If you are a recent graduate or about to graduate with a 2, 4, or 6 year degree, you can qualify for the graduate program.

Get 4.99% for up to 60 months (and 5.49% from 61-72 months) for qualified customers for all new Honda and Acura models.
Deferred 1st payment for 90 days, 60 days of no interest.
Contact your local dealer by 10/6/2008.


College Graduate Program - Honda Financial Services

 

Oh I agree - thats kind of what I was trying to say, which is why I put "haggling" in quotes - the ONLY way to get a better deal than the dealer offers is to already have a decent approved loan from elsewhere. If the dealer can do better, great, if not then no harm done you already have a good rate.

 

I had a pre-approved 5.25 for 60 mo. from my credit union going into the finance managers office, I let them try to beat it and got the 4.99 rate for 60 mo. from the dealer.

I don't think I would have got that rate if not for the pre-approval... like someone else said they stand to probably get a kickback by financing thru the dealer. Anyway, he first offered me a 5.24 rate (lolz) and I turned it down, then went to 4.99. Obviously, they have wiggle room here...

When I mentioned, "hey I know a few people that got 2.9", he said "yeah they likely bought accords or oddyseys, you can't get that on the cheapest car in our fleet". Not sure if thats true or not. YMMV!

Res

 

Las time I checked AAA has auto loan at 4.95%, up to 6 yrs. I am an AAA member so I plan to go there first.

BTW, does any know if I need to show past tax returns and/or bank statements etc. to prove income? I am self-employed so getting proper documentation maybe a hassle. A friend of mine who is also self-employed had a lot of trouble getting a mortgage recently, mainly because he had a lot of deductions (who wants to pay a lot of taxes!) and w/ self-employment nobody can prove exactly how much you make. but then, auto loan is not mortgage right? Anybody has any experience?

 

After reading this Thread, I am happy about my 3.5 APR

 

Yeah, 3.5 is really good.

I got 4.94% 60 months 100% financed. 781 CB according to the finance guy. They put me through Bank of America.

I was going to go thru USAA as they offer 5.65%, wasnt going to apply, but they talked me into it. Im glad they did.

I thought the 2.9% Honda Credit was only on certain vehicles, I didnt see the Fit listed.

 

checked with my CU today and found out why I was declined when the Stealership applied for loan for me. I'm getting a 09 Fit sport with Navi. I have a mortgage, creditcard payment, wife is not working and I only make about 650-ish/wk (take home even less). But I'm lucky enough to be able to put 10k down...so I will only be financing about 1/2 of the total cost. However, the stealership applied for me and did not consider the downpayment, so I was declined by my CU and the stealership offered me financing at 6.65% @ 60 months.
So the lady at CU re-ran my application and was able to get me 4.99% @ 60 months with 10k down.

Stealership sucks!

 

If you go through the Dealer, make sure you don't get sucked into the godforsaken 4-square 'worksheet.' Its a sure way to pay way more in interest.

Also remember to amortize in any up front costs into the loan - these costs may make a "great" rate a mediocre one.

Not to wreck your dream, but have you thought about just using your down payment to get a $4-5k car and have a blast thrashing it through college and not have a car payment to worry about? You could work less, enjoy life, and spend the money on what really matters - beer and women.

 

that's what I did in college...the damn fit is for the wife.

 

It was my dad that git the loan, he has 6 mortgages but his credit score was like 830 when they checked. The guy at finance said they normally do higher aprs on the Fit cus they expect a young persokn with no credit to come in for one.

 

Did any of you who applied for an auto has to show income tax return and/or bank statements?

 

I didnt show diddily when I applied. I wasn't 100% on buying. Went for a test drive. Loved it told them to run me some financing and it came back good. So I gave it a go. All i needed was my paycheck stubs and viola own a new car.

 

not at all.

 

I got 4.35% through AAA, 3 years.

 

Mahout, the rate is based on the car as well as the credit, so NO, you can't get 3% on a fit no matter what kind of credit you have. At least not through honda. Personally I am happy with their financing. Like matthew, I got a 9% rate because of my credit (age and whatnot), but because its simple interest I still pay more towards the principal than interest.

mason: Sorry, don't know where you got that information, but you're a bit off there. Like Chris said, the dealer doesn't determine rates or lend the money theirselves. Generally, they will go through honda as default, but for picky customers they can shop other banks on your behalf. Generally, you CAN find a better rate with some of the other banks, and its not a big deal.
And on a quick sidenote, when it comes to leasing its much different, Honda is A++ when it comes to the advantages on their leases.

 

I'm not off anything. If you read above - someone else has confirmed that Honda's initial offer of around 5.5 something percent was dropped to <5 when they had another pre-approval in hand and held out for a better offer from Honda, so might not work in all cases, but is definitely worth a try...

 

I said you're "a bit" off because you are. The dealer can charge as much as they want above the buy rate, but the buy rate it self is what it is. The dealer has no power to negotiate below that.

 

So then you agree with me that the dealer's initial offer might not be the best they can do?

 

I do. I guess the only distinction that should be made to avoid confusion is between rate and buy rate. What I would recommend rather than assuming is simply to ask for a rate book showing the buy rate and that way you know you're getting honda's best rate.

 

I dont know where u live but around I have only found 5.54% or higher. There is one credit Union that has 4.99% but they are hard to get a loan from. With all the troubles with the lending, housing market it will be tough to find anything 4.99% or lower. Check local credit unions too.