Quote:

Kari~
If you finance another car, don't go through the dealership. Talk to a bank or better yet a credit union first. Credit unions are alot easier to work with and almost always will have your best interest in mind first.

Find a vehicle you like, can afford, best suits your needs and not wants and then take that information to the bank/credit union.

Going through your own financial institution first will get you a better deal all around.

Good luck

Mike



That works for some people, but not usually younger people without extensive (10 years) banking history.

On my Mazda6, My bank (WellsFargo) offered 13%, my employee credit union offered 7%, and Mazda offered 3%. And it wasn't a special deal rate either.

The loan officer at my bank just flat out told me that they'd never be able to get anywhere near the rate offered by a dealership on a car. The dealership has a vested interest in moving that car off the lot and will offer whatever it takes -- a bank is the one taking the risk and wants to cover themselves.

With a horrible market for both new and used cars loan rates have plummetted into the range of 0-4% for new cars and 4-6% for used cars. At best a really good credit union might knock off 1% on a used car, but there's just no competing with the new car rates.

2003 Mazda6s 3.0L MTX Webpage 2004 Mazda3s 2.3L ATX