MWG2

Sorry you took offense, but my experience in purchasing cars (stated in 1971) has taught me that dealers won't help the young lady looking for loan relief; she must go to the organization the owns the note and seek relief there. THAT was my point. The dealers sell cars; the banks make loans. She needs to interface with the bank, not the dealer. The dealer is now out of the picture and has no vested interest in her financial arrangement with the bank. Hence, dealers sell cars, banks finance cars. Her issue is with the bank, NOT the dealer. Hope that clears up my statement about dealers. Sorry if it offended you.

Peace,

MWG2

chingchonger

Buying cars over 10 years ago is totally different then buying today. I understand that many people have had bad buying experiences, but times have changed. I have sold hundreds of cars and have a extremely high satisfaction record according to the Chevrolet Purchase Survey that is mailed to every customer. There are many shady people in the auto sales industry, but that's not to say there are still some good and professional sales people like me. There are tons of people out there that will try to cheat you, it's not just the car industry. I would reserve stereotyping for jokes.

k9t8m's friend cannot afford her current vehicle and needs a way out. She needs to live within her means so that could mean selling her vehicle for something less expensive. They have tried refinancing, but failed. The car books for $14K, but the dealership is only offering $12K. I suggest finding a dealership that will offer more. Dealerships offer you the convenience of finding a bank for you. It may cost you more, but you can't blame a dealership for making a buck while offering you these services. It's a business not a charity. It may be worth it for you to stick with a dealership rather then researching tons of different banks. It could be overwhelming.

11.9% is rather high, but keep in mind that it's dependent on the buyer. Try a bank other than the one she's already financed through. Not all banks are the same. Try going 72 or 84 months with a co-signer.

If her rate is 11.9% and I'm assuming she has 55 payments left, her monthly payment is roughly $405/month.

Here are the refinance figures for $17K

84 months at 13.99% = $321/month
84 months at 12.99% = $311/month
84 months at 11.99% = $302/month
72 months at 13.99% = $353/month
72 months at 12.99% = $343/month
72 months at 11.99% = $334/month

These are just rough numbers, but fairly close.

Snoopy

My daughter, who is associated with the management team of a very large chain of credit unions in this area, suggests .......

you might also try a credit union...you need to join to get the loan.

GENERALLY, they are more considerate and have better rates.

badandy519

Slightly off topic... BUT

No offense ching, but I am not going to rubber stamp a 100% approval rating and mail it back to GM just because my salesperson basically begged for it (twice) while taking delivery and then personally mailed it to me three times after.

Those things are a frigging joke, just like 99% of polls/ surveys that companies give and take. They tend to word generalized questions to where you lean towards giving a higher grade and don't really leave you much room to give input on what might have made your buying experience better.

Overall, sparing the details, I would consider my satisfaction with my purchase at 100%. I knew what I was getting into when I went to the dealer. I understood my financial position and what I wanted my payment to be, etc etc and ultimately ended up getting the vehicle I wanted at a fair price.

BUT after telling the sales person and the finance manager to go fly a kite (before even setting foot in the dealership) with the extended warranties and gap insurance and all the other garbage they try to sell, they still tried several times to sneak things in or sell me things that I stated that I WOULD NOT PURCHASE beforehand. I would put my overall experience at a "C," so I am not going to just mail in something that benefits my salesperson, although I'm sure many people do, once they get put in a new car.

It's funny they don't mail those surveys out one year after purchase, instead of the day of the sale while some (not all) of the buyers are still on the "high" of getting something new....

MWG2

YES! When you join a credit union, you are a MEMBER, not a customer. I have been a member of the Navy Federal Credit Union for over 20 years. They will refinance your loan as low as 5.5%. That equals $19 per month per $1,000 borrowed on a 60 month loan. Their 5.5% rate is for loans 37 to 72 months. So for example if you borrow $11,000 for 60 months, your monthly car payment will be around $210 per month.

If you aren't eligible to join the Navy Fed Credit Union, look around for other Credit Unions in the area. Snoopy is correct, they do have better loan rates.

MWG2

That is wonderful! Again, I was not implying that dealers are "shady" in my original post when I wrote "Dealers just want to sell you another car", I was pointing out that her problem/issue needs to be addressed with the financial institution, not the dealer.

