Financing thru Dealer or Privately

[vibrato]

Hello All:

I'm close to receiving notice that my smart passion will soon be at my dealer. I'm a recent joiner of this web site and have followed a thread re various Dealer Documentation fees etc. That is a long and powerful thread re certain outrageous and unnecessary fees charged by dealers nationwide.
However we all seem impaled and without resource to fight these fees. I guess, if you want a smart car, you're gonna be disgruntled, but YOU WILL PAY the doc fees, or whatever the dealer will impose upon you to take possession and delivery of your smart car; Or you will leave your smart an Orphan!

To that point, if you are financing your smart through the dealer, you have another weapon to wield. To wit: Strenghten your purchasing contract by telling the dealer you will let them finance the car but you want the doc fees reduced by say 50%, or more if you're a good negotiator!

Car Dealers get financial compensation/renumeration from banks and other lenders for all financing contracts they push through their dealership. This point of fact give you another weapon. Tell them.....Hey, c'mon, I'm buying your smart car.....paying undisclosed fees......I'll finance with you but I want a rebate or financial consideration for your doc fees....Otherwise I'll provide my own financing. (assuming you've got good credit)!

I'll bet you a latte you will get some (a lot) of respect and maybe an outside shot at getting a reduction in doc fees. Hope it works for you!!..Best of Luck to all. Let me know what you think and if you try this negotiation.
Evelyne (res 1182)...and still waiting!!

[4-2NV]

Originally Posted by vibrato

Hello All:

I'm close to receiving notice that my smart passion will soon be at my dealer. I'm a recent joiner of this web site and have followed a thread re various Dealer Documentation fees etc. That is a long and powerful thread re certain outrageous and unnecessary fees charged by dealers nationwide.
However we all seem impaled and without resource to fight these fees. I guess, if you want a smart car, you're gonna be disgruntled, but YOU WILL PAY the doc fees, or whatever the dealer will impose upon you to take possession and delivery of your smart car; Or you will leave your smart an Orphan!

To that point, if you are financing your smart through the dealer, you have another weapon to wield. To wit: Strenghten your purchasing contract by telling the dealer you will let them finance the car but you want the doc fees reduced by say 50%, or more if you're a good negotiator!

Car Dealers get financial compensation/renumeration from banks and other lenders for all financing contracts they push through their dealership. This point of fact give you another weapon. Tell them.....Hey, c'mon, I'm buying your smart car.....paying undisclosed fees......I'll finance with you but I want a rebate or financial consideration for your doc fees....Otherwise I'll provide my own financing. (assuming you've got good credit)!

I'll bet you a latte you will get some (a lot) of respect and maybe an outside shot at getting a reduction in doc fees. Hope it works for you!!..Best of Luck to all. Let me know what you think and if you try this negotiation.
Evelyne (res 1182)...and still waiting!!

I did and with M-B financing at 5.25% 60 months sign and drive I got them to throw in a $200 discount on the tire and wheel warranty. So yeah, they make money on financing and have room to give you something if you finance through them.

[jwight]

60 months at 5.25% and they handed back $200? I'm guessing they made out on that deal.

[radaroriley]

When my husband purchased his last vehicle, the dealer insisted that they finance the car. We said no problem. Got the deal we wanted, with discounts ect, they got the financing. Then 60 days later we re-financed through our credit union. We got the best of both. First the deal with the dealership and then much better term, interest with the credit union. Our credit union still considered it a new car.

Will probably try it again with the smart.

Reserved in Sept 2007 and still waiting to configure.

[4-2NV]

Originally Posted by jwight

60 months at 5.25% and they handed back $200? I'm guessing they made out on that deal.

and I will be paying it off in 3

[Amethyste]

Hmmm Keith,
I need to know how you did that, so when I go to pick up my smartie, I know what to ask... Hehe, perhaps you can meet me there when I am ready to sign the papers so you can act as my lawyer hehe. Eventhough I am pretty hard headed, when they see a single girl walking in, they give a harder time...

[2009Aveo5]

Originally Posted by jwight

60 months at 5.25% and they handed back $200? I'm guessing they made out on that deal.

Heck, the best I have heard is Smart is doing 6.9% financing without money back on anything. In fact, all the other threads seem to discuss taking the deal (due to deliberate dealer tactics of take it or leave it, I need $1000 non-refundable deposit and no they will not tell you what you qualify for nor will you know what your trade is worth before you give them the grand in their hand for the orphan).

Well Fargo does 5% with good credit, preapproved and all they require is a simple form that the dealer fills out and faxes and they send the money immediately.

And a few other banks, but in this sub-prime market of banks losing hundreds of billions of dollars, your best bet is to either have outstanding credit and know which bank is offering the perfect rate or to go with your credit union who isn't in the state of panic as most Banks, namely Chase, Washington Mutual, et. al.

I sound Angry, don't I? haha

[2009Aveo5]

Originally Posted by radaroriley

When my husband purchased his last vehicle, the dealer insisted that they finance the car. We said no problem. Got the deal we wanted, with discounts ect, they got the financing. Then 60 days later we re-financed through our credit union. We got the best of both. First the deal with the dealership and then much better term, interest with the credit union. Our credit union still considered it a new car.

Will probably try it again with the smart.

Reserved in Sept 2007 and still waiting to configure.

Yep, that's what I've done. I have always refinanced through our credit unions. Make no mistake. If someone you love dies, VW/Audi will harass you during the 1 to 3 months it takes to finalize financials during a very well organized death of a loved one. Audi apparently have no mercy on anyone who dies during a lease. VW, a similar company, apparently enjoys threatening to take the vehicle away within 2 months of financing a new vehicle when in fact it was their mistake altogether, so I refinanced at 3% for a few years with my credit union. Long story short, go with credit unions...the banking industry has gone mad...they may be nice people at your local bank but whenever the economy is bad, you make one mistake and they are out like lions. Credit unions don't treat people like that...credit unions look for three things.

STABILITY
ABILITY
CREDIBILITY

So enjoy your interest rate with these banks, but realize Credit Unions will be there even after a hydrogen bomb.

[jediknight36]

Originally Posted by jwight

60 months at 5.25% and they handed back $200? I'm guessing they made out on that deal.

Much better than our last car. 60 mo at 20%!

[eqwalker]

Right on credit unions. I financed mine through my credit union (just as I did with the vehicle before). Unbeatable interest rates and fantastic service. They even said they would loan actually more money that the car costs to cover taxes, licenses, etc. Fortunately, I didn't need any of that.