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I have a question about financing. I have no large amounts of cash saved now, just started a new job. It pays well though, and my bills only come to about 2 weeks of my take home. My 10 year old car died, I got a temp car for $700 to last while I was unemployed, and it died too. Now I need a car yesterday, or I lose my job. I'd rather have saved up cash and bought a car outright, but circumstances have forced my hand. My plan is to get a car that will have to be financed for a little under $5k with a 2 year loan. I'll pay it off in 1, and still have some money saved besides. This car is a good car in great shape that should last me 4-5 years easy with minimal repairs. My problem is my credit history is not so great due to unemployment, bad decisions when in college 10 years ago, and a pay cut I took changing careers a couple years ago. Now I make a decent amount again, but my credit scores range from 641-681...so I'm not great. Not terrible, but not great. Went to a credit union today to apply for a loan, they happen to use the reporting agency which had me as the highest score, so that helped. However I was still not "automatically approved" and they have to send it to a Loan Officer who will contact me in a day or two with a yea or nay. For all I know that's code for "you failed, but we don't tell you to your face." My question is if I can't get the credit union loan, what are some reputable places online who might give loans to people who are subprime or on the edge of subprime?" My only other options are to buy another car for less than $1k and hope it passes inspection to get on the road, or throw $1k into a $700 car...neither option is good, and both will put me in a bad cycle. Obviously I want to avoid applying at a bunch of places and getting turned down over and over. I figure if I get turned down once I'll have one more decent shot. That's why I'm bypassing regular banks and going straight to online if the CU fails.
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Aug 16, 2010 21:45
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 06:49 |
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Well the only issue with dealer financing is I have a specific car in mind, and the dealer there doesn't finance. Minimum amounts can be a problem. There was one place (I think myautoloan.com) that had a minimum $7500 amount.
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Aug 16, 2010 23:33
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Jealous Cow posted:I don't think you're in a position to be too picky. Hopefully the model you have in mind is a low cost of ownership and historically reliable model, and not a Mini or WRX. Cadillac. American, easy to fix, parts aren't too expensive, and they're always owned by old guys or are corporate fleet cars, so they're well taken care of. Should be a good fit to last 4-5 years. And the dealer just redid the air suspension and shocks.
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Aug 17, 2010 11:55
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Jealous Cow posted:
It's a 99...the insurance won't be that much more than I'm paying now. As far as gas, my 01 PT Cruiser that I drove for 10 years was 17/23 and this is 15/24...and most of my driving is highway. Newer Caddies aren't the gas guzzlers from the 70s that people still think they are. I could have gotten a more economical car that I'd have hated, or paid more for a new subcompact with awesome mileage but be paying far more in payments than I'd save in gas, and I'd hate it. This gets me a good, well made car that has a reputation for lasting a long time and isn't known to be prone to a lot of mechanical problems.
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Aug 17, 2010 19:14
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Jealous Cow posted:So you want to finance a 1999 Cadillac? I have good reasons. I have no savings, because I left my high paying retail job and took a 50% pay cut to work in my degree field 3 years ago. Then I was laid off for 8 months because it's in a dying industry. I went back to retail, I'm doing it for a year, then I'm going back to college for a different career, because I hate retail. Paying in cash for a car costing any amount over $1000 isn't an option, paying in cash for less than $1000 (or really $3000) is foolish because I'll be stuck with a car that may not pass inspection, could need $2k of repairs in a few months, etc. Buying a newer, more expensive car would be bad for me because I want to have it paid off in a year, so I won't have car payments when I go back to school and am only working part time. And, in the end, it comes down to buying a car I like. I'm sure lots of people on here could recommend very nice cars like Civics or whatnot that are cheap, reliable, and have good gas mileage. But I've always wanted a luxury car. So if I had to choose between a 99 Caddy and an '05 Probe or Civic, I'm going to get the older car.
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Aug 17, 2010 20:16
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Not a Catera, it's a DeVille.Arzakon posted:The 99 Cadillac doesn't meet the good part of the criteria (cheap) and does meet the bad part of it (likely to have a more expensive repair). Not because it is a Cadillac, but because it is 11 years old and repairs just come with the territory of 11 year old cars. Well it is in really perfect shape as far as the motor, interior, exterior, runs great, no leaks, and the air suspension/shocks were just replaced which I know can be an issue with Cadillacs, plus new brakes and mufflers. I took it on the highway and it shifted smooth. There could be some hidden problem I don't know about, but that can hold true for any car. It's luxurious for me, when the newest car I had was a PT Cruiser and the nicest was an 84 Olds Cutlass. Plus I like the 90s Cadillac body style. It pretty much had to be under $5k for my plan of paying it off in a year to work. I looked around locally and don't see any cars under 5k that are newer than 04, and most are 01-02. So I could get an 03 Focus or an 02 Elantra with 20k less miles, or I could get the car I want. I'm not afraid of going to a junkyard either, and I have friends that are knowledgeable and can help me with minor repairs. Yeah, a Cadillac will cost more to fix partswise than a cheaper car, but it won't be as bad as say, a VW.
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Aug 17, 2010 21:22
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CornHolio posted:Keep in mind that every used car was sold/traded in for a reason. Yeah, I've been looking at Cadillacs for awhile now, so I've done some research. Biggest problems seem to be suspension and electrical system. Everything I could check seemed to check out.
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Aug 17, 2010 22:35
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 06:49 |
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shredswithpiks posted:Weird. Guess I made an assumption there... My credit union had a deal that if you got an auto loan with them, you got to become a member even if you didn't qualify in any other way. You had to setup at least a savings account with $5. I needed a loan, they were recommended, so I joined up. Fantastic rates for the loan. Within a month I'd moved all my banking to them.
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Jun 3, 2011 03:37
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