typically a score of 750+) and are currently employed w/ minimum 2 yrs history in same industry, nothing much has changed in terms of qualifying. you may, however, find a higher cost of borrowing due to less available funds in general.

i picked up a new loan from my credit union a month ago with no problems whatsoever. simply filled out the one page (actually more like half page) credit app at my dealer -- same as it ever was.

 

I will be paying almost 900 in down payment. 500 is already paid for. i don't think borrowing 18k is that bad. most cars are more expensive than the Fit.

 

took me about 2 seconds to get approved from my bank. they didnt mention anything about 'recent financial turmoil'.

 

credit unions offer great rates. you want to have min 700+ credit score or higher and income to merit the amount you are borrowing.

ie you make 30k they won't let you take out a 20k loan. they have a sliding scale for income to the amount they'll loan you.

 

this is one reason were are in financial problems...

people buying things over their means of income- why would someone buy a car- and can't put money down and then worry about paying a loan- and you can not even come up with 10% down payment- complaining about having to put $900 down...

for myself... with a FICO of 800+... I would never buy a car and complain that I could only put by your statements... maybe 5% down....

 

Well if everybody could afford what they were buying then we'd have no need for any banks then, no?

 

dumb...

if you are buying a $18000 car which is cheap at that...

and you say... i will have to pay $900 down but only have $500 now...

dumb...

 

again this is the same... crap that started the economic problems...

people requesting loans and getting loans for ... NO DOWN HOME LOANS....

so they have no risk if they get FORECLOSED.....

 

The only issues we are seeing is with carry of negative equity being a little more limited. And Lower tier credit needing more stips (references, proof of income etc). For those with better credit you've just seen a tiny bump in rate.

 

like Stevens24... says

if you have good to excellent credit- you have no problems in getting a loan...

again for myself- if I want or need a loan- EASY- and no matter how much I get- it would be at the most a 5 year loan- but like always I would pay it in no "more than half the time" which I have always done.

 

excellent credit is a wonderful thing,

but the fact of the matter is that A LOT Of folks with A grad credit are getting denied by their banks.

credit unions are a different story. and no, not everone gets denied, but lending money out isn't exactly what most banks goals are right now.

 

Damn I wish I was as awesome as you.

 

there will be virtually no negative equity in Honda Fit's. Dealers cannot keep them on the lots. This is totally different than putting money down on a house. Cars depreciate, your money is better working for you in a high interest yield savings account, and making a payment to the bank, than putting money down on a vehicle.

Of course the rate of return on the savings would need to be higher than the interest rate on the vehicle, but that's in ths simplest terms. Id still rather stay liquid and have my money in the bank and an auto loan than no money in the bank and a cheaper auto loan payment.

 

Yeah, I second that thought.

There's no need to post responses to a thread on this topic containing insults and self-congratulation. And the idea that merely borrowing money (in order to leave beyond one's means) is the problem is a joke. Hell, people doing this over the years has netted billions for those in the banking industry - interest = profits. Duh. The problem is centered on bad mortgage loans, usually ARM's, being pitched to people by predatory lenders and people biting on the offers, then finding the value of their homes wasn't going up, leaving them with negative equity and no choice but to be foreclosed.

This problem was NOT caused by people borrowing $18k for Honda's...

I can say that we got our loan for our Fit through our credit union at work, and we took out a "100%" loan. Now that's deceiving, because we still had to pay for tax, title, fees and even delivery. In the end we technically "put down" 8-9%. The reason we did this was because we used the funds from the sale of my car to pay off other debt that was higher than the 5% rate we got for the car - a rather prudent decision. Oddly, though, the credit union asked that I close out a small line of credit I opened years ago and only tapped twice in 8 years.

On a lighter note...I thank the credit crunch for cutting down on all the junk mail we used to get! I used to get 5-7 credit card or home equity loan offers every week - sometimes a lot more. That's almost completely stopped, with the exception being institutions we're established with.

 

my thoughts exactly

 

I don't think some people understood what I wrote. I plan to put down $900, $500 of which is already paid for in the form of a deposit. I don't want to put more down because I also have to pay 4k of property tax and insurances around the same time in cash (I have no mortgage so I am paying all of them in lump sum), and with the economy getting worse it's prudent to keep as much money in the bank as possible - you never know when you will have a big repair bill from burst plumbing or something. I am extremely conservative when it comes to money. If I can't afford the monthly payment I definitely wouldn't get a loan for anything. It takes years of good financial dicipline to accumulate a credit score of around 800, so I am definitely not those people who try to swallow more they can chew.

What I was worried about is the tightening of loan market for everyone. I have heard plenty of bad stories - mostly from the media but also from friends. They say there's just no money available for lending. I am not complaining about anything. Just try to get a sense of the real world since so many of you just got new Fits.

 

I can understand better now- but still- I understand about keeping money in the bank for emergencies- but if you are unprepared to put just 10% down of the total cost of a new car- which is only $1800 or so- even if you have a good FICO score
it would still make most financial institutions concerned that you can only do what
I would consider to be the miniumum down payment.

 

okay...

loser secondspassed....