Picked up BS BL today. Dealer claimed $1,000 order incentive did NOT apply to Bronco Sport!

[Mrmike]

"Cash" buyer here as well, but I do finance as the dealer makes a few $ from the lender, so that makes negotiations a bit smoother.
Then pay off just before second payment is due. Works out for all...

I also usually pay cash for my vehicles. If you pay it off before the second payment does that avoid any finance charges or are the finance charges already in the loan amount?

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[Escape2Bronco]

I also usually pay cash for my vehicles. If you pay it off before the second payment does that avoid any finance charges or are the finance charges already in the loan amount?

You typically will pay a few months interest if you pay it off in a few months. Really no good reason to take out a loan unless they offer a discounted reason for doing it at todays rates if you can pay cash. At one point Ford many years ago, Ford offered a 1K rebate for taking out a loan. I did it and had to make two payments in order to get the rebate, paid it off after that but had to pay a couple of months of interest. That was worth the hassle in my opinion. Just make sure you read the fine print.

 

[TheDeadlySpaceman]

Really no good reason to take out a loan unless they offer a discounted reason for doing it at todays rates if you can pay cash.

I could have paid cash for my BL, but I chose to finance the absolute minimum possible because I haven’t paid off a car loan in 20-ish years and want it for my credit history.

First month payment was the bulk of the loan. I’ll pay $100/month for the next year or so to establish on-time long-term payment history and mop up whatever’s left around 11/23.

Then again I have no actual credit cards and tend to pay cash for a lot of things (debit cards handle any “you need a credit card” stuff), so I can use this where maybe some folks don’t really need it.

Between my downpayment amount and my current (good) credit score I got a 1.9% rate, it’ll end up costing me about $35-40 dollars in interest according to some very thumbnail, cocktail-napkin math. Well worth the “purchase price” to me.

 

[Alistar]

Dealers are going to have issues scamming customers as the business model for new cars sales is quickly evolving.
You make a custom online order and pay a little for the reservation fee. Any price increase since the order is paid shouldn't be acceptable.

 

[Alistar]

You typically will pay a few months interest if you pay it off in a few months. Really no good reason to take out a loan unless they offer a discounted reason for doing it at todays rates if you can pay cash. At one point Ford many years ago, Ford offered a 1K rebate for taking out a loan. I did it and had to make two payments in order to get the rebate, paid it off after that but had to pay a couple of months of interest. That was worth the hassle in my opinion. Just make sure you read the fine print.

Taking a loan would makes sense in 2021 and previous years at 0-1% interest. Now the "free money" era is gone.

 

[sajohnson]

I could have paid cash for my BL, but I chose to finance the absolute minimum possible because I haven’t paid off a car loan in 20-ish years and want it for my credit history.

First month payment was the bulk of the loan. I’ll pay $100/month for the next year or so to establish on-time long-term payment history and mop up whatever’s left around 11/23.

Then again I have no actual credit cards and tend to pay cash for a lot of things (debit cards handle any “you need a credit card” stuff), so I can use this where maybe some folks don’t really need it.

Between my downpayment amount and my current (good) credit score I got a 1.9% rate, it’ll end up costing me about $35-40 dollars in interest according to some very thumbnail, cocktail-napkin math. Well worth the “purchase price” to me.

That sounds good.

With our BS BL we put about 50% down and financed the other 50% through Ford. In order to do that, and still have enough of a buffer in our checking account to cover the ~$500/month payments, I transferred $10K from a retirement account into checking.

We could have avoided the loan entirely, but that would have meant withdrawing more from our retirement account, and we were able to get 0.9% financing -- almost free money.

That's just what we did. We're in a fairly unusual situation where our income is low (we're both retired) but we have some money saved up. I didn't want to take too much out of the retirement funds, because -- in the long run anyway -- it does not make sense to get out of the market when car loan rates are so low. However, if we tried to borrow close to the full amount from Ford (assuming they would do that at 0.9%) we'd be looking at some fat payments over a much longer period of time -- with our checking account balance steadily dropping every month. That would mean almost certainly having to pull more funds out of retirement -- possibly at a market low.

As for credit cards, I know it's possible to get into trouble with them. In fact, I know several smart, self-aware people who do not use them for that reason. If that's not an issue though, they can have several benefits:

* You can dispute charges. I don't use that feature much, but every time I have it has cut through the bs and resolved the issue quickly and satisfactorily. It definitely beats going back and forth with a mfr or vendor.

* Some cards give rebates -- anywhere from 1% to 5% or more.

* If a card is lost or stolen your bank account is safe. At most the cardholder is liable for $50 in fraudulent charges. Most banks waive that though.

* If someone gets a debit card, they can potentially clean out the associated account.

* Some cards offer free extended warranties. One of our cards (Costco Visa) even covers accidental damage coverage (also free). I've already used that once -- saved us >$400.

I guess most people are aware of the above, I just thought I'd point it out.

 

[TheDeadlySpaceman]

I guess most people are aware of the above, I just thought I'd point it out.

I appreciate it. I might eventually get one if I find a decent rewards program on a card that I can pay off every month for no interest, but I haven’t felt compelled to go looking.

I’m fortunate that my debit cards have some pretty robust protections. I also don’t keep a lot of money in the accounts they draw from. Online banking is awesome for transferring cash around.

 

[sajohnson]

I appreciate it. I might eventually get one if I find a decent rewards program on a card that I can pay off every month for no interest, but I haven’t felt compelled to go looking.

I’m fortunate that my debit cards have some pretty robust protections. I also don’t keep a lot of money in the accounts they draw from. Online banking is awesome for transferring cash around.

BankRate.com is (or used to be) a good place to find the best cards.

They split them into 2 groups:

1) Those with the lowest interest for those who carry a balance.
2) Those with the best benefits/rewards/rebates, disregarding the interest rate.

Ours pay a minimum of 1% on all purchases, more on some. We end up getting at least a couple hundred back every year.

Of course we pay them off every month.

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