Apply For Both Auto Loans and Have Them Compete Against Each Other!

Auto Financing

The one thing that I dread more than anything is car shopping. Spending all that time at car dealerships looking for a car and applying for auto financing is not my idea of fun. This time I wanted to do things differently and decided to do everything online. Then, all I would have to do is go to the dealership, sign a few papers and pick up my new car.

I started the process several months before I actually picked up my car. First, I wanted to sell my old car instead of trading it in on the new car because, through my research, I found that I would get more money for it if I sold it myself. I decided to created a listing for it online and sold it within 3 months. This was great because having cash in hand to use as a down payment was a great negotiating tool. Now I was ready to car shop and purchase a new car.

The next thing I did was took a look at my finances. How much could I afford to spend on my new car? How would I finance it? How does the interest rate for auto financing effect my monthly payments? I had a lot of questions about how the auto financing effected my overall shopping because typically you can get a lower interest rate on a new vehicle versus buying a used vehicle at a higher rate, and this was extremely hard to figure out.

I decided to get pre-approved for an auto financing loan online in an effort to be able to shop without worrying about the details of interest rates and such. The whole process was really easy as I was able to work backwards and put in the amount I could afford in monthly payments first and let the auto financing company determine what my loan amount would be. I was approved quickly, receiving a confirmation email back within 30 minutes of applying. The best part was that I was able to do it at home on my couch and not at the dealership with annoying, high pressure sales people. Now I was ready to go car shopping!!

Shopping online for a car is the best….because you can really look at all of your options in one spot without having to visit several different dealerships to look at different brands. I wanted something sporty, yet inexpensive, with good gas mileage. I was able to compare what VW, Nissan, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota and others offered in their line ups right next to one another online. It would have taken me days of visiting dealerships to view all of my choices. Once I decided, I was able to actually make the purchase online also! Their internet sales team was very efficient to take all of my pre-approved Auto financing details, along with my cash down payment information over the phone…and presto…I showed up at the dealership the next day, signed the paperwork and drove away in my new car within 30 minutes. What a great experience!