GON
$150 Site Donor 2025
Yes, Lasher. The purchase was from 2018, so I guess before the buyout. The Daughter was the owner of the Elk Grove store.
Another story that validates never to finance with the f and I guy at the car dealership
- Thread starter GON
- Start date
I know it's not available now, but at 0.9%, there was no real downside to purchasing the Tundra or RX 350 on credit. That's a combined $100K that did go into my retirement accounts for which I will pay about $2200 in combined interest.
Jackson_Slugger
$50 Site Donor 2022
I think leasing may be pretty close to that. But it's a tool that has to be used correctly.
You don't look at your budget and determine "I can afford $800 a month in a car payment" and then go and see what you can lease for $800 /month.
Instead, you run numbers and determine that leasing a Nissan with one of their crazy lease deals will put you ahead of depreciation and repairs (used vehicle) / depreciation (on a new vehicle). Instead of leasing a Lexus RX you make the smarter choice and lease a cheap Nissan Kicks base model.
All debt is the same. If you can either pay cash for a car, or take 1.9% on the car and put that cash towards your mortgage, or a CD that pays 2.9% - then its strategic.
I usually don't bother trying to squeeze 1% somewhere just because there are easier ways to make / save money. But its sound math.
It must be better here in IA. I’ve become friends with a couple sales people I’ve worked with. They took good care of me! One of the guys was really busy when I was buying and just told the guy behind the counter to give me the keys to any car I wanted for test drives. That was cool.
But….I was paying cash for both those cars from those sales people.
I always get a kick out these stories on "how I beat the dealer". The best, most successful auto dealers let the buyer "think" they got a great deal while still earning a good profit. Dealers sell cars everyday to people in every imaginable situation.
So Steve Lehto must read GON's posts - because he covers this exact story. If you want the ins and outs from an attorney that has tried these cases Mr. Lehto is apparently a attorney in Michigan and has a huge following on youtube.
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I have done business with the same salesperson for 30 yrs (minus the 2 I bought when my son sold cars for 3 yrs)
Its all about being an informed consumer, they are the F&I persons worst enemy. The same thing with RV's. I typically have my financing researched before I step foot in the dealer. Sometimes they have found a better rate (only happened a couple of times) but I always let them take a shot at it. Your best defense is the ability to say NO and mean it. When my salesperson takes me back to the business office he always tells them that I wont be buying any add ons, we do the dance, I say NO and I leave with my new truck. Somehow I survive without paint protection, gap insurance, Scotchguard on the seats, wheel and tire insurance, rustproofing, extended warranty and on and on.
Its all about being an informed consumer, they are the F&I persons worst enemy. The same thing with RV's. I typically have my financing researched before I step foot in the dealer. Sometimes they have found a better rate (only happened a couple of times) but I always let them take a shot at it. Your best defense is the ability to say NO and mean it. When my salesperson takes me back to the business office he always tells them that I wont be buying any add ons, we do the dance, I say NO and I leave with my new truck. Somehow I survive without paint protection, gap insurance, Scotchguard on the seats, wheel and tire insurance, rustproofing, extended warranty and on and on.
Over the last year, Ive broken even, and had fun. That said, leveraging debt for a car vs paying, allows liquidity for all manner of things, and if you cant pull 10% per year over 72mo on the market, you shouldn't be trading.
The best rate my dealer could find was through a credit union because the promotional CPO rates offered by Mercedes-Benz Financial Services did not apply to AMG vehicles.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
This is exactly how it played out when I purchased my 2022 Nissan Frontier in Oct 2022. I went in with my employer's CU rate which beat all they had to offer. When it was down to me bringing in my own financing with this CU, their F&I came back the next day with a lower rate I accepted through a local bank w/ about 5 branches.
The whole extended warranty (and add-ons) sales pitch is a powerful thing. They'll do all they can to try to increase the final dollar amount you finance. They don't want you coming in with outside financing and a check that's all said and done for X amount before they hit you with the sales pitch.
There was a guy named Bruce Williams that used to have a newspaper column and radio show. I remember him talking about the difference between an amateur and a professional. An amateur with $100,000 spends $100,000 to buy one rental building. A professional borrows another $300,000 and puts 25% down on four rental buildings. That model makes sense, but it doesn’t work for a person buying a single car for personal use.
