Otterley said:You can then turn around and prepay the $5k back toward the principal, but, absurdly, it will not reduce your monthly payment amount. According to the CSR, they will not recalculate a monthly payment after an advance principal payment.
1. There's nothing absurd about that
2. The easy way around that for many folks is to just go with a longer payback period than you really want, set the payback period to the appropriate length to get the payment you want. For example, when I did this last year I set my payback period to the number of months so that my payment was a little lower than what it was previously, so I extended the term by 11 months or so, but I had a slightly lower payment and $5,000 cash, which I then used to pay off a much higher interest loan I had.

I printed out the Used Auto Loan Rates, and at the bottom is an example of $10,000 @ 3.99% for 60 payments. It states the montly payment would be $195. When I put those numbers into Excel (10,000, 3.99, 60) I get monthly payments of $183.51. Is the difference a refinance charge that gets spread over the length of the loan (60 x $11.50 = $690)? To get the $195 payment, I had to up the rate to 6.6%. Or is it standard to use some other technique for computing the monthly payments?

jatan1986 said:PhrugalPhan said:I printed out the Used Auto Loan Rates, and at the bottom is an example of $10,000 @ 3.99% for 60 payments. It states the montly payment would be $195. When I put those numbers into Excel (10,000, 3.99, 60) I get monthly payments of $183.51. Is the difference a refinance charge that gets spread over the length of the loan (60 x $11.50 = $690)? To get the $195 payment, I had to up the rate to 6.6%. Or is it standard to use some other technique for computing the monthly payments?Its probably a typo (they probably meant approx $185 since I get $184.12)

Loan Calculator

I probably used the wrong technique for computing interest, as the other method would come up with your $184.12. That said, I would check with them about this before getting the loan (not that I am in the market for this, but a co-worker is).

ecjjones said:beatnik28 said:

I applied online this morning to re-fi an existing used auto loan, and was approved immediately. I will update this thread along the way with my experiences.

So re-fi'd and took out an additional $5K?

I currently have a penfed 4.5% car loan with them....for a Honda Fit I bought new last year (2008)...

Am seriously considering doing this...

Let me know how yours goes..

I should have worded my post more clearly. The loan I am re-fiing isn't from PenFed, it's from my local CU.

As an update, the loan I applied for yesterday (which was approved at the end of the application process) now shows as "active" and is listed under my PenFed accounts.

brettdoyle said:Hi all. I have a 2006 Scion TC that I paid cash for. I have a clear title with my name on it. Anyone know if it would be possible to take out a loan against it as collateral? Thanks.

Yes. I applied and pending approval upon I fax the title to them showing there is no lien against it. You may have to call them to finish the application since the online application won't allow you put yourself as the payee.

tazzy531 said:Also, note, interest rate deduction is part of the stimulus plan. If this gets passed, the 3.99% rate becomes 2.99% effectively (based on your tax rate).

Although the current bill wouldn't include used car loans, only new

amandaw33 said:bump. for new loans anyone know if they send you a blank check or how's that work?
You call them with the VIN and who to make the check out to, they will send it to you via USPS or fedex overnight it for a fee. If you want to pull up to 100% LTV, they will mail you a check for the remainder.

did you guys put $$ down on the car as well - did you hand the dealer a bank check and the rest as a check from penfed?

Thanks. I'm wondering if it's normal for a dealer to accept 2 checks as I want to put a large amt of cash down (prob too much for dealer to accept CC).

toy4two said:don't see anything restricting this to USED DEALER PURCHASE so do they allow PERSON TO PERSON PRIVATE USED PURCHASES.

Anyone doing person to person with this, I had a bad experience with used car dealers (big surprise!) and I only purchase my used cars from individuals now.
They did not restrict person-to-person transaction as of December when I was buying a car for myself. Though, it requires extra step or 2. They actually want VIN and person's name and exact amount before issuing you a check, which makes negotiating a bit more difficult if you know what I mean.