Penfed Auto Loan 1.49% for New, Used, Refinance up to 60 months

No Carmax in MN.

Thanks for the info on Penfed. Sounds like Cap One blank check.

Might just refi my wifes car while we are at it.

Damn... just refinanced with them at 1.99%... wonder if I can get the 1.49% rate instead? I just submitted an email asking if I could...

Wondering if anyone knows.

I currently have a loan with penfed but I am trading in my car. Is it better to get a new loan through penfed or just go to the dealer- see the best they can do and then refinancing with Penfed if I don't like their rate? Sometimes dealer rates have surprised me. For a new loan does Penfed give you a blank check or do I have the dealer call them and work out the details after applying?

Secondly, I have significant equity in my car but do not want the hassle of selling outright. My current car is in my name and I the new one will be in my companies name so I want to capture the equity personally rather than invest it in the new car. Can I just go into the dealer telling them I have a trade, see what they offer me and then tell them I want it in cash (of course with payoff and old loan docs in hand, taking home just the equity). Seems like I should be able to do this but I never have.

Advice appreciated.

Good rate, bad term. 24 months too long. Should never be longer than 36 months.

I've refinanced a couple of cars with PenFed, and wouldn't say that it is an easy and quick process. Depending on when you trade in your car, you might still have registration or title paperwork floating around that could impact the ability to trade in your car or pay the correct lien holder. Our last refinance took about 90 days for all of the paperwork to get to the correct parties. If you won't be trading your car in for at least 90 days, than its up to you to see if the cost savings are worth the hassle and ding on your credit score.

I would say most definitely, 2.99 is twice what the current rate is. I would go for the 48 month loan if I were you. Your payments would probably be about the same (give or take a bit) but you would have 6 less payments.

Same, please report back and let me know if it works.

btw guys, just because you select a longer term let's say 60 months versus 36 months doesn't mean you can't pay extra $ into your monthly payments to knock out the lien quicker.

Run the numbers to decide. I was curious, so did a quick look with $20k car.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculato...lator.aspx

$20k for 60 months at 3% ~ $360/mo

$20k for 60 months at 1.5% ~ $345/mo

$18k for 54 months at 1.5% ~ $345/mo

$20k for 48 months at 1.5% ~ $430/mo

$18k for 48 months at 1.5% ~ $385/mo

At first I thought it was going to be $70 more a month, but forgot to take into account the 6 months of payments which add up to about $2k, so really is only about $15 more. Alternatively it's about $15 savings going longer. So, $30 x 48 = $1440 vs $345 x 6 extra payments = $2070. Difference is greater than I had expected, so I may be doing something wrong with my comparisons. In any case, for straight loans, it's always interest savings by borrowing less, lowering interest rate, and/or paying off faster.

One last data point:

$18k for 60 months at 1.5% ~ $310/mo