I agree with you that there are good, honest auto sales people out there. I have been dealing with one for the last 8 years. I call him, tell him what I want, he comes back with a price. He knows I am a member of a credit union and he tells me if the rate at the credit union is better than his (manfuacturer's) rate. Since I lease my vehicles, sometimes Honda has a better deal than the credit union because Honda Finance has a much higher residual value. It's all timing. Last march, my two sons and I all leased new Hondas. Three cars in one day. (Happy sales person!) The Honda lease deal at the time was better than the Credit Union lease by $28 a month (it's usually the other way around because you pay NO monthly tax with a Navy Federal Credit Union Lease.)

The original thread was seeking advice on the friend's current loan. There is come excellent advice here. I come back here every day now and have yet to see a response to all the advice from the person that posted the original post.

Did we overwhelm him?

Here is STRONG advice to anyone financing a car, especially your first vehicle:

One of the most important elements of buying / leasing a car is to look at the monthly payment first and then decide what car you can afford. As I have taught all five of my children, FIRST determine what you can afford in a monthly payment, THEN and only THEN determine how much car that you can truly afford. And always remember to factor into the monthly INSURANCE cost to determine the true monthly payment. In fact, I sit down with them (when they buy or lease their first car) and build a spreadsheet addressing everything included with owning a car, outlining the TURE Total Cost of Ownership. This includes: Car Payment, Insurance Payment, estimated monthly fuel expenditure, projected routine maintenance costs, and reserve for unexpected repairs (most important when purchasing a used car). To this day, my children continue to thank me for teaching them this exercise.

Peace,

MWG2

karen1953

If you go to a Credit Union or anywhere, the Credit report is the main thing, then how much the Credit Union values of the HHR, then you still might have to put more money down.
Then they will factor in how she makes, plus all of her other bills.
My Credit Union is running a special of 5% for refinancing at this time, but it depends on all of the above. I have a friend who went there, and applied for that special, he came out with 10% for 7 years at 291.89 a month. (he owed 24,999 on his truck.)
Best thing to do is call around with all of the monies ready for discussion.
Don't forget the more inquires on your Credit Report th more strikes/hits go on it.

Good Luck!

k9t8m

The car is actually financed through a credit union already.

What we wanted to do was to take out a 72mo loan to pay off the remaining 54mo on our current loan, but this time have a cosigner. This would cut the payment down in half. The problems is the several banks we have been to already told us that they will only loan $14k out on the HHR, and she still owes $17k. If she had the difference in cash we wouldn't be in the situation in the first place, so I still dont know what she is going to do. I am trying to get her to meet with a financial or credit adviser and see what they think she should do.

The bad part is i was going to try and help her out with her payments, but i know once i start making payments, most likely i will be the one making payments for the next 54mo.

chingchonger

In regards to the Chevrolet Purchase and Delivery Survey; they are not mailed by us; they are not mailed the day of the sale; they don't gerneralize questions; they don't mail out the surveys after one year of purchase, because most people won't remember much of the details that happend during the purchase of their vehicle.

Of the people that say 99% of surveys and polls are jokes, 100% of those people are wrong.

Snoopy

You're probably making statements to correlate with your dealership's policies. But, if you search back on this forum and others, you will read some things that will make your teeth grind.....i.e.,.....

New HHR owners who would get a free tank of gas IF they let their sales person fill out the survey, for example.

If the new owner returned the survey to their sales person WITH ALL "atta-boys" a free tank of gas would be awarded.

Some people commented that they never received a survey, probably because they experienced so much "BS" during the sale and delivery, and made it known at that time.

But, I'm glad you and your dealership have some integrity. Again, many do not. Several years ago the largest second area of complaint with the AZ Attorney Generals office was auto dealership sales....right behind roof repairs.

Oh, I do agree with you on the erroneous statement regarding surveys. But, I will say all surveys are not absolute. Ask the Ohio and National Democratic Party, whose pollsters cost them the national and local election.

And again, I noticed we are way off topic from this threads original intent. Sorry, I just read the last several posts and didn't realize the high-jacking already occurred.