Financing question

andyman68 · 01-12-2006, 05:45 PM

Has anyone used the Toyota financing when purchasing their Prius?

I have a credit score of 776 and the rate on their website is 7.1%. I think my credit union can do a lot better, but I think I'll just finance through Toyota for a couple months and then refinance to my credit union later. I financed my last car with my credit union at 4.9% in 2003. I realize this may now be a little higher. Will Toyota give me a better rate than 7.1%?

The dealership also mentioned that they can do a lease? I didn't realize you could get a lease on a Prius.

Andy

moolman · 01-12-2006, 06:58 PM

My FICO is 766, I had a check from ELOAN through Sam's club and got 5.35. The dealer could not match it, at 3 different dealerships, the best rate they could get me through Toyota Financial was 5.9% for the prius. Since it was 3 different dealerships, 5.9% seems to be the lowest for tier 1 credit which is you and me. This is for 60 months.

You have to negotiate this rate, if you don't have preapproved financing your chances are slim to none unless you can bargain hard. Good luck. They will say you only qualify for higher but bargain your heart out.

Alex

Rancid13 · 01-12-2006, 07:26 PM

My FICO was 772 at the time I applied for my loan (in mid-December) with Capital 1 thru Costco. Got a 5.9% rate for a term of 60 months with no prepayment penalties (a huge plus for me, as I intend to pay the loan off early). When my car gets here (whenever that may be), I'll talk to the Toyota finance guy to see if they can match that rate or do better; when I was checking Toyotafinancial.com I was getting a rate in the 7% range too.

priusblue · 01-12-2006, 07:33 PM

I don't know my FICO specifically, but I know it was "excellent". I went in with a preapproval from a credit union for a rate of 5.64, and the Toyota dealer matched that rate, almost, at 5.65 (60 months - no prepayment penalty), but the loan is not through Toyota financial, it's through Bank of America, apparently. I don't know if that's unusual to this dealership to work through other banks or not. It was more convenient to settle the paperwork there than to wait and work with my CU, which was closed that day (1/2), so I took it! Maybe ask the dealer who all they work with, and if you can, bring in another rate for them to try and match or beat!

Three60guy · 01-12-2006, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by andyman68@Jan 12 2006, 04:45 PM
I financed my last car with my credit union at 4.9% in 2003. I realize this may now be a little higher. Will Toyota give me a better rate than 7.1%?

[snapback]188733[/snapback]

ummmm, if you can get a better deal at your credit union why not go that route? I just did and still got 4.9% through my home equity loan. My Fico is 765. My wife is 774. Go figure......I pay both bills.

tunabreath · 01-12-2006, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by andyman68@Jan 12 2006, 03:45 PM
I have a credit score of 776 and the rate on their website is 7.1%. I think my credit union can do a lot better, but I think I'll just finance through Toyota for a couple months and then refinance to my credit union later.

[snapback]188733[/snapback]

There's no way you should have to pay that much with your credit score.

Here's what I did when I bought my car January 2 -- I got a pre-approval from my credit union (for 5.xx percent). The Toyota salesperson said their rate (which I think was from Toyota Financial) would be in the low 6's (she quoted a specific number, but I don't remember what it was). She knew my credit union rate was less than that, so she said I could mail in a check from the credit union. Then, when I met with the finance guy, he was somehow magically able to offer me a loan through a major bank for a quarter of a percent less than my credit union rate, so I wound up going with that.

Anyway, I've deduced three things from this experience:

1. The quoted finance rate on the web site must include some margin of profit for the dealer that they can discount if they want to.
2. If you decide to go with your own financing, it's really not much of a hassle (i.e., they'll let you take the car immediately and mail a check later).
3. If you have a pre-approval for a decent rate, they may try to beat it. I doubt they would have gone lower than their initial quote if I hadn't had that leverage.

WeHoPriusGuy · 01-12-2006, 08:06 PM

My fico score was 815 when I purchased my Prius last March, and went with my Credit Union because of the great interest rate.

When you need to finance a purchase I believe that you should ALWAYS go with the greatest interest rate offered at the best terms. ALWAYS.

Do not pay higher interest rates if at all possible. I would also suggest once you get your loan approved and make your payments to at least make smaller additional payments on the same day as your regular payment because you would have already had interested deducted from your regular payment. It helps to make any additional payments against your loan and especially on the day your regular payment is due. This is on a loan that doesn't have a prepayment penalty.

This is what happens with my loan and may be different with yours so please check all of the facts, etc. before deciding. I want you to save money.

Have fun with your new Prius.

bluejay · 01-12-2006, 08:17 PM

It's a trick!! Don't do it. With a tier one and/or a down payment your rate should be under 6% if from toyota. With a teir one credit rating and down payment the FM tried to slip 7.6% in oct 2005! I ended up with 5.45% through toyota but that was hard fought. Don't be impulsive or procrastinate, that how "they get ya"--you will regret it later.

Springtime · 01-12-2006, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by andyman68@Jan 12 2006, 06:45 PM
Has anyone used the Toyota financing when purchasing their Prius?

I have a credit score of 776 and the rate on their website is 7.1%. I think my credit union can do a lot better, but I think I'll just finance through Toyota for a couple months and then refinance to my credit union later. I financed my last car with my credit union at 4.9% in 2003. I realize this may now be a little higher. Will Toyota give me a better rate than 7.1%?

The dealership also mentioned that they can do a lease? I didn't realize you could get a lease on a Prius.

