Well, after much debating I decided on an '03 Z350 through CarMax...went to my dealer here in Houston (the car was in Knoxville) to pay the transfer fee, and while talking with the salesman...he wanted to get me pre-approved before I invested the money for the transfer...which I appreciated.

A little background is in order...the real issue here is that I suffer from the dreaded "first-time buyer" syndrome! I'm 26 and have never had to buy my own car...I know that sounds odd, but my parents bought me a new Grand Cherokee when I was 16 and a new Nissan Maxima when I was 21...so unfortunately I'm in the position of never buying a car in my name.

Now, knowing this I knew I would need a sizeable down payment in order to purchase any vehicle let alone a Z.

With that out of the way, the Salesman told me that even though I would be putting down $ 5,000 on a $ 26,800 Z...He could not get me financed.

So here is my question, Is it impossible for me to purchase a Z as a "first-timer"? Right now I have 5k, but if I wanted to I could add an additional 2 to 3k to that. Do you think that with $ 7,000 down, I could finance a Z?

BTW: I make a good income. No house payments, and few monthly bills. A few credit cards with a decent score rating.

If not, I am currently thinking about buying something used for the time being pay it off in a year and then buy a Z next year. Which do you all think would be best?

Sorry for the length!

ZmyN

 

what is your equifax credit score?i only ask as im a sales manager for a nissan score....if you prefer to talk more privately pm me

 

Hmmm...I dunno dude. Do you know what your beacon score is? Unless you have some outstanding debts or have defaulted on some loans, etc. you should not have terrible credit. You said you have some credit cards. So without knowing what your credit score is its hard to determine whats keeping you out. I got a new Maxima two years ago when I was 24. 1st car I bought on my own. 8% APR on that one and just 9 days ago I traded it in and got my 350 for 3.5% APR through Nissans financing. I rent, dont own, but I pay off my credit card bill every month and have no loans except the car. I am 26 too and my beacon is a 760. You sound like you are in nearly the same situation as I am. Go online and request a copy of your credit history and see what the deal is. Once you know what shape your credit is in then you will be able to more accurately negotiate financing. Try this...go to Capital One website and apply for their free estimate. It takes 15 minutes. Good luck!

 

First of all I believe it is a federal regulation that if you are denied credit you have the right to request a free copy of your credit report from the agencies that refused you credit.

Secondly, I tried leasing my Z (leasing is harder to get approved on than purchasing) through a large leasing company and they could not finance me w/ a $3000 downpayment. I went to a Nissan dealership and with the same situation I got approved for monthly payments of much higher than I needed. Needless to say I got a Z w/o a problem.

Thirdly, buying a used car now and then getting a Z later sounds like a waste of money. I would try going through Nissan first and then if that does not work, then this option might become opportune. Just don't forget that creditors still look at the difference in your monthly payments before they loan you the money for a more expensive vehicle.

Best of luck!

 

Have one of your parents co-sign, that may help.

 

do you belong to a credit union? If not, and you can join one, do so and get preapproved by them. Thats one of the easiest and best rates also. Otherwise, get preapproved through your bank. That failing, try www.peoplefirst.com and www.eloan.com
NEVER, and I mean NEVER go in for a car without your own financing. If the dealer can beat that rate (sometimes they can), then you can go with the dealers financing, but if you dont have your own financing first, they can jack the rate up and tell you thats the best they can do.

 

You're right about that. I got a quote from Capitol One for 3.8%. I went to the finance manager at the dealership, who originally told me 5%, and told him that I would get the car ONLY if he could match Capitol One @ 3.8% APR. Without missing a beat, he says " Oh, I can beat that. How 'bout 3.5%?" SOLD!!

 

I bought my Z and got it financed. I also was buying my first new car, and I'm only 24. I don't see where the problem is unless you're leaving something out.

 

Even if your credit score is good you may still have a hard time getting approved. If you don't have enough credit history, if your debt to income ratio is out of whack, or if you have too much available credit they may still deny you. You could even get denied if you haven't been with your current employer long enough. There are a few other reasons they could deny you too, but I can't think of them right now.

I had a friend run all three of my scores, equifax, trans-union, and experian. All three were in the mid 700's and my debt to income ratio was practically zero. When I went in to my credit union for a loan and got denied I was surprised. My problem was that I had never taken a loan on anything and my only credit history was revolving credit from three credit cards that I have had at different points. I just didn't have enough credit history. It also didn't help that I had only been at my job for 5 months at that point.

In you situation, the best thing for you to do would be find someone to co-sign for you. It may help to keep your interest rate down and it will make getting the loan easier.

 

i was only 22 when i bought my Z. It was the first car purchased in my name. Had no credit (a blemish on my report), no house...nothing. And I didnt put a whole lot down either. only $3k as I had only been working full-time at that point for 5 months (3 months when I ordered the car).

Got financed through nissan at 4.19% without a problem and without co-signers. I had been a frequent visitor to that dealership though...scoping out the Z when I was bringing my Frontier in for service. So I think that really helped because a dealership in my home state of MS said they couldnt finance me. I showed them

 

I bought my Z when I was 23. I only had some credit from previous credt card/tv purchase type of deal. I put Zero down and got 5.45% on my Z. I had a credit score of about 740 at the time.

Try getting financing through a bank or something. If not, try your parents. I mean, if they give you two brand new cars, I'm sure they'd co-sign a loan.