Okay so ford has 2.9 % for 60 months on f150'a and 4.9 for 72 months. How do I know if I quallify for these rates? Go on the word of the finance guy @ the dealership? Couldnt he just lie and say "oops, you didnt qualify for the 2.9 but we got you approved @ 6%." How do i know if they're telling the truth? Is there a way to independantly apply to ford moco ? I just dont trust salesmen or finance guys.

Thanks

 

Would be pull your credit report online, know what your score is, then apply for a loan outside of the dealership and see what's the best you can get on your own. Then walk into the dealership and tell them you' may finance depending on what rate they can give, but you're not sure yet and before you discuss financing with them, you want to know what your best price is. Then once you have your best price, whip out your blank check and tell them if they can't beat the rate you already have the outside creditor get your finance business.

 

Like eharri3 stated you need to know what your credit is like and most important you need to know your credit score. I believe you have to have a score of at least 720 to 750 (scores range from 350 - 850) to qualify for the best loan rates, or what Ford calls tier 0 or 1.

TransUnion
Equifax
Experian

Those are the three major ones, really the only ones that Ford and any other lender go by. You can go to one and buy all 3 credit reports and scores but I highly recommend you get each separate one at the respected site. They cost the same which I believe is $14.95 that shows your credit and provides you a score.

They usually provide a simulator where you can try a few things to see how it would affect your score such as paying down credit cards etc.

That will provide the biggest gain in your score is to have credit cards paid down. If you combined credit card debt is over 45% of your overall credit card limits (i.e. credit card limit = $1,000 and you have a balance of $500) then you have 50% debt and that starts affecting your score as in bringing it down.

If you haven’t looked at your credit for a while you could be in for a surprise that there may be information that is NOT correct and that too could be affecting your score.

Trust me, I know this well because it took me approx. 2 – 3 months to get my credit back in order after someone (ex-wife & her husband) refinanced their home and moved bad credit debt to my report (Yes it’s easy to do that, they did it, and I fixed it…)

Also know that your dealer can really screw you on interest if you don’t know your real credit situation. They play a game now, Ford and all the big ones do. They approve you but they do NOT tell you the interest rate your approved at the dealer can set the interest any where they wish if they THINK they can pull one on you, such as ”Well your credit is not great but we can get you 7%” when in fact Ford may have approved it at 4%.

Ford and other manufactures approve you for a “tier” for example a tier 1 might be 2% - 4%, but the dealer can TRY and charge you 6%.

Have no fear because 01 is here and giving you advice. Spend the $45 for all three credit reports and see what your scores are. You could have 2 that have scores of 750 points, and one with some bad errors in it giving you a score of 600 points. If you dealer and local Ford finance office happen to pull the bad one of 600 points you are in for high interest rates.

That is why it is very important to know where you stand on your credit scores. You can also get financed secured online as well such as:

On-line Auto Loan

You could try an on-line one and get pre-approved with a set rate. You do NOT have to use it and can still shop around. If the dealer can’t match it then simple use it, if the dealer does better then don’t used the pre-approved one. You are not liable to pay on the pre-approved loan unless you use their check.

Another option is you go to the dealer, try to get the best deal and if you don’t feel like you got the best deal simple “re-finance” your auto loan with a on-line one as above. That is what I did, I refinanced mine after just one payment and it saved me $120 a month over Ford…

Well, that’s all for this mini-novel, hoped it helped some. If you have any other questions I can try and help but do know I am NOT a professional finance person, just simple another on-line person giving my opinion so take it for what its worth…

EDIT: added this site below, this is a good site with some good information as well… Car Buying Tips

 

ccla,
You can appline online at Ford Credit, if you have a pretty good idea of all the #s for what you want to buy (especially the amount financed and term you need). If I remember correctly, it will fill in the low APR rate (where available) based on the model and contract term selected. After you submit the online application, you can come back later to find out if you've been approved, or if you need to try to work out different terms with the dealer for them to resubmit. If you get the approval, you should be good to go, as long as you're really financing the amount and term you enter on the online application. It's worth a try. BTW - Ford Credit is not a direct lender, so all financing and negotiating of the deal and contract terms must be done through the dealer.
As 01 XLT Sport explained, the dealers make just a little bit money on the low APR rates, but they have the [i]opportunity[i] to make more money on the standard APR rates by having you finance at a rate higher than the bank's "discount" rate. (They can't bump the special low APR rates when they are being used).

01 XLT sport,
You've learned a lot about the car finance and credit side of things. I'm impressed

John

 

Thanks JohnAndDar…

Well, I have to respectfully disagree with you about the Ford on-line financing and them telling you what interest rate you’re qualified for. Perhaps it was like that a while back but not any more.

They will pre-qualify you “but” will refer you to your local dealer to work out the terms. They, Ford, won’t even tell you what tier you’re qualified for.

I tried the on-line to get information and that was no good so I called Ford Finance directly and was told they could “not” provide me any information about the loan except if I was qualified or not, but could not verify what tier or what interest rate.

They did tell me that each tier has a particular interest rate, like a min. and max. however from more probing I learned that regardless what the min. and max. is the dealer could still charge what ever they felt they could get.

The only thing the dealer can “not” do is go below the min. interest in the tier you qualify for “unless” the dealer kisses the loan (basically like co-signing the loan)

This new dealer incentive has been around for just a bit its another avenue for the dealer to make a “little” profit among other add-on’s if they wish.

Another very “highly” recommended suggestion from me is do NOT buy the Ford extended warranty from the dealer UNTIL you have checked out the price on Fords own extended warranty web-site. Dealer could do you a good deal or take you for a BIG ride.

Here is the Ford Extended Warranty web-site…

Ford Warrantys

 

You are correct...I wasn't precisely clear. When I said "low APR", I meant the Special low APR rates you see advertised (.9%, etc.) if available for the vehicle selected. If there is a "special low APR" rate for the vehicle you are looking to finance, you can always plug in that rate to get a payment calculated based on that (plus the amount financed and term that you enter). Then you'll at least see whether Ford Credit approves a loan based on those specific terms. There are disclaimers that explain the actual price, rate, and terms have to be worked out with the dealer.

The bottom line is that you need to know what Special low APR offers are available in your area (which is available through the Ford Credit site) as well as whether you have any derogatory credit in your credit report. As 01 XLT Sport has said, knowledge is a necessary tool to keep from getting "handled" throughout the car buying process.

John