Andy

[snapback]188733[/snapback]

I just financed a small amount with Toyota at 5.55%. My credit rating is about 800 and I only wanted to finance $8k for 36 months. I had a quote for 4.99 at my local bank. I plan on paying off the loan within a year ( as soon as I get my tax credit refunded in 2007). For the $20 extra cost to go through Toyota - it was just more convienent than doing all the paperwork through the bank.

They do offer 3.9% on some model cars so they do have some wiggle room. It is always best to have a quote from a local bank before you try to get them to give you a better rate than what is on their web site.

Springtime

Mystery Squid · 01-12-2006, 11:23 PM

Ok, sometimes people get too wrapped up in one aspect, and don't pay attention to others, and you can spend a lot of time "spinning your wheels". There are only 3 primary factors in negotiating for a car. Align/manipulate these 3 factors for your comfort, if they're not met, walk out:

1. Finance rate
2. Trade in value
3. Price of car

If, for whatever reason, you don't obtain the "perfect" finance rate, you can always try getting the difference in the trade in, or removed from the sales price. Something like, "Ok, you can't get me x.xx%, so take XXXX off the price of the car, or give me xxxx more for my trade. Remember, they want/need to sell you the car, the greatest power you have is to walk out if you don't get what you want.

01-12-2006, 06:58 PM	#2
moolman Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 68 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	My FICO is 766, I had a check from ELOAN through Sam's club and got 5.35. The dealer could not match it, at 3 different dealerships, the best rate they could get me through Toyota Financial was 5.9% for the prius. Since it was 3 different dealerships, 5.9% seems to be the lowest for tier 1 credit which is you and me. This is for 60 months. You have to negotiate this rate, if you don't have preapproved financing your chances are slim to none unless you can bargain hard. Good luck. They will say you only qualify for higher but bargain your heart out. Alex __________________ 2006 #8 Silver Pine Mica

01-12-2006, 07:33 PM	#4
priusblue Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 152 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	I don't know my FICO specifically, but I know it was "excellent". I went in with a preapproval from a credit union for a rate of 5.64, and the Toyota dealer matched that rate, almost, at 5.65 (60 months - no prepayment penalty), but the loan is not through Toyota financial, it's through Bank of America, apparently. I don't know if that's unusual to this dealership to work through other banks or not. It was more convenient to settle the paperwork there than to wait and work with my CU, which was closed that day (1/2), so I took it! Maybe ask the dealer who all they work with, and if you can, bring in another rate for them to try and match or beat! __________________ Proud owner of a Barcelona Red '06 pkg #4 since 1/2/06!

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01-12-2006, 05:45 PM	#1
andyman68 Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Columbia Missouri Posts: 129 My Car: 2006 Prius Package: #5 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Has anyone used the Toyota financing when purchasing their Prius? I have a credit score of 776 and the rate on their website is 7.1%. I think my credit union can do a lot better, but I think I'll just finance through Toyota for a couple months and then refinance to my credit union later. I financed my last car with my credit union at 4.9% in 2003. I realize this may now be a little higher. Will Toyota give me a better rate than 7.1%? The dealership also mentioned that they can do a lease? I didn't realize you could get a lease on a Prius. Andy

01-12-2006, 07:26 PM	#3
Rancid13 Cool Chick with a Black Prius Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Los Alamitos, Orange County, CA Posts: 2,455 My Car: 2006 Prius Package: #8 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 2	My FICO was 772 at the time I applied for my loan (in mid-December) with Capital 1 thru Costco. Got a 5.9% rate for a term of 60 months with no prepayment penalties (a huge plus for me, as I intend to pay the loan off early). When my car gets here (whenever that may be), I'll talk to the Toyota finance guy to see if they can match that rate or do better; when I was checking Toyotafinancial.com I was getting a rate in the 7% range too.

01-12-2006, 08:06 PM	#7
WeHoPriusGuy Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: West Hollywood, CA. Posts: 22 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	My fico score was 815 when I purchased my Prius last March, and went with my Credit Union because of the great interest rate. When you need to finance a purchase I believe that you should ALWAYS go with the greatest interest rate offered at the best terms. ALWAYS. Do not pay higher interest rates if at all possible. I would also suggest once you get your loan approved and make your payments to at least make smaller additional payments on the same day as your regular payment because you would have already had interested deducted from your regular payment. It helps to make any additional payments against your loan and especially on the day your regular payment is due. This is on a loan that doesn't have a prepayment penalty. This is what happens with my loan and may be different with yours so please check all of the facts, etc. before deciding. I want you to save money. Have fun with your new Prius.

01-12-2006, 08:17 PM	#8
bluejay Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: south jersey Posts: 103 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	It's a trick!! Don't do it. With a tier one and/or a down payment your rate should be under 6% if from toyota. With a teir one credit rating and down payment the FM tried to slip 7.6% in oct 2005! I ended up with 5.45% through toyota but that was hard fought. Don't be impulsive or procrastinate, that how "they get ya"--you will regret it later.

01-12-2006, 11:23 PM	#10
Mystery Squid Junior Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 3 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Ok, sometimes people get too wrapped up in one aspect, and don't pay attention to others, and you can spend a lot of time "spinning your wheels". There are only 3 primary factors in negotiating for a car. Align/manipulate these 3 factors for your comfort, if they're not met, walk out: 1. Finance rate 2. Trade in value 3. Price of car If, for whatever reason, you don't obtain the "perfect" finance rate, you can always try getting the difference in the trade in, or removed from the sales price. Something like, "Ok, you can't get me x.xx%, so take XXXX off the price of the car, or give me xxxx more for my trade. Remember, they want/need to sell you the car, the greatest power you have is to walk out if you don't get what you want.