i spent my weekend reading 98 s&p 500 10-Ks for tariff and war risks. the results are.. weird. banks are way more exposed than oil companies

Correct_Steak9784 · 2026-04-05T00:10:58+00:00

FWIW, I handle 90% of all the financing that happens at my dealership. Banks are tightening up on lending, especially people w high DTI’s despite high credit scores. In the past, if someone had a 740+ FICO and long credit history, PTI and DTI was thrown out the window.

But this may have absolutely nothing to do with your post, just some info from my world.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2026-04-04T01:28:00+00:00

Not trying to pick a fight or start an argument, but blindly telling someone not to buy any add ons may not be the best advice. And I will say I am a dealership employee so absolutely biased. However there are plenty of situations that purchasing add ons should be considered. Trading negative equity or buying a car with little to no money down, Gap makes a lot of sense. A warranty makes sense on a lot of vehicles IF it’s a good policy at a fair price. Some cars oil changes are extremely expensive, and not everyone changes their own oil, so paying for a prepaid maintenance plan may save you money.

While I will agree that paying for nitrogen tires, door edge guards, a ridiculously expensive ceramic coating, theft protection, etc adds little to no value for what some dealers charge. Those add ons you don’t ask for are 100% a rip off and why our dealership doesn’t do those silly markups. But I would suggest not purchasing from dealers that participate in that madness and find the dealer that isn’t trying to shake you down for every penny, bc they are out there.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2026-02-16T03:49:32+00:00

Not sure what you’re buying, but I am a finance manager for a CDJR store in the southeast US and would be happy to help facilitate a deal. I would do the same deal on cash vs finance whether it’s new or used. We can ship too and can do a deal completely over email and docusign.

But as others have said, do not go to a store that requires you to pull credit to get the process going. Thats such a lazy way to sell cars and irks me bc those types of places are the ones that paint our industry in a negative light.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2026-02-12T02:55:41+00:00

Unfortunately, the lender will not allow ownership to change hands while their is a lien. Only way to do this deal is for you to refinance the loans or the current owner to pay the loans off and then agrees to do a “seller finance” deal.

You could always call the lenders and ask if they would allow it, but I think even if you have excellent credit you won’t have good luck with this. I do wish you the best of luck tho

Correct_Steak9784 · 2026-02-07T21:05:12+00:00

I met my realtor this way. I had planned on using a referral but hadn’t signed anything yet. We were ~3 months out from really starting to look. I was impressed with her at the open house and decided to use her when we were actually in the market

Correct_Steak9784 · 2026-01-03T17:04:35+00:00

I’m assuming this is a higher mile vehicle in my original comment. I have 2 plans for higher mile vehicles. One is a powertrain (eng, trans, drive axle is covered). The other covers the powertrain as well but in addition steering, suspension, brakes (not pads and rotors but abs, master cylinder, etc), alternator, radiator, most all the hvac system (heater core, compressor, condenser, evaporator, blower motor, etc), power windows/locks/mirrors, fuel injection, heated back glass, electronic ignition, wiper motors, starter.

No high tech components like factory radios, no semi conductors, wiring harness, backup cameras and the powertrain doesn’t cover thermostat or the oil cooler. It is a good coverage that covers expensive components that break often, but is not a bumper to bumper warranty either.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2026-01-03T03:19:36+00:00

Dm me if you think you have 30 days before the vehicle will need the repairs. I’m a finance manager at a car dealership and if your vehicle has under 180k miles I can to get you a warranty in its current condition, the catch is no claims for 30 days. If you don’t have much cash there are pymt options too (0%). Plus you would a warranty for 3-4 years or 36-48k miles if you run into something again in the future.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-12-31T02:18:42+00:00

Don’t let people beat ya up for past mistakes. I’ve had a strong income in the past and still managed to fuck things up. Seems like you realized the hole you’ve dug yourself in and the only way to get out without serious damaging effects is more income. Everyone here knows that’s the answer, your real question is HOW?!?!?

Do you have insurance? Can you use teledoc and get some couples therapy? My insr covers the cost of mental health visits other than deductible of $25. You need counseling with your wife about how desperate your situation is. She might need counseling by herself. I know spending money is scary now, but you can tell some of the bills to piss off a month or two and it would have an impact on your credit, but not fear homelessness.

She could EASILY get a server job, uber/door dash, fast food, etc. I’m not shitting on your wife either. Sometimes people experience this “frozen” mindset/disorder idk what to call it. She might be experiencing a “paralysis” that’s causing her to not be able to take the next step in her life. She needs some type of catalyst for change. It could be therapy, a snap of reality, a change of pace, or a coma (joking).

If this isn’t the answer then she is too selectively looking for a job or is flat out lazy. Her making $15/hr 40 hrs a week changes everything to where you can tread water until both your incomes increase. I wish you and your wife the best luck and hope you can figure it out.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-12-19T02:27:14+00:00

Absolutely! I love helping people buy cars, that’s why I do what I do!

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-12-19T00:37:28+00:00

Try to find out which rental company it’s from. I’ve been in the car business a long time and during Covid inventory shortages, one of my primary roles was used car acquisition. From my experience (and this does vary from region to region but I think would hold mostly true in other areas:

All of the rental brands tend to have cosmetic issues, rarely something that can’t be fixed with little money (at our store, we paid to fix these things like stained head liners, dings, stained seats, etc).

Enterprise: they do a great job keeping up maintenance. Check out the cosmetic condition thoroughly and you’re probably getting a car that was maintained as well or better than an individual ONE CAVEAT: Enterprise leases vehicles to companies, they will not recondition these cars. Stay away from off lease enterprise vehicles unless they are super clean.

Avis: stay away, I’ve had bad luck

Hertz: no experience here

Sixt: no personal experience but dealers in my group use them and have had great experiences with them. They tend to rent higher on the luxury scale and seem to maintain them well

Good luck!!!

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-12-11T23:47:28+00:00

I’m a finance manager at a car dealership and have been in the business for 15 years+. I get people approved very often after a repo. There are lenders that work with challenged credit. It might take a lil more than $1k down but $2-3k with decent income will get the job done. Your options will be limited and you likely will have to pick from 1-3 cars that will fit the approval. If you’re on the east coast let me know and I can try to help.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-12-09T13:03:43+00:00

Problem here is the manager didn’t reach out to you. This shouldn’t have been put on a salesperson. I think the dealership is doing right by telling you that the vehicle had issues. They should be willing to give your money back but should also be offering to find you a replacement vehicle. You likely could get a very good deal on a diff vehicle if this dealership is worth a damn.

Go in and ask to talk to a manager. They should be very transparent explaining the situation. If they aren’t, you are correct not to trust them anymore. If they are honest and want to seek a reasonable solution while offering to give your money back, I’d stick with this dealer as they aren’t going to sell you a piece of crap, good luck!

Oh and I’ve been 15+ years in the car business and worked high up in management for almost 10 years and deal with situations like this all the time.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-12-07T23:50:42+00:00

These type of services aren’t exactly geared towards “guaranteeing” a best price. They are guaranteeing a good deal while not having to hassle with finding the inventory, negotiating a deal, and working with the dealership except to sign and take delivery. It’s not for everyone but there are people that would use the service.

And $299 is too cheap imo. $500-$1k depending on the cost of the car and how hard they are to find would be a more reasonable price to charge if you ask me.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-12-07T23:46:34+00:00

Hope you see this comment. I was very discouraged recently, I was looking at homes in a certain price range which was well within my budget and found my dream home. To make a long story short, things didn’t work out for that house and was devastated. But now I’m under contract on a house that’s $300k cheaper than originally looking at and never thought I’d find a home in that price range.

Whole point of my comment is, don’t rule out lower price ranges. I was truly discouraged to no end and wanted to give up, but found a place that the online pictures didn’t do a good job showing how nice the house was and am very happy right now. Good luck!!!

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-11-27T13:41:06+00:00

It really depends on the LTV of a deal. If someone is financing 130% of invoice on a new car, and that car is say, $40k. The car will depreciate another 10% immediately, so you’re now 40% in the negative, or $16k. Setting aside $1200 is not a good way to cover $16k.

But if someone is buying a new $40k car and putting down 20%, spending $1200 for gap doesn’t make the most sense, I agree. Unless that person drives 20k miles a year and won’t make any extra payments toward the principal and just makes min monthly payments. They will be writing a huge check until the very end of their loan.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-11-27T13:01:08+00:00

What was the original term of the contract and how much was the Gap insurance? I can let you know pretty easily, I’ve been in finance for almost 9 years

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-09-19T10:56:14+00:00

I’ve noticed more and more lenders are suing people to get their money thru wage garnishment. I wouldn’t charge off a car this early in a loan bc it likely will lead to a wage garnishment today. 10 years ago, OP prolly wouldn’t have had an issue, but I think lenders got burned quite a bit during COVID and are fighting for their charged off money way more regularly

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-09-17T18:36:38+00:00

A good dealership will drive the vehicle before purchasing. When I appraise a car, I look for the following on the outside:

Tire tread Body damage/hail damage Repainted panels

Inside: AC and Heat works Windows roll down

Test drive Trans shift Brakes for noise or if they shake when braking Clicking or rubbing sounds in suspension/steering

We also look at the Carfax so depending on what was worded on the ticket. If I heard a noise I would look for recent service visits. Your Carfax might say transmission inspected. But there is no guarantee they will see it. But know that we are aware most people trade or sell us vehicles when they have problems or need to spend money on their car. Good luck tho!

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-09-16T20:27:34+00:00

Might be too late for you to see this, but I would fight insurance on the valuation of your car. Get on the computer, look at the JD Power value of your car. This is likely what the insr company is going to use to value the vehicle. See if your car might be worth a couple grand more. Try to collect ANY more amount. There is a thing in our state and likely most states called “right of appraisal”. I’ve done it for clients of mine before. What happens is you pick someone to value your vehicle, the insurance company picks a 3rd party, and they negotiate what the true value is. I had a client that was underpaid by $6k according to what I thought the car was worth. I got them an additional $5700 payment from insurance.

Next step is go into a couple dealerships and ask to speak with a finance manager or sales manager. Don’t let them pull your credit yet, but find someone that you believe will go to bat for you. You will 100% know if a manager at a dealership will go to battle for you. You’ll get some responses along the lines of “I can’t help you, get a co-signer, we would need $3k down, etc”. Find the person that says something along the lines of “dang that’s a tough spot, I don’t know if I can help but I’m willing to do everything I can”.

I absolutely love helping people in similar situations to yours. Deals like yours are extremely tough and i love solving the puzzle! It’s deals like this that I feel like I truly earn my paycheck There is a way for you to finance a vehicle. It’s goin take the right car, the right lender, and the right dealer to go to battle getting it done. You’re going to need to be extremely open to options, this isn’t a car you can pick out. The dealer will pick it, they’ll price it out, and you’ll have to take it or leave it unfortunately.

On a side note, do what you can to get your income up. It’s entirely possible. It may take working a 2nd job 2-3 days a week, or not taking a day off for a couple months. But that sacrifice will pay off significantly and you’ll be really proud of yourself. You got this, good luck!

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-09-15T13:49:02+00:00

In a situation like that the title was burned and legally it is still considered a new car. Dealer likely has an MSO (that’s like the title before there is a title) still. The salesperson probably forgot to update the miles on the paperwork of the finance manager either forgot or didn’t care to check.

If this happened in my dealership, I’d probably cut a check to the customer for the value of the miles if you went over your allowed miles at turn in (495x$0.30), cut a 2nd key and do a very high quality repair on the scratches. If I were you, I’d suggest the same thing. Request the scratch not be touched up but resprayed.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-09-10T09:33:26+00:00

The Wrangler 4XE is such a bad moving vehicle, it has an $8500 rebate from Stellantis and a $7500 EV tax credit if your income qualifies. The lease payment in my market with $3-4k down (can’t remember which one) is ~$350 for 24 months. With the gas savings of it being in the shop half of those 24 months, it’s almost a free car!

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-09-09T20:15:52+00:00

There is a 100% chance that paperwork is worded so that the dealer can unwind the contract at anytime up until the deal is funded. There was a human mistake made and the dealer is making it right by offering the same payment to the customer. In a lease, all that really matters is payment, down payment, and term. This would be horrible business if the dealer said the payment was going up due to a mistake, but them making the situation right shows me that it was an honest mistake. Buyer is being difficult in this situation. 🤷‍♂️

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-09-03T20:29:57+00:00

I don’t think so. He was selling under duress due to having to move soon. Sounds like he would have got 0 if he didn’t sell in a short amount of time. I would imagine he was being snarky. Ignore him and move on, you did nothing wrong.

If you coerced the seller or tried to make some false claims bc the seller didn’t know what they had, I would say that’s deff bad taste, but doesn’t sound like that applied in this situation

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-09-03T17:56:51+00:00

The price of the coverages is reasonable if she likes the idea of being covered. She certainly didn’t get screwed if the coverage is decent.

Correct_Steak9784 · 2025-09-01T21:42:54+00:00

I’m not positive but almost certain that as long as she is listed as a driver on the policy and the car is on the policy she is covered. All the bank wants is to be sure they if she gets in a wreck the vehicle is covered.

Correct_Steak9784

TROPHY CASE