How much wiggle room do dealers have on the incentive apr as far as credit approval? Some dealerships say dont worry about it we'll get ya the 2.9, others say they reserve it for certain credit tiers. Is it negotiable?

From what I understand as long as you have average credit (no big hitters on your report) you can take advantage of the incentive but some dealers will feed you a speech to get you on a higher apr % to make more profit. Is my understanding correct? Or is there really a universal IFS tier policy? Can IFS bump you a tier if they want to?

 

I know 2.9% for 60 months is for tier 0 or 1, which is 700+ FICO score. For sure any lender can give you any percentage as they want to. As far as I know, of course they wont just give you 2.9% no matter what. Moreover, stealerships will mostly bump your apr higher to make more profit.

 

I think the F&I guys at these dealerships can make anything happen. I'm like a 680ish currently and I got rejected at the Infiniti corp website for pre-approval.... but when I called my local dealership, inquiring what rate I would qualify for through IFS, the mgr was like "680 is considered good... you should have no problem getting the 2.9..." he did go on to say that if I came in and filled out a full credit app. etc that there should be no issues at all (especially since they can get a better feel for me and my financial situation in person rather than thru some cold impersonal web form)...

Sounded kind of salesy to me (eternally cynical), but I believe I can get the 2.9 no problem. Was thinking of waiting for the '09 G, but it may make excellent financial sense to grab an '08 before this incentive expires. My score is going nowhere but up from here on in, but the best rate i've been offered thus far is 7.7% ..... 2.9 plus at/below invoice for an '08 might be a deal I can't refuse.

 

I think you're right.
I finally got a dealer to go to true invoice...no doc fees etc. (here in az its 400 non negotiable)....ONLY after walking out...he called when I was driving home..Tues the general manager will be in as well as the g37 i want, they will sell at invoice with no other form of profit than the 1.5% holdback off mrsp...about 600.

I have a feeling theyll want to stick me with high apr to make up for it... I have a good score, similiar to yours but its not a bombshell.

 

Just ask for the IFS print-out when you talk financing. If it's not what you expecting.... WALK OUT AGAIN! They won't let you get out the door if you all have already agreed upon a price.

 

Isnt this insane? This is why it annoys me when DaveISM says you pay for the "experience." I spent 4hrs negotiating to 200 above invoice only to walk ..then they call me to say they cave in, now on tuesday I have to do the same negotiating to keep the 2.9% apr and i have to make sure they dont jack up the sale price (or add BS fees) in the mean time.

This is a LUXURY dealership yet you still have to go through the same games. The car-buying process is draining and miserable if you want a FAIR deal.

 

Feel you bro. I'm in sales myself - and I can absolutely empathize with a business wanting/needing to maximize profit. I happen to sell unique products that sell for our asking price all day long... but i'll get the occassional prospective client who wants a "really good deal" (read: cuts into our profit margin heavily). Because hagglers like this are nowhere near the rule, I welcome doing new business for lesser commission every now and then. But again, I sell unique stuff... there aren't another 4-5 (or 100s) shops like me offering the exact same product, and certainly not within 50 miles of each other. In that scenario, free market rules the day... he who sells the same product at the lowest price wins the business.

I'm sure i'm gonna make some new best friends when I say that the car business - from my perspective and experience -often reminds me of a boiler-room securities brokerage firm. As much as they try to cover it up, their multi-dimensional "script" is apparent... thus the seemingly universal stigma of the car salesman. Everything is calculated in the car selling process... it's a lot like Las Vegas casinos - how everything down to the colors and lighting is calculated marketing, subliminally urging you to spend your money.

Dealerships get their vigs in a bunch of ways. But it's a new age in the car business... with the advent of the internet, you're gonna get more and more savvy people who have done tremendous homework in order to get a bargain-basement deal on a not-so-limited commodity (and with soft market conditions only further justifying their case). Especially at the end of a model year... dealers need to make room for new inventory and have quotas and mfg incentives abound to move product.

I do not mean to paint all dealers & car sales reps with a broad negative brush - surely there are many professionals who give the car business a good name. But there are still plenty that do engage in cheesy below-board sales tactics, and to them I say: You can fool all of the people some of the time... you can fool some of the people all of the time... but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

 

You sure you don't want to drive out to CA to buy the car?

 

Where is riverside?

 

^^ California. See Mike there. It's probably a 3 - 4 hour drive, but you'll save yourself the dough.

Back on topic, IFS is getting strict on approving Tier 2 customers to Tier 1 for 1.9/2.9%. I've had 690 FICOs get turned down by IFS for 2.9% which is sad IMO.

 

Ya, the economic situation is making it harder for people to get approvals. They loaned out money easy last year and know it is hurting them. Doesn't help that people got those variable rate home loans and now cannot afford their house payments and are not defaulting. Banks now have to be a little smarter and more restrictive on the money they loan out.

 

Sales guys cant convince IFS otherwise?

 

But auto-loans are secured debt. Much different than the situation you describe.

 

That is probably true but I hear that banks are not loaning out money like in the past. They are requiring higher credit ratings and such from what I have been told. Correct me if I am wrong though.

 

Nothing we can do. Your past credit history is all you and we need the bank to approve it so we can bitch, but many times it falls on deaf ears if your credit/down payment (amount financed) is undesirable since they're lending the money ultimately.False. A home is a more secured debt since you can't drive it away to next county or state. You can hide a car from the repo man for months before he catches up, and in today's economy, the repo man has been a very busy man lately indeed.