The Owner’s Blog
By: Jeffrey Nester
A Silver Lining
February 19, 2008
The recent meltdown in mortgage and sub-prime credit markets has created a silver lining for vehicle buyers with B to A+ credit ratings. In response to the credit market meltdown the Federal Reserve has drastically lowered the prime rate, thus reducing borrowing costs of lenders. This cost reduction; coupled with lenders desire to balance their portfolio with quality loans, means available vehicle financing rates lower than any in recent memory.
In the new vehicle market, buyers often faced a difficult choice, take the manufacturer’s subvented interest rate but forfeit all rebates, or take the rebates and pay bank rates. This situation has changed. We recently sold a new Dodge Ram pick-up with $6,000.00 in rebates and provided our customer with 3.99% financing from a major national bank.
In the used vehicle market our captive lender, GMAC, is offering Certified Used financing as low as 2.9%. However, as with most manufacturer captive finance arms this offering is term and model constrained. I.E. limited to 48 months {3.9% for 60 months} and available on Malibu, Impala, and Trailblazer. A great deal if term and model meet your needs, but what if they don’t? We recently secured a 5.5% interest rate on a 2002 Jeep for a customer. 90 days ago we would have lucky to get a rate under 9% on an 02’ model year!
The bottom line is there are some great rates available in the vehicle financing market. All it takes is a dealer willing to listen to your needs and go to work for YOU.
For more information and solutions contact:
Doug "cruiser" Kruse in Houghton Lake. 800-235-7507
Chris Galus in Roscommon. 800-550-5534
