So, B had his car picked out. Next up is getting approved for credit. I'd normally say that's after negotiation the price, but let's be honest and blunt. B had two cars repossessed recently and it's more likely that he CAN'T get credit for a car loan. So before negotiating a price and therefore a monthly payment, he needs to know IF that's possible, and if so, what the percentage on the loan will be.
Will he be paying 3%? That's just unlikely.
5% ? Probably still low
9%? That sounds more like right.
15%? That wouldn't be unreasonable
B and his wife went to the dealership on Monday. He test drove the car and says it was like "driving on a cloud, but in a good way". B's cars have all lent themselves more on the sporty side of driving, so he hasn't had that 'luxe' feel that I've had with Belinda (the '90 Town Car), Bellulah (the '83 Impala), or even Isabella (the '17 Fusion). B was impressed even more. I think he also kinda realized that all that fun tech could be his. He's seen stuff like that in mine, and more recently Mom's, cars. But test driving the LaCrosse he was realizing what it would be like to play with Android Auto and have a fully digital dashboard.
I guess before I go further, I should say more about this car. Spoiler warning, it's still in play. In the last post I said that it was the most recent body style, and that's untrue. The second generation Buick LaCrosse extended from 2010 to 2016 with a major refresh in 2014. As that refresh cleaned up the exterior and had some major changes on the interior we'll say that this was the 2.5 generation. In 2017 they came out with the 3rd generation and those are the newest ones.
So for the 2.5 generation of the Buick LaCrosse, they had four trim levels. The 'LaCrosse Group', the 'Leather Group', the 'Premium I Group', and the 'Premium II Group'. The standard equipment on the LaCrosse Group is quite extensive, as you'd expect from a semi-luxury brand like Buick. It includes either a 2.4L 4 cylinder engine with 182 horsepower or a 3.6L 6 cylinder with 303 horsepower. traction control, stability control, 8 way power front drivers seat, 4 way power passenger seat, ambient lights, 8" digital cluster display, 8" infotainment screen with android auto, Onstar with 4G LTE and WiFi hotspot, remote start, dual zone climate control, air filtration system, push button start with extended remote keyless entry, and a universal garage door opener. Not Bad, right?
The Leather Group adds leather seating, heated front seats, 8 way power passenger seat, heated power mirrors, rear park assist, drivers seat memory settings, and passive entry system (touch the doorhandle with the fob in your pocket/purse to unlock the door). I won't go into the premium groups but they offer even more luxury like heated steering wheel, higher end audio, and bigger wheels. The safety suite like blind zone alert, lane change alert, articulating headlamps, heads up display, forward collision alert, following distance indicator, adaptive cruise control, automatic braking are all options available on the leather group and up.
The LaCrosse B is looking at is the Leather Group with the moon-roof, and 18" wheels. Not much, but remember it has a lot to start with.
So, back to the action. B is really liking the idea of owning this car, takes it for a test drive and likes it, and sits down to get pre-approved for financing. As should have been expected, he was denied credit. That night we sat down and he told me all about it. He figured that this was his best chance to get financed outside of a 'We Finance Here as we RAPE you on interest' place. So he was back down to looking for a $5000 vehicle that didn't look like it was complicit in a murder. I offered co-signing on a loan, but he tired to shut me down. I managed to get him to hear me out. Here was my basic pitch:
I WANT to help. My family have all felt hard times and we've all been happy to help each other. I've helped mom and R, and now I could help B. I wouldn't be stupid and we'd set up safety nets to protect my credit. If he absolutely fell on harder times and couldn't afford the car payment at all, I could still make it (it would be tight but doable), but the car would become mine. In that circumstance I MAY let him borrow it, but I also might sell it to get rid of the payment. I think it's important to have a car you at least like as that will help you want to take care of it. I've driven plenty of clunkers and if it starts to pull a little to the left.... well who cares if the car is a piece of shit. If the car is nice and you like it though, you'd get it into the shop to get fixed. He's going to put about 20,000 miles a year on his car and anything that's available for under $5000 will either have well over 100,000 miles already, be 10+ years old (probably closer to 15+ years old!), or won't fit his family comfortably. And in all honestly, unless we find a particularly perfect gemstone in the sea of rocks, the car he can afford will have all three of those strikes against it. It will be an old, high mileage car that can't fit his family and will be a POS that he doesn't want to care for, let alone perform basic maintenance on. If he accepts my co-signing a loan, he gets none of those and ends up with a car that's likely to last the 100,000 miles he's going to put on it over the course of the loan.
This past Friday, B accepted my offer. A major push on that was the possibility that he'll lose out on my aunt's borrowed car as she'll soon have to drop insurance and even permanently park or sell the car. More on that in a later post.
Anyway, we're on board with getting the Buick LaCrosse. I double checked in a wider area and see that it's reasonably priced and even in the middle of the Kelly Blue Book price range. So it's not a bad deal. B and I talked about the loan late Friday night and I came up with three scenarios.
- I co-sign B's loan and that gets him approved at a not eye-gouging interest rate. He's in control of the loan and will have to directly tell me if he's going to be late on a payment or grant me access to the loan online.
- B co-signs a loan with me on a decent interest rate. I'm in control of the loan and can monitor the payments myself. I'd grant him access of course so that he can make the payments easily.
- B is denied even being on the loan and the car loan goes in my name.
The first two scenarios help B's credit with obviously the most help coming from the loan being in his name primarily. R's car loan is done in the 2nd method though, and it still helps his credit. The third option gets us the car (and a maximum of a 2.99% interest rate as my credit union is offering that), but doesn't help B's credit.
I'm happy to provide any of that help though. I want B to have a nice car. Unfortunately, our times to go down to the dealership is tight. I'd rather not use annual leave to get B a car (I'd use it to get ME a car, but not B), so that leaves Saturdays between 9 am and 3 pm. B worked yesterday, so this week is all but done. It looks like we have to hope they don't sell it by next weekend.
The other option is if we have to use bereavement leave. My aunt is going to pass away soon (more on that in a future post), and if she does I'll be taking some time off to help mom. B and I could slip down to the dealership to finish this up then.
But that's where we are. Before we go to the dealership, I'm going to have at least 4 other car options ready in nearby towns. I'm talking about similarly priced Buick LaCrosses and Chevy Impalas (they're GM twins). They're around, its just a matter of figuring out exactly which ones are the best deals and at reputable dealerships. Preferably, I'd like to find 2 or 3 in a single town, but there are 2 bigger towns within 40 minutes of home and about 6 smaller towns, so I'm confident I can find acceptable options. That way, if the dealership doesn't want to negotiate a good price, we'll have our next stop ready.
I'll post more on how that all goes in Part 3.
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