Subaru Ascent Forum banner

[Urgent] Issue with Credit Union Financing - Please Advise

3K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  Carl Abrams 
For what it's worth, when I bought my wife's Honda, they wouldn't take a personal check on the deposit portion over $500, but they would (and did) take a credit card for a deposit (I put $1000 down, which was their minimum for any purchase over the sale value after trade of $25,000)... However once I got my bill of sale I went to my bank that I already had secured financing with, and then they wrote a bank check to the dealership, so the funds were guaranteed.

My next time around I'm planning to not my any money down and finance the entire thing over a longer term to keep payments down. While I can pay for it outright, I personally like the flexibility of keeping money on-hand for any unforeseen expenses related to my house, etc. For me, that interest rate I'm paying is well spent, since I don't have to take it out of my savings account. I know long-term that's not the most cost-beneficial solution, but in the end, assuming I financed, say, $35k, we're talking around $3500 in interest over those 5 years, or about $700 per year. For me, if $700 broke me, I wouldn't be looking at this trim/car.

In the past, when I bought both my Legacy and Outback, I just used Subaru Financing since they had a good deal at the time and Chase happened to be me home bank anyway (one less web login to worry about)... I actually used Chase for my wife's Honda, too.

That being said what a hassle. I think even if it was a slightly higher rate, for simplicity and completing the transaction quickly, I'll just finance through Subaru. I had to take 3 different trips to the Honda place and 2 to my bank for her Pilot. What a headache...


Thanks everyone for the inputs.

I am having a harrowing experience. The external lender (a CU) has loan pre-approved and is willing to write a check as soon as they get a purchase agreement.
The dealer isn't willing to send me a purchase agreement (although I offered if they do that I can bring both checks tomorrow). On top of that the dealer says that I'll have to go through CU DL if I want my credit union to finance, which is like a new loan. They just can't accept a check from them directly as it violates some CU DL rule - a claim that my CU lending department refuted. This seems weird, as for the dealership it should be like an all cash deal - they get two checks for the full amount and its a quick sale. What do they care what arrangement I have with my CU? I said if I do all cash from my account, which I can do and offered to do, would he still have trouble accepting? The extremely rude 'general manager' basically said either it is his way or he doesn't want to sell the car.

For me now it is less of question of which car, what price or which credit union, but more of right vs wrong. With a heavy heart, 2 months long wait and a terrible taste dealing with a dealership - I may have to walk away from the deal. :crying:
I'll know tomorrow. If that happens, I may try another Subaru dealer or Toyota/Honda/Volkswagen get my money. I'll of course feel terrible I wasted so much time chasing Ascent.


I think you don't need a purchase agreement - you need a BILL OF SALE.

You should be able to leave a good faith deposit if you haven't left one yet in order to get that.

If the GM is held up on the fact it's a personal check, why don't you see if they would accept a Bank Check from your branch where you're holding the money? That's certainly more secure since the banks guarantee the funds when the check is drawn up. Make sure you get the appropriate name of the payee for the check, too.

What you are suggesting sounds like they are forcing you to finance, which I don't think has any legal merits. You may want to call SOA and get them involved if necessary.
 
Do you think informing/involving SOA can help?
It may not resolve your specific issue but they will want to hear about their dealers doing shady stuff.
Agreed. There is no requirement that you have to finance through the specific dealership.

When I got my pre-approval, that just showed I was a serious buyer (for the Honda). I still had to get the bill of sale and take that to the bank that I was using for my financing. So for you, you’ll need to provide a bill of sale to your credit union and then they’ll send a check for the exact amount outstanding. If you can’t do this in person at a bank you’ll have to get it in the mail.

Then, you take this check to the bank. That’s what constitutes an “all cash” payment. They won’t release the car to you until you pay for it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top