Funny, I did kinda the opposite with my RAM.
Chrysler was running 1500 cash back if you financed through them.
First logical question: how much do you need to finance? Got 3 different answers, went with what the finance manger said: $8K (IIRC).
Second logical question: is there a minimum time to keep the account open? Again, 3 different answers, went with what the finance manager said: no.
Dealt with the F&I guy's schpeel when picking up the truck. This protection package, that warranty packaged. "no....no.....no....no thanks".
Handed him a check for the final price minus the 8K Id be financing
"sorry sir, you cant have 2 loans on the same vehicle"
"uhh, look at it, its a cashiers check from my credit union"
Needless to say, they weren't thrilled that I didn't finance 100% through them. Why didn't I? Because with my credit score of 800+, they "did me a favor" and got me 5% APR. They should know where they can go with that offer.
And icing on the cake, I paid the "loan" off after 1 month, later to find out that the dealers (supposedly) lose part of the $$$ that was kicked back to me if I dont keep the loan open for at least 6 months.
And the salesman was perplexed why I wasn't jumping for joy when I went to pick up the truck. After all the back and forth BS they gave me on the price of the truck, I just knew they had more BS left in them.
Chrysler was running 1500 cash back if you financed through them.
First logical question: how much do you need to finance? Got 3 different answers, went with what the finance manger said: $8K (IIRC).
Second logical question: is there a minimum time to keep the account open? Again, 3 different answers, went with what the finance manager said: no.
Dealt with the F&I guy's schpeel when picking up the truck. This protection package, that warranty packaged. "no....no.....no....no thanks".
Handed him a check for the final price minus the 8K Id be financing
"sorry sir, you cant have 2 loans on the same vehicle"
"uhh, look at it, its a cashiers check from my credit union"
Needless to say, they weren't thrilled that I didn't finance 100% through them. Why didn't I? Because with my credit score of 800+, they "did me a favor" and got me 5% APR. They should know where they can go with that offer.
And icing on the cake, I paid the "loan" off after 1 month, later to find out that the dealers (supposedly) lose part of the $$$ that was kicked back to me if I dont keep the loan open for at least 6 months.
And the salesman was perplexed why I wasn't jumping for joy when I went to pick up the truck. After all the back and forth BS they gave me on the price of the truck, I just knew they had more BS left in them.
Usually you need to keep the loan provided by the dealer three months for them to get money for generating the loan. If a dealer treats me right- as in my last purchase, I don't have an issue keeping the loan three months. It's usually not a substantial difference to do so.
And I was fully planning on keeping the loan outstanding for a bit, but they didn't treat me right, IMHO.
I dread buying vehicles and still can't understand why dealers think we're all too dumb to do our own research beforehand.
I am perfectly willing to give a little on my target price if I am not faced with "four square", "I can't lose money on this one!", "only available right now" BS.
Manufacturers do 0% financing from time to time. I hit one of those times with a nationwide 0% financing offer for folks with good credit.
Wagoneers are pretty difficult to find, or were when I got mine. I don't know how they decide when to run financing specials. It was a demo that I got about $6500 off sticker.
Would a higher interest rate impact the depreciation? You seem strange.
With tier one credit and knowing the dealers tricks like packing deals, or trying to push a warranty in order to get a certain rate people can occasionally finance with a dealer, and save money. I've done it, saved money and it went w/o a hitch, no extended warranty or any other after sale garbage. In fact is was easy after establishing I knew their tricks and had tier one credit. As always if you're not happy with the deal or the rate, get up and walk out.
This. It just requires a little will power to not be taken in by their marketing, and a little leg work to read the fine print.
My wife was with me when I picked up the RAM I referred to before, and when we left she said she couldn't believe I looked right at the finance guy and said "I will say no to everything you are about to offer" lol
That's how you do it. I was transparent, I told the sales manager, after the deal was cut, not before, that I knew the tricks and was taking the vehicle only. I said tell the finance guy not to waste his time, then when I sat down with the finance guy I reminded him. He was not a happy camper, and quite frankly I didn't give a ****.
