Penfed 1.99% Autoloan

For 12 to 48 months duration
New, Used and Refinance
Link

Still 2.49% to refinance existing PenFed loans.

SO I guess I need to take advantage of the cash bonus to transfer my loan to bank number#2, and then back to penfed.... again?
I've already refinanced my auto loans with three separate banks this year to take advantage of lower and lower rates.... What to do. What to do. I'm at 2.49 at the moment with Penfed.

sweetwild said:   Does anyone know the fees for refinance?
I don't remember paying any fees. One thing though -- Penfed requires your auto insurance deductible to be $500 or lower.

Just looked into this yesterday - according to the info I got from PenFed, you CAN get the 1.99% on a PenFed refi, but the balance on the loan has to be above $10,000.

Do you have to call in to get the 1.99% rate on a PenFed refi?

cruster said:   Just looked into this yesterday - according to the info I got from PenFed, you CAN get the 1.99% on a PenFed refi, but the balance on the loan has to be above $10,000.

I thought this was a good deal but I just got a 1.9 rate for 66 months from BofA on a new car.

CycloneFW said:   walletLess said:   Hi guys, sorry if this is a dumb question. I do not have a PFCU branch locally. If I apply for a loan for my used car, how does it work. Once I get approved, can I take the approval letter to the dealership, or do I have to wait for them to mail me physical check before I can close the deal? If latter, I doubt the dealership will be OK waiting few days - especially since it will roll into January, and they want my sale to meet their sales number for this month..

Also, I read the terms on the site, and there is no mention of early payment. Does this mean that I can pay off the loan faster if I have more cash (I doubt I'll do that at 1.99%, but just in case)?

If you apply with a specific car VIN and everything, they will cut a check for the exact amount to the dealer. Normal processing is one business day and then USPS to mail the check, about 3-4 days. You can pay $15 and they will overnight the check via FedEx. If you apply in advance for dollar XYZ, they will and you a blank check for "up to XYZ". You can take that blank check with you. If you go for the first option, I've never had a problem with any dealership. They will run a "contingency finance" contract in case they don't get paid within the next couple days. That does not actually become a real loan unless they don't get paid. If you are concerned the dealer may be shady and "lose" PenFed's check in the mail, you could always have PenFed mail you the check.

I've done a number of auto loans with PenFed as I have the case sitting in RCAs earning more than 1.99%. I haven't had an problems with any dealers, but ymmv. I personally prefer the latter option where PenFed mails you a blank check as that gives ou the most flexibility.

Thanks for the detailed answer. I think I will go the blank check route since i have not finalized the car

walletLess said:   CycloneFW said:   walletLess said:   Hi guys, sorry if this is a dumb question. I do not have a PFCU branch locally. If I apply for a loan for my used car, how does it work. Once I get approved, can I take the approval letter to the dealership, or do I have to wait for them to mail me physical check before I can close the deal? If latter, I doubt the dealership will be OK waiting few days - especially since it will roll into January, and they want my sale to meet their sales number for this month..

Also, I read the terms on the site, and there is no mention of early payment. Does this mean that I can pay off the loan faster if I have more cash (I doubt I'll do that at 1.99%, but just in case)?

If you apply with a specific car VIN and everything, they will cut a check for the exact amount to the dealer. Normal processing is one business day and then USPS to mail the check, about 3-4 days. You can pay $15 and they will overnight the check via FedEx. If you apply in advance for dollar XYZ, they will and you a blank check for "up to XYZ". You can take that blank check with you. If you go for the first option, I've never had a problem with any dealership. They will run a "contingency finance" contract in case they don't get paid within the next couple days. That does not actually become a real loan unless they don't get paid. If you are concerned the dealer may be shady and "lose" PenFed's check in the mail, you could always have PenFed mail you the check.

I've done a number of auto loans with PenFed as I have the case sitting in RCAs earning more than 1.99%. I haven't had an problems with any dealers, but ymmv. I personally prefer the latter option where PenFed mails you a blank check as that gives ou the most flexibility.

Thanks for the detailed answer. I think I will go the blank check route since i have not finalized the car

I'm wondering if I can join PenFed, request a blank check at 1.99% and possibly buy a vehicle from a PRIVATE OWNER, as opposed to a dealer?? Might seem like a stupid question, but just wanted to make sure!

jd2010 said:   Well since someone bumped it. I have student loans out @ 8% and a car worth ~10k thats paid off with no plans to buy a new one. Can you request a blank check and basically use the paid off car as collateral to get a free ~10k @ 2%?

You can use the money for anything you want, that's the beauty of this product.

saxons said:   Alliant CU is now offering 1.99% interest on new & used vehicles. Same as PenFed but for us with existing PenFed auto loans, this provides us an optin to refi @ 1.99% as PenFed does not allow existing accounts to refi @ the 1.99%.
So apparently the post farther up is not accurate info?


cruster said:   Just looked into this yesterday - according to the info I got from PenFed, you CAN get the 1.99% on a PenFed refi, but the balance on the loan has to be above $10,000.

chislands18 said:   Has anyone else had trouble obtaining an auto loan through Penfed?? I applied and was approved, but due to the fact that I'm moving from NYC to CA and switching to a much lower paying job, as a sort of investment in my future (learning a business, with the hopes of one day buying it out), it is very difficult for me to show income. Any thoughts?? I have almost enough in savings to pay for the car outright, but I don't want to dip into my emergency fund. I have already sent them 2 years of my past w2's and they said that it wasn't enough since they were pertaining to my old job.

I am doing my 4th PenFed Auto Loan as we speak now. Every time, I have not needed to submit any paperwork. I filled out the information online and a few days later I get a check and the paperwork. Sign a few pages and mail it off. Haven't had any issues. That said, I do have great credit and already have a mortgage and a credit card with them look at when doing their approval process.

