auto loans - suggested places?

[fiznat]

Hey everyone,

I'm STILL looking for my 240, after about 7 months now..

well, that's not exactly true. I've found probably about 5 good deals by now, and I've had to let most of them pass simply because I cant find a good place to get a loan from to buy the car. Here's my problem:

-I'm in school right now (college, I'm 20 years old), and I only work part time/couple hours a week so I can hold down phone bills and whatnot... I make MUCH more money during the summer as an EMT (about $1500-$1700 a month compared to like $200 a month now), but loan officers wont count that as part of my income since technically I'm not working for them right now.

-Most loan places wont give me a loan for the low amount that I need. I only need about $2500 or $3000. A lot of the online places I've seen start their loans at almost $8000.

-Alot of places also wont give you financing if you're buying an older car (older than 95, usually), or one with over 100,000 miles on it.

I'm hoping someone can give me some info on maybe a place that they've found that is good for giving the kinds of loans I need, or maybe some alternative solutions to my problem. I dont care too much about interest rates because I just plan to pay the whole loan off over the summer with my first few paychecks. As long as I dont get swamped with early payoff fees or other fine print type dealies, the loan terms are pretty much flexible with me.

I've heard some people suggest getting a credit card and getting some sort of advance on it, but that sounds sorta shady to me- and I dont know if I have enough credit to get a limit high enough to buy a s13... Anyone have any experience with this?

Nooow I know what you're gonna say. "Why dont you just wait till summer and save up then, instead of getting a loan." Thing is, I cant. I need a car to get to work in, and the car that I used last summer was given to someone else. Somebody out there must have some good information, or a loan hook-up of some sort. Watcha guys got??

[Phax]

For my most recent loan, I went with Discover and got 5.9% on $3000. Before that, I got a $4000 loan from Wells Fargo and paid some stupidly insane amount like ~13.9%. Of course, that Wells Fargo loan was also back in 99-2000 when rates were a lot higher.

Getting cash advances on credit cards is a really bad idea. Most credit card companies charge over 20% on cash advances.

You happen to be in the position of having a job that pays pretty well. That will allow you to pay much more than the minimum, and get out from beneath the loan (and on to modding your car) more quickly.

[Repo Man]

As far as an actual car loan on a typical s13, you may be out of luck unless you go to a credit union. They are sometimes more lenient on the year of car you finance. I financed a 1986 Buick T-Type in 1996 through my credit union. Rate was 7.5%.

You may also go with a personal loan for 2-3k. Another option that I don't recommend is a BHPH, or buy-here-pay-here. They suck and will call you if you're so much as a day late. Repo at ten days late. Crazy.

[fiznat]

hm, I hadnt considered personal loans. up till now I've been looking at specifically auto loans which, as repo said, are pretty much impossible.

I'm gonna have to look further into this, thanks for the info so far-- I'll post questions if I have any... might be a good resource later for people looking to get loans...

[Phax]

Good luck with your search. If you've never had a loan before, don't look for more than $3-4000 and expect a good rate. When you're talking to your lender, keep in mind that they're not so much interested in how quickly you can pay it off... but focus more on whether or not you will pay it off over time. The longer you differ payment, the more they make. So don't be too forth coming about how much you're gonna make as an EMT, and how you're gonna pay it off super quickly. =)

[encasemyheart]

peoplefirst.com

They will give you an online calculator to see how much everything will be, plus they will finance anything. It's just a higher rate if it's older or if you want to draw payments out to like 60 months. I haven't personally used them but have heard many good things.

[Bubba1]

How about the National Bank of Mom/Dad? is that an option?Do not even think about a car purchase on a credit card. Bad idea.

[fiznat]

national bank of Mom/Dad is not an option. I take care of my finances for everything else, I would never even consider asking them for that kinda money. ...and heh nor would they consider giving it to me.

peoplefirst was one of the places that I looked at before. They've got a $7500 minimum on auto loans

I also looked at the application for the Discover personal loan, and I even applied, but I saw something about a minimum $15,000 annual salary... which I DONT have... heh so we'll see what happens.

Thanks for the info so far guys, keep it comin!

[encasemyheart]

How abnout the bank of patience and working hard for cash to buy the car outright? $4000 isn't too much if you don't have a carnote/rent to pay monthly...

[fiznat]

how about the bank of reading the friggin thread before you post about it. I know it was long, but it wasnt THAT long.

IE:

Nooow I know what you're gonna say. "Why dont you just wait till summer and save up then, instead of getting a loan." Thing is, I cant. I need a car to get to work in, and the car that I used last summer was given to someone else.

EDIT: alright sorry if that sounded harsh, but comeon man- I need useful info, not suggestions that are obviously (to whoever read the ENTIRE post) not an option.

[Bubba1]

Fiz, how are you getting around now?

[fiznat]

well I'm at school in boston so I just take the T (boston's subway)... I really dont need a car up here, just when I'm home...