Any way you could put a down payment of $4,400 and afford a $315 car payment? Here's what I came up with on penfed.org (I've never heard of anyone getting denied or higher than the advertised rate, which is 4.25%).

 

Yes and Yes!! Thanks. And this is a good place for a loan?

 

A TON of people on here use them. I am going to be doing the same in a week or so. This will up your monthly payment a bit, but seems like it will save you a bunch of money in the long run. I too was going to lease at first until I really sat there and started to think about it.

 

How does it work exactly? timing wise, because I read a little of people needing include the vin number etc.

Do I order the car and then get the loan via penfed or do I get the loan for the 20000 and then walk into the MINI dealer?

 

Keep in mind, I believe all you pay when you order is the deposit. Usually between $500 & $1,000. When you car arrives, you goto the dealer with your down payment and your check.

In your case, if your deposit is $500, when you pick up your car (assuming you apply the $500 deposit towards your down payment) you will bring $3,900 & your $20,000 check. Of course, on top of that you will have dealer fees, etc. Ask your dealer exactly what they will charge for that. Better yet, when you order, make sure you find out exactly how much everything will be so you are prepared.

So:
$500(deposit) + $3,900(down payment) = $4,400 down payment.
$20,000 check from PenFed.
$?? for dealer fees, etc.

 

Thanks for all your help, I really appreciate it! Any idea what the dealer fees are approximately?

 

You're very welcome! The dealer I will be ordering from charges $599.95. I am not sure if that is cheaper or more expensive than other dealerships. I do know that I will get free floormats though! Yay! :sarcasm:

 

Ok, last question, for now.

I guess my concern now would be to order the car and then apply for the loan and then get denied and then be up the creek. It also sounds like they send the check right away(within a week). Do they actually need the vin number when applying or can I apply w/o it.

I guess if worse came to worse, I could get my folks to co sign with me if I get denied, but in that case, how does that work, can that still be applied for over the internet?

 

I think the checks are valid for 90 days. I honestly do not know if they need the VIN considering I have not applied myself yet! I am sure, like any loan, you can use a co-signer!

 

PenFed isn't going to deny you unless you've got an idiot's credit history, and that doesn't seem to be the case. They sent my check to me in 4 days (and that includes a delay for me to get them my latest paystub which they for some reason wanted...). They don't have to have the VIN, but the process is far easier if you wait to apply when you get it out of the Owner's Lounge (you'll have minimum two weeks notice). Not having the VIN or a final amount you want to finance has lead to some MINI dealers holding the car until the financing check clears. After waiting 6 weeks and knowing your car is in the lot, this is the last thing you will want to have happen!
90 Days is correct.

 

Zonedguy, i am going to call these penfed ppl, but this just sounds to good to be true. I know i will get more info when i call but i wanted to ask a quick question as you are the customer to these ppl. So you pay these low low payments every month towards your car, and your buying the car not leasing it, right? After the months that you have specified for your loan, do have a balloon payment? So lets say at the end of 60 months you have to drop 15k, thats the impression im getting.

 

Balloon payment is only for MINI Select.

This is a separate care loan. car costs 25k, you pay 25k over the number of specified months plus interest

 

Hunsingeruk is correct. This is a normal car financing loan. As far as the MINI dealer was concerned, I paid cash.

I am paying PenFed 72 installments on the $26,000 I financed with them + interest. My final payment is actually the smallest payment of them all. At the end of 72 months, I will own the car.

Yes I know it seems to good to be true, but it is legitimate. You'll find a large number of people from NAM finance with PenFed because its just so good. My MA wanted to talk about financing, I said beat 4.25 and he said, "ya, no way I can, you should go with that one!"

The process is a bit out of the ordinary (yet entirely painless) with the signing up and "donation" part but their customer service is rock solid.

 

Hmm so how much is your payment if you dont mind me asking??

 

$400

 

I still need tocall. But this means i might get my a little sooner.....


So is there anything wrong with penfed. Like a negative side, or a catch to the agreement. (im not trying to be negative this just sounds really to good to be true)

 

I'm not an expert but it is my understanding that credit requirements for leases are generally much tighter than for financing, after you are only paying on the depreciation (plus interest) which means the lender (Leasor?) wants to make extra sure they do get their money.

Given the low depreciation of MINIs and how easy they are to resell, I'd run the numbers both ways to see how you come out cheaper.

If you are leasing in order to be able to afford the payment, you are leasing for the wrong reason IMHO.

Analogeezer

 

PenFed is totally legit, I have googled them and only found favorable reviews. We are using them too, just opened my savings account last week, will apply for the car loan in a few wks, with the VIN. I also asked my military family members and they had both heard of PenFed.

 

You can do the whole thing online and while a few of their questions had me boggled, I too just have to fax them my paycheck stub and I will be done. My credit score is almost perfect but they still want to verify my income. The only question I have is when I put in my vehicle information Penfed was saying my car's total value us less them what I'm paying...which is MSRP. they didn't add a lot of options I have, does this make a difference?

It is good to know this is totally legit. My MA asked what my rate was going to be when I sent him an email asking what my final cost would be and I never heard back from him. I guess they can't match that

 

If you have a VIR that shows your options and total cost, how can Penfed dispute the MSRP?

 

I put in my VIN when applying so I'm not sure why their value is less. Maybe I should call them? I will wait until next week when I fax in my paycheck stubs and see what the deal is.

 

Your VIN only conveys so much information about your car, it certainly cannot match up to the 1000s of MINI options. As long as the value they come up with is remotely close, I wouldn't sweat it at all. They use this value to get a rough estimate on how much of the car you are looking to finance. In most banks, that ratio would be used to determine how much of a risk you'd be (you've probably heard that you should put down at least 10% to get a good rate...) and your rate would be reflective of that ratio. At PenFed, the rate is the same so it doesn't truly matter that much.

Mine came up about $4,000 short of its true value and they didn't bat an eye at approving me (I did it over the phone). The only reason the value of the car is important is when you don't necessarily know what your final value is going to be when you apply. Some NAMers have made last minute dealer installs or decided they were going to seriously look into extended warranties and all the other "protections" they offer you when you take delivery. In that case they've requested blank checks from PenFed (which require additional approvals). It is the blank checks that have sometimes caused delays while waiting for the checks to clear.

 

Ok sorry to bring this up again, but when i go on penfed.org to the monthly payment calc, it says in the first column monthly payment, but in the second it says final payment which on mine was 10k. So after 60 months am i going to owe them a payment of 10k??

 

Ok thanks! Good to know.

 

You are doing it wrong. You are using the Payment Saver: New & Used calculator. You should be using the New Auto Loan calculator.