One of my recent PenFed auto loans was to a private party and some extra for myself, but I specified a specific vehicle and they sent me two checks. The other two were blank checks and the fourth is a blank check that should arrive tomorrow.

CycloneFW said:   One of my recent PenFed auto loans was to a private party and some extra for myself, but I specified a specific vehicle and they sent me two checks. The other two were blank checks and the fourth is a blank check that should arrive tomorrow.

This might seem like a very dumb question, but what was the process like.. Did you have to give them the VIN# of the vehicle you were purchasing or something?? Thanks!

CycloneFW said:   chislands18 said:   CycloneFW said:   One of my recent PenFed auto loans was to a private party and some extra for myself, but I specified a specific vehicle and they sent me two checks. The other two were blank checks and the fourth is a blank check that should arrive tomorrow.

This might seem like a very dumb question, but what was the process like.. Did you have to give them the VIN# of the vehicle you were purchasing or something?? Thanks!

Yeah. I gave them the VIN, purchase price, loan amount, and who I purchased it from. Everything arrived already completed and all I had to do was sign my name.

Ok, thanks! What did you do.. Did you give them an over inflated loan amount and a lower purchase price so that you could get some extra cash??

CycloneFW said:   chislands18 said:   CycloneFW said:   chislands18 said:   CycloneFW said:   One of my recent PenFed auto loans was to a private party and some extra for myself, but I specified a specific vehicle and they sent me two checks. The other two were blank checks and the fourth is a blank check that should arrive tomorrow.

This might seem like a very dumb question, but what was the process like.. Did you have to give them the VIN# of the vehicle you were purchasing or something?? Thanks!

Yeah. I gave them the VIN, purchase price, loan amount, and who I purchased it from. Everything arrived already completed and all I had to do was sign my name.

Ok, thanks! What did you do.. Did you give them an over inflated loan amount and a lower purchase price so that you could get some extra cash??

I wish! I didn't think about that till after and wish I did. Nope, I included the taxes and fees I'd have to pay to the state for the title transfer.

Oh, I see.. I don't know if you would be able to pull that one off! I will have to do the same, and report back when it goes through. This is kind of off topic, but does anyone bring a mechanic with them when buying a used vehicle from a private party?

CycloneFW said:   One of my recent PenFed auto loans was to a private party and some extra for myself, but I specified a specific vehicle and they sent me two checks. The other two were blank checks and the fourth is a blank check that should arrive tomorrow.

I've been searching the PenFed site for this info and unable to find it, so hoping you can help based on circumstance: do you (or does any other reader) know the length of time for which the blank checks are valid? My wife and I are searching for a used vehicle for her, and I'd like to go ahead and apply for the loan to have the check in hand on finding the vehicle we want. However, if the check is only good for a couple of weeks this probably isn't viable. Is the check valid for 60-90 days?

walletLess said:   TheKa said:   jd2010 said:   Well since someone bumped it. I have student loans out @ 8% and a car worth ~10k thats paid off with no plans to buy a new one. Can you request a blank check and basically use the paid off car as collateral to get a free ~10k @ 2%?

You can use the money for anything you want, that's the beauty of this product.

The Penfed check I received specifically had two things called out:
1) If using with private party, call and ask for authorization in advance
2) If the check is written to yourself, it will not be honored

So basically, at minimum, you will not be able to deposit this into your own bank.. and if using to buy a car from Private party, you need to call and ask then before hand.
I am not sure about using the car as a collateral though.

I'm seeing a lot of conflicting information here on my situation, which is pretty simple. I have a car worth $20k that I paid cash for about a year ago. Right now I'd rather have a payment and put that cash towards something else, so I'm wondering if I can basically "refinance" my car even though it has no loan on it at the moment, and get a 20k loan on it and deposit the 20k in my bank account.

The above post makes it sound like I can't do this but many of the other posts imply I can. Anyone know for sure?

CycloneFW said:   

When you complete the online application, it will have a drop down for "purpose". Your choices are purchase, refi PenFed loan, refi non-PenFed loan, and misc. choose misc. two screens later it will have you confirmations BEFORE submitting the app and having a credit pull. There it will say either 1.99% or 2.49% depending on length of the loan. Thus, you can finance for cash at the online rate.

Thanks, have you done this though? The post I quoted seemed to imply that you can't just deposit the check.

vnuts21 said:   jcaserta said:   CycloneFW said:   

When you complete the online application, it will have a drop down for "purpose". Your choices are purchase, refi PenFed loan, refi non-PenFed loan, and misc. choose misc. two screens later it will have you confirmations BEFORE submitting the app and having a credit pull. There it will say either 1.99% or 2.49% depending on length of the loan. Thus, you can finance for cash at the online rate.

Thanks, have you done this though? The post I quoted seemed to imply that you can't just deposit the check.
You know who would know the answer to that question? PenFed

Well, I think a likely answer is "you're not technically supposed to, but I did that and it worked out just fine". In which case the answer if I asked penfed would be "no". Also I figured someone here would have done it already if it's possible, and it would take them two seconds to post an affirmative. But OK, I just sent PenFed an email, I'll post back with the answer.

yoregano said:   dukerau said:   Just got an email from Penfed - today only:

New & Used Auto Loan Online special
1.49% APR
12-60 months
up to $70K

I got this email too, but you left out some important details (emphasis mine):
Save more on your next car when you combine great prices on new and used autos from the PenFed Car Buying Service, or used autos from Enterprise Car Sales, combined with low, online-only 1.49% APR* PenFed financing!

Right, I was excited thinking I could refi my current loan but it looks like it only works buying something from them. Bummer.