# Advice on getting a first bank loan. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 26, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830 "2009-08-26T22:29:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/1 "2009-08-26T22:29:33Z")
I always borrowed money from family when I wanted to buy a used car. Lower intrest rate (yes, my folks charged all of the kids a low rate of interest). But Dad is helping my unemployed brother, who is in danger of losing his home. So, I need a loan. I am a member of a regional credit union, worked in the same place for just shy of 15 years, have savings, a CD, and a checking account. Ihave had a credit card for around 13 years now, & have never been late with a payment. A couple of years ago, I checked my credit rating , & it was pretty good. I have no outstanding debts, beyond the credit card, which I pay off in full every month. I run no balance. But I have never had a bank loan. And I have no co-signers. Nobody. [ol] [li]What is the best approach to get a loan?[/li][li]Should I try to get the loan first, or try to locate the car?[/li][li]Any good advice, generally?[/li][/ol] I ask this out of a lack of experience, & respect for my fellow Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/2 "2009-08-26T22:47:07Z")
In your situation, I think your credit union will be happy to approve a loan. You can likely apply over the phone or have the application faxed to your office. If it was me, I’d prefer to be pre-approved, if the lender does that, so I know how much I can spend before I start looking. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/3 "2009-08-26T23:28:55Z")
Didn’t we go through this already like two or three years ago? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/4 "2009-08-26T23:44:46Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Didn’t we go through this already like two or three years ago? [Yes, we did.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=424016) ---
**Author:** ![keturah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e95f7d/32.png) [@keturah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keturah)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/5 "2009-08-27T02:35:27Z")
I gave this advice in the first thread, I am going to try this one more time. Bosda–Log into [eloan.com](http://eloan.com) and enter your information. You should have an answer in minutes. Online. No face to face interaction, really. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/6 "2009-08-27T15:25:25Z")
Call your credit union. Tell them that you are a member, and you want to apply for a car loan. You can do this before you’ve gone car shopping. Do not volunteer any information about your past with the loan officer - they will ask questions, you should answer them. Remember they _want_ to loan you money - that’s how they’re able to pay the interest on deposit accounts. Don’t worry about your past credit, your lack of loans, etc. There’s no reason you should need a cosigner, unless your current income, debt, assets, etc. don’t allow you to borrow the amount you want, in which case you should borrow a smaller amount. Based on the previous thread - don’t even tell your father you’re doing this. There’s nothing he can do to help you. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/7 "2009-08-27T15:42:37Z")
You don’t even need to pick up the phone. Go to the website for your credit union, look on the menu bar for “Products / Auto Loans”, fill in the online form and click submit. P.S. Post back to this thread telling us which method you tried and what was the result. P.P.S. Get a pre-approved loan amount from your credit union. Once you have that information, decide how much you want to spend on a car, and **only then** go car shopping. If the credit union pre-approves you for, say, 30000 dollars, that doesn’t mean you have to spend all of the 30000 dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/8 "2009-08-27T15:59:09Z")
A word of advice: check with your credit union concerning auto-find. Some of them will take your specifications and go look for a car meeting them and use their purchasing power to get a better price. If your credit union does it you’re removed from all them back and forth hassle of looking for a car. I use it and it’s a godsend. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/9 "2009-08-27T21:35:02Z")
Bosda, I think your best bet is to walk into a car dealership, pick the car you want, and tell them you want to finance it. They’ll expect a couple thousand dollars down and you finance the rest. They’ll ask for 20% down, but they’ll take less if you don’t have the cash. A rough estimate of monthly payment is approximately $200 per month payment per $10,000 financed. So, as an example, you pick a new car costing $22,000, put $2,000 cash down and finance the rest at $400/month (at 7% interest for 60 months). Simple. Going out ahead of time to arrange financing on your own is sort of a complicated affair. You sound like you’re not really big on complicated affairs, so take my advise and keep the deal simple. A new car dealership is dedicated to the mission of making it very, very easy for you to buy a car, so let them do their job. If you really want to use your credit union, just tell the people at the dealership you can get a decent rate there, and that you want to use them. The dealership will usually match/beat the rate through their own lenders in a case like this. They might even arrange the financign through the CU for you. Buying a car is simple. No need to make it complicated. Good luck. Winston ETA: Never having had a ‘bank loan’ is irrelavent, since you have credit cards. You’ve checked your credit and it’s good - that’s all that matters to the finance companies - you shouldn’t need a cosigner, either. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/10 "2009-08-28T17:28:14Z")
Got the loan. 10 minutes, tops. Best possible rate. BTW–Credit was 790. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/11 "2009-08-28T18:03:38Z")
Way to go, Bos! What kind of car are you gonna get? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/12 "2009-08-28T19:00:37Z")
Congrats. Wasn’t that easy? Now wait till you have to start negotiating prices with car salesmen… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/13 "2009-08-28T19:04:50Z")
When I was at my local Honda dealer on Saturday to get my car serviced, I noticed how empty the new car lot was. According to the service rep, they sold a lot of cars through the Cash for Clunkers program. So if you’re in the market for a new car, you may find your choices limited for a while, although there may be deals in low-mileage used cars out there, since they didn’t qualify for the Cash for Clunkers deals. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/14 "2009-08-28T22:09:55Z")
> [@Winston\_Smith](#): > > Way to go, Bos! What kind of car are you gonna get? I bought a used car. 60,000 miles/$6,800 after trade-in of a 10 year old wreck/ 4.75% rate on loan/ Aveo. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/15 "2009-08-29T00:10:00Z")
Nicely done. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-getting-a-first-bank-loan/507830/16 "2009-08-29T02:32:07Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > I bought a used car. > > 60,000 miles/$6,800 after trade-in of a 10 year old wreck/ 4.75% rate on loan/ Aveo. Good for you, Bosda. I’m sure it will serve you well. Happy motoring!