Car Buying Help

You're probably right

kegkilla_sl said:

anyone have advice for getting the best rate on an auto loan with the least effort? FWIW my credit score is 780

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As everyone else said, shop around and find a CU that will give you the best rate, but keep in mind the dealership may be able to beat that rate so it is worth it to give them a shot. I always make sure to negotiate the out-the-door price of the car and settle on that figure first before I discuss any sort of financing with the dealership. Once you settle on a price you can just say "okay, well I got these terms ($X down and X% interest rate for X months) from my bank, but you are welcome to try to beat it." Keep in mind you don't necessarily have to tell them the truth about what terms you got either. Last couple of times I've gone in I lied about what interest rate my bank was offering just to stop the dealership from trying to beat it by 0.01% or some BS like that.

Several hard pulls on your credit for the same thing (auto loan) will only count against your credit once so you don't need to worry about your credit score taking a big hit by shopping around for a loan.

kegkilla_sl said:

with used cars should i just threaten to balk if they try to throw in any fees other than the title transfer stuff?

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I always negotiate the "out-the-door" price. They are more than welcome to divvy it up however they want on the sheet as long as the number I write on my check matches the number we negotiated. That is what I tell them, but this is for new cars, I've never bought a used car from a dealership.

One other note, if you haven't yet, check out truecar.com. I've bought a couple of cars using info from there before and it really helped me negotiate down a price. Just be careful because you can accidently send your info to every dealership in a 100 mile radius and they won't stop bugging you (which can be helpful if you are just shopping make/model and aren't going for a specific car).

Cad_sl said:

Probably something more pedestrian like the collateral of the loan is more volatile with used so there's more risk. It's not like they are out inspecting these things.

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I don't know how that could be true either with the absurd depreciation. Almost any new car loan is under water for the first 1-3 years at least. Knowing the car could possibly be in worse condition maybe +/- 10% value or something VS knowing 100% that the value is going to drop 40% in 2 years? Not sure.

Also, was thinking on the collectible car thing under 500K and I thought of one. 2016 Dodge Viper ACR - last model year, insane track car, it's certain to hold value and probably increase over the years.

Vipers are complete garbage cars, if you've ever sat insode/drove one, you'd understand quickly.

Just FYI for any of you that elect to get loan GAP insurance on a new car loan, it's almost always cheaper to get it through your car insurance company than your loan/finance company. I usually see paperwork adding $500-$1000 for loan gap coverage through a finance company or bank(5 year loan), when we typically only charge $3-$5 per month for the same coverage added to your auto insurance policy. Not to mention you're also paying interest on their coverage since it's bundled into your loan.

fifey_sl said:

Vipers are complete garbage cars, if you've ever sat insode/drove one, you'd understand quickly.

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That sucks. Admittedly I've only driven in one once, though I've seen a bunch. What makes them garbage? It's difficult to tell, the ones I've seen have been the older models so I guess I'm trying to compare beat old autoX Viper with rollcage vs. old... Corvette? I don't know. I do love the idea of a Viper though.

Besides that, what does everything think about the Genesis split (finally)? I'm kind of intrigued, the newest gen coupes appear to be very capable vehicles even though their styling is rather pedestrian. My guess is that they will have to cut the lower trims out to maintain a 'luxury' brand now.

I just think the interior of the Vipers feel like it's about to break, I've never been a fan of American cars though. It's all just flimsy plastic that was put together by some drunk guy in Kentucky.

fifey_sl said:

I just think the interior of the Vipers feel like it's about to break, I've never been a fan of American cars though. It's all just flimsy plastic that was put together by some drunk guy in Kentucky.

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Dodge up until the past couple years had been spending very little on R&D. They've just been trying to survive since the bailout. As such, a lot of their platforms and technology is out of date, and from what I understand that's definitely the case with the Viper. It's basically a 10 year old car at this point. And it wasn't exactly bleeding edge 10 years ago, either.

I think Vipers look cool though

Eomer_sl said:

Dodge up until the past couple years had been spending very little on R&D. They've just been trying to survive since the bailout. As such, a lot of their platforms and technology is out of date, and from what I understand that's definitely the case with the Viper. It's basically a 10 year old car at this point. And it wasn't exactly bleeding edge 10 years ago, either.

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FCA is pumping most of their available cash to Fiat. They're not doing much of anything to update their US brands.

Burnesto_sl said:

FCA is pumping most of their available cash to Fiat. They're not doing much of anything to update their US brands.

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I wish Tesla would get a hold of Jeep. An torquey electric Wrangler just makes too much sense to ever happen.

I have no doubt that eventually several lines of vehicles from the big manufacturers will offer a full electric setup with optional backup/hybrid gas generator. I think you may be looking at 5-15 years for further battery technology to decrease the cost of modifying a chassis design to accept a battery pack, though. There are plenty of vehicles that can be converted but most seem to have terrible CG or fire safety because they cram LiPo batteries in every little crevice in a frame.

Whenever that gigafactory gets done prob?

Cad_sl said:

Are you talking about any current EV's made by manufacturers or are you talking about cars that are converted aftermarket?

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As I said the conversions. Most of the current gen electric cars have their huge heavy battery packs down low to help CG, a lot of conversions just put them in the trunk or replace a back seat or something so it can hurt handling a lot.