andrewlohnes

Good morning everybody! I'm just wondering after entering the USA, how quickly did people manage to get used car finance? A lot of companies say guaranteed approval and all that but I feel it would be different for us with no history at all. I'm probably looking at $3k down then maybe $12k over 3/4 years. Not sure whether to go for it now or wait 6 months and then maybe the interest would be lower? Not really sure how it works. Also, I'll probably be buying out of state, which I've read on here can be a pain in the bum, is it that bad? I tried searching but for some reason on my phone it wouldn't narrow it down the the USA forum only and came up with stuff about ISIS when searching 'car finance' :P thanks in advance!

Bob

6 months won't really do anything. You'll have minimal history as it would have only just been reported.

You won't have issue getting finance. You'll just get a shit rate. Make sure there isn't a early pay out penalty and re-finance in a years time when you've got 12 months worth of history.

As for buying out of state, all depends on the state you're in and which state you buy from.

Down my way, it is a bit of a pain if you buy from a dealer in Maine, as you pay the tax there and then again in MA when you register it and have to apply for a refund. If you buy from NH where there isn't a sales tax, you just pay it when you register it in MA.

It might be easier to avoid the tax issue if you do a private sale, but you usually don't then get temporary plates, so you won't be able to drive it home and would need to stick it on a truck to transport it and register it.

NatashaB

You will get finance - but at a cost. There are lots of 'we finance anyone' type places. You may find a credit union willing to finance you at a better rate.
Are you in the US already? If you're still in the UK you could look at International Autosource or similar. You have to have everything set up with them before you leave for the US.

andrewlohnes

Thanks guys, been in the US 3 months now and had a decent paying job for 2 months. Also had a Amex and Capitol One card for 6 weeks. I'm in Arizona and all the cars I see that I'm after are in Cali, so I guess I'll just have to look into the requirements on tax etc for that. Didn't know anything about refinancing after 12 months, I'll definitely look in to that I actually work for a company that transport cars, shame I can't get them to bring it here for free haha they go to Cali and back all the time.

Pulaski

The mid to low end dealers that have signs out front that say "Buy Here, Pay Here" will finance a purchase to pretty much anyone, .... you don't even have to be in the country legally.

andrewlohnes

That doesn't surprise me in the slightest, not wanting to sound like a racist white American just yet but these illegal Mexicans here in Phoenix have to get their cars from somewhere!

Pulaski

A friend of a friend used to run such a dealership, and sold some cars several times. When the payments stopped he would drive to the address where the buyer lived, hook up the car to his tow truck, take it back to his dealer lot, service, clean and polish it, and put it out front to sell again. Sometimes it had a better stereo or new wheels than when he had sold it previously!

The monthly payments were such that he had all his money back after 10-20 months, but the contracts were for 36-48 months, and in fairness, most of the buyers did make all their payments.

petitefrancaise

Another source has told me that international autosource will get you a car even after moving stateside now. They would be a good company to try. Also VW expat service at a local dealership and Mazda.

steveq

I got finance on a very good deal straight from my bank, within 4 weeks of arriving here.

markcst

Can't praise international auto-source enough. However the dealer network they use for delivery is not really interested in you because they make nothing out of you so you can be treated 2nd class when you go to pick the car up (took me three hours of sitting around waiting for mine even though I had an appointment to pick it up!).

Watch what they say about the makes they get discount on though, realistically its only four or five, with Ford being their major discount partner. This didn't bother me as I wanted and got a base Escape.

Pulaski

When Mrs P picked up our Mustang GT, the service assistant only seemed concerned about whether Mrs P could drive a manual transmission (she can, perfectly well). It seemed especially odd as the service assistant was a woman.

riskassessor

This was back in 2003. The Dodge dealer gave me 0% finance on the basis of my UK credit report as I then had no credit rating at all in the USA. I did spend about 2 hours with him choosing the vehicle before I let him know of the credit rating difficulty -- so he had an incentive to get me approved. It did take him about 3 days to get the approval as he had to consult with others and/or make further enquiries. (I don't know if he was able to access my UK credit report at source or whether he just worked off the paper copy I gave him.)

Galilite

Intl AutoSource will be able to give you a very reasonable 5%, but you will have to provide a ton of information.

SkyBlueInOregon

I can confirm, I went to them a month after I arrived here and got my car! They may state that they cannot do it and offer to only provide lease options until you go to walk and then suddenly they are able to get special approval.

andrewlohnes

Thanks everyone! I went car shopping yesterday and looked at a few vehicles and explained my situation, the guy at Land Rover tried to sell me a $43k LR4 so I'm guessing he thought I would get finance. But the car I wanted I went back to sit down and talk and they had sold it they also knew my situation and said if the deal fell through they would get back to me, they called me today but I was at the Cardinals game so he will ring back tomorrow. I have a credit score or 669 now (not great but better than N/A), it came on this week, so hopefully I should get it all sorted