So, 29 days since taking delivery, I discover they "cannot extend vehicle financing at this time"??

I imagine because he is not the underwriter.

 

^^ this is a side-track, but at 9pm you probably have little else you can do to help your cause until the morning so I'll ponder along with you for a moment.

Dealerships are independent businesses. To them TFS is more like a friendly and well used bank down the street than the close business partner you might imagine. It is not by chance that it is just as easy to purchase a car with a loan from TFS as it is a loan from any other credit institution. While true that the dealership is potentially losing money every day you have the car and end up returning it, that is not TFS's problem. TFS has decided not to lend you money, and at this point they have turned their attention elsewhere.

Also keep in mind that financing falling through, while not unheard of, is pretty unusual. I'm not surprised to hear that the bureaucratic wheels are a bit rusty.

Try not to take any of this personally. A bit of perserverance, dealer arm-twisting, and timely loan shopping will likely let you keep the car

 

The dealer wants to keep you as a customer, so they are hesitant to call you without a solution in hand. To get the best deal possible for yourself you want to call them with a solution in hand. Knocking another $1700 off is probably the easiest thing for the dealer to do if you have everything else already arranged.

Have you already applied for the CA $1500 rebate? You might be able to assign the rebate to the CU to knock down the loan amount as well. The CU might also take into consideration the $2500 federal tax credit and give you 0% on that portion of the loan if you have to wait for a tax refund.

 

I wonder who is on the hook for the T&L fees if the car ends up being returned.

 

Good luck selling your G1 Prius; a down payment would surely look good to any new lender.

It is possible that an admin mistake nixed the loan. Sounds like it is worth a question or two.

 

No help here, just a TFS data point: When I traded in my 2010, TFS sent me the clear and open title instead of the dealership. Yeah, major error there!

 

There's really only two outcomes to this scenario: Dealer takes back car or you work out some other finance arrangement.

I think we can all agree it is very unlikely the dealer would take back the car. The dealer would be taking a huge loss on the PiP. They can bill you for it but why go through the trouble? You have a good credit score above 700. They can easily source financing elsewhere.

When my cousin purchased a 2008 Accord, the dealer called him back after 14 days concerning his financing. My cousin was furious so I went down to the dealership with him to "back him up" as it were. Turns out the dealer was able to procure a lower interest rate but he needed one more loan to add to the bundle to get everyone approved. I don't know if that is true or not or what it means at all. But the point is, my cousin got a lower interest rate and the dealer had no trouble or extra costs to him to resubmit all the documentation.

If I were you, I'd stand my ground to pay exactly as written on the original contract. Worst case scenario is you pay a few hundred dollars in interest or fees.

 

Lensovet may want to invest the $35 or so it costs to get a real credit score from e.g Experian. Even better would be to buy the same credit score TFS uses. If he really does have good credit it adds credence to the idea that this is just an admin snafu.

 

OK. Did you ask the dealer what range of scores qualify for a loan ?
I don't mean to pry, but if the question is whether a valid reason to deny you a loan exists, you should also consider whether the lender might question whether you have enough discretionary income to afford the monthly payment.

 

Well, if you think one payment puts you (in TFS' eyes) in a borderline category, two PiPs would surely be too much

I take it the dealer has yet to contact you ? Did the TFS letter instruct you to contact the dealer, or give any instructions what to do with the car ?