Am thinking about financing a new 08 Electra glide classic thru Harley finance. All the dealers that I have talked to so far have tried to direct? me thru their process I.E. pick a bike- go to acc. counter- go to finance dept- go to motorclothes- back to salesman- back to finance. I dont like that B. S. and would like to just pick my bike and talk to finance. Can anybody that has financed an 08 thru Harley tell me the current interest rate for a person with good credit? thanks

 

Usually the rates are based on a few factors:

Loan amount
Term (# of pmts)
Fico/Credit Score

Longer terms carry higher rates. I've seen rates as low as 2.99 to about 6.99%.

 

Its what they did on my 07. Talk to the salesman and make yer deal, then you have to see the person in the finance dept and see what kind of credit you have and they will tell you. They will also try to sell you all kinds of warranties and oil changes and everything else. Its their way of doing business. All you got to say is do you make a motorcycle that ain't any good. And you gonna charge me more money for a oil change if I buy a oil change plan, they charge me interest on finacning it. You git the picture.

 

Bought my '08 Ultra and they wouldn't apply the 2.99% deal they had going on the '07s in July. The best rate they offered was in the upper 7% range. I ended up going through my credit union to get a 5.5% rate. This took a few days as I've been with a good credit union for quite a few years now and no local branch where I'm at, so everything was done online/phone/mail. I just put down a deposit to hold the bike and then picked it up a week later.

What did **** me off was after putting down the deposit the only thing the dealship was interested in was getting the money. I received a loan confirmation (statement from the CU to the dealer) to give to them from my credit union which I've used to drive away with a new car twice before with, and the dealership wanted nothing to do with, wanted the actual check or nothing. They could tell I was pissed off on the phone, called me back five minutes later to tell me they'd accept the letter from the bank until the check arrived. Unfortunately, all they said on the phone was the bike was getting prep'd, but nothing about me picking it up. When I did get the actual check in and went down they asked me why I didn't come down the day they called me back......I just looked at them like....what the F***!

I basically walked away with the exact bike I wanted, but hated the experience of having to deal with the HD crew at my local. I have one accessory I'm waiting on that's on order, and that's the last time they'll see me in their shop.

 

I would send a letter to H-D in Wisconson or call them on the phone and make a complaint. Ask them how their sales are going. How it would be after they continue to have customer after customer unhappy with H-D.
I called them up more than 10 times and told them WTF.

Don't think they care. We ain't talking loud enouth. They are interest in their stock.
I tried to pay over the phone by creidt card or by my check number so they didn't have to wait on my check and then make a deposit and take it to the bank. They wanted to charge me 10.00 to do that. I said FU. Wait on yer money like everybody else does. I was trying to make it easy on you so you want to charge me extra.

 

I went through my Credit Union my 08 Ultra and got 6%. Took the letter to the dealer and rode the bike home.

 

Capitol One is worth lookin at too.... The have a "Blank Check" that they'll send you... Go online and apply for the the amount you wish to finance, if you like the rate they are offering and you are approved they will send you a blank check good up to the loan limit... Walk into to the dealer sign the check and ride home...

 

You guys that are getting 5.5-6% from you Credit Unions, what kind of terms are you getting (length of loan)?

Thanks!

 

My CU, Tower Federal out of Maryland has 5.79% for 36-60 months on a new car/bike. Applying online gets a .25% discount.. Didn't matter about the term as long as it fell60 months or less.

 

First you need to understand that the "process" is very specifically designed to separate you from as much of your money as possible. Visit just about any HD Dealership in the country and the process is pretty much exactly the same. That is because it has been refined over the years and scientifically designed to provide them as much psychological leverage over you as possible to get as much money out of you as possible (pretty much the same process is followed in car dealerships as well).

In the first step of the process the salesman's job is to make sure that you "fall in love" with the bike. Period. