Financing Q's

[poppin_fresh]

Hi all,
Probably been asked before, but a search didn't seem to get me what I wanted.

The wife and I are seriously thinking about pulling the trigger on a new trailer to replace our 2005 Hybrid. We are ready for a little more room.

I realize I could finance through the dealer, but I understand most dealers mark up the rate as their commission. Instead I would rather bring my own financing to save some $$, but who to use? There are a couple that I have heard mentioned or found with google, but would like some feedback from actual customers. None of our local credit unions have very good deals unless you want a very short term so they are probably out.

And please spare me the "if you cant pay cash, you shouldn't buy it" speech. We make good money, but if we waited a few years until we could pay cash, we will have missed years of camping memories with our kids. That to me is worse than having another payment.

Thanks!

[Majja13]

I went through my credit Union, got pre approval for the top of the range I wanted to look at and then went shopping.

[Gdetrailer]

poppin_fresh wrote:
I talked to the CU today.

The rate is good, but because the trailer I want is only (yeah "only") ~$22K the max term available is 8 years. The interest is decent, but it makes for a payment I could afford, but would rather not.

I like the flexibility of a lower payment as I can always pay more towards the loan, but I can NEVER pay less....

Back to the hunt I go.

While you are waiting (IE HUNTING) for another trailer perhaps you should set back some CASH (sorry, I realize that isn't what you want to hear) NOW. Set aside the same amount that you are willing to spend as a payment. At $150 per month for 10 months that is $1,500 you can use as a "down payment" which means you can borrow less or buy a bit more expensive than what you can borrow.

At $250 per month set aside for 10 months that is $2,500 you can use as a down payment.

I ALWAYS buy my vehicles this way, when I pay off a vehicle early then the payment I would have been making GOES INTO A SAVINGS account. This allows me to save up for a down payment for the next vehicle.. That money also serves as a buffer in case of the need to make emergency repairs to my vehicles.

Doing so ensures I will always be able to make a pretty healthy down payment.

I personally would not consider taking out a loan longer than 5yrs on a trailer, no mater how "good" of a rate you get the interest you will pay is just silly insane. Interest eats into your buying power..

If you can't afford to set aside money now while you are looking then you should rethink buying a RV.. After all once you buy, you ARE committed to the payments..

[Skid_Row_Joe]

poppin_fresh wrote:
Thanks for the input everyone.

I just found that a small local credit union (I have used in the past) lists RV loans over 72 months @ 2.75%. That seems like a great rate so I'm going to call tomorrow and see what terms they offer.

I'm not looking for 15 years, but something a little longer than 72 would be nice.

If there is no prepayment penalty, go for it. You may want to pay it off early, and you don't want to be penalized for foregoing more interest payments.

[poppin_fresh]

I talked to the CU today.

The rate is good, but because the trailer I want is only (yeah "only") ~$22K the max term available is 8 years. The interest is decent, but it makes for a payment I could afford, but would rather not.

I like the flexibility of a lower payment as I can always pay more towards the loan, but I can NEVER pay less....

Back to the hunt I go.

[tshirtman]

Thanks for pitching for us Finance people !!!!
Check out Wings Financial Credit Union in Minnesota
Rate for RV purchase is 2.99%

[ZeeLet50]

The other thing to consider is the length of the loan depends on the amount. IIRC over $15K you can go 10yrs and over $20K 12 yrs. At least that was what my credit union offered. I got a great rate at 2.49%

[SuburbanHauler3]

We took out a personal loan, no questions on what the money is used for. Doing this, we were able to pay cash for the trailer. Our loan was big enough that we used it to buy the trailer, replace a few things on it, like generator and pay off a few other things. By paying off a few things, our monthly outgoing payments didn't change. The trailer will be paid off within 5 years.

I know this might not be the best way to go about it, but so far it seems to be working out the best for us.

[gmckenzie]

If you can do a line of credit on your home, that is usually the best. But 2.75% sounds like a decent rate.

[Muddydogs]

I had financing all set up through a credit union, check a few and this credit union had the best rate I could find. Dealer financing beat my credit union by a percentage point. I would say have an idea of rates before heading to the dealer, see what they offer and if you know you can beat it then do so but before you waist your time check them first. They want to sell you a trailer that's how they make money and have lots of options to get you into a trailer.

[Opie431]

We used our credit union. It had lower rates than our bank.

[APT]

I was very happy with my local credit union. It isn't even so local as the closest branch is 45 minutes from home. However, we don't need to visit a bank more than about once per year. Anyway, I used them for my TT loan 5 years ago and would not hesitate to use again. Current lowest APR is 4.49%.

[mtofell1]

From my experience in the last few years RV financing is a bad deal compared to other money. And by other money I mean home equity lines of credit or just moving money around between teaser rates on credit cards.

About 3 years ago when I bought my TT I got 6% on about 18K (fwiw my credit is near 800) from my dealer through US Bank. I looked around a bit a year ago and it seems to have gotten a little better but not much. I've made somewhat aggressive payments and just rolled the 10K I owed onto a credit card with 0% interest for 15 months (2% transaction fee).

I'm getting close to just paying it off and might be looking to upgrade. It sounds like RV $$ may be getting even cheaper lately. 2-3% range is pretty nice, especially if you can take advantage of the tax write-off for 2nd home.

[MitchF150]

Financed mine thru my credit union. Great rate and a much better deal than what the dealer offered!

Made my deal with the dealer as a "cash" deal, since I'd be bringing in a check from the CU and my down payment...

The title went to the CU of course, but I paid the loan off early anyway, so it's been mine for awhile.. 🙂

Good luck!

Mitch

[poppin_fresh]

Thanks for the input everyone.

I just found that a small local credit union (I have used in the past) lists RV loans over 72 months @ 2.75%. That seems like a great rate so I'm going to call tomorrow and see what terms they offer.

I'm not looking for 15 years, but something a little longer than 72 would be nice.

[Tennessee_Nomad]

Our loan is thru Bank of the West as well. (Dealer brokered) We've banked with the same credit union for years. Had many loans with them. A mortgage, several cars, home improvement loans etc... Both of us have an excellent credit rating. We've qualified for a 0% interest loan from Toyota Financial. Bank of the West gave us a slightly better rate on our RV loan than our local credit union would do. We even offered to give them the business if they would match the rate, therefore keeping the money local. It was just a half point or so but they still said they couldn't... or wouldn't, match it.