lenders - the money people ...
We work with a dozen different lenders, banks and institutions. Some of these you may already have dealt with in the past and the list contains a number of familiar names. The rest are companies that provide loans in the special finance market place and work daily with those with poor credit histories.
Each has its own appetite for risk and each will apply its unique approach to evaluating your credit worthiness and determining whether or not they wish to approve you. We don't submit your information to all of the lenders at once. We pre-determine where we are likely to meet with success, based on extensive experience with each lender. Then if we still can't get you approved, we cast a wider net - submitting to more lenders until we either have an approval or we fail to get you approved. Remember, not everyone will get approved. If you are too far overextended, have no income and therefore no ability to repay, or your past credit history is just too overwhelming, the possibility exists that we may not be able to secure approval for you. Typically, about 94% of all clients that apply will get an approval. Be wary of lenders who claim to approve 100%; yes they may accept 100% of applications submitted, but they cannot guarantee that 100% will get approved for a loan.
In most cases we can submit your information electronically to the lender, but in a few cases we have to use fax, in which case it may take a little extra time to get an approval. Usually we get same-day or 24 hour approvals. Patience is all we ask as we go through this process. We cannot rush the process and expect solid results for our clients.
The short answer is no. Even within the special finance or sub prime marketplace, not each lender is willing to take all and any risks presented for approval. Each vendor has its own appetite for risk and reward, and each loan approval or application presented is evaluated on its own strengths and weaknesses. This is not all done electronically and without human interaction. We regularly talk with our lender representatives and try to find work-arounds, loan ranges and interest rates that will work for both parties - the lender and you. But at the end of the day, we know that about 4-6% of prospective loans will not find a lender to work with them. These represent the highest, most severe risk classes, where past histories of delinquency or default is too great for the lenders to approve under any circumstances.
Loan terms may vary and are part of the negotiation process as we get you approved. We recommend loan terms up to 60 months, but we usually strive to get loan terms of 48 or 54 months. Longer terms will decrease your monthly payments, but increase the overall interest portion of the loan. For some this is necessary due to budget limits, other obligations or just getting the payments low enough to make it work. But remember that cars are subject to wear and tear, rust, etc and a excessively long term may put a vehicle into a heavy maintenance requirement due to age. We feel we have your best interest at heart when we recommend these loan durations.
Other vendors will only suggest 72 and 84 month loans. These durations, despite seeming low monthly payments, dramatically ramp up the total interest paid over the life of the loan, provide little monthly pay down of the principle and over all they are not in the client's best interest. We call these ' never done' loans. But, if cash flow is a problem, then you can choose to go for a longer loan term.
You can apply for a loan any time, 24 hours per day. Our Special Finance managers will examine your request as soon as they get notified of your application. We can get you approved as early as the same day or usually within 24 hours of receiving your application during normal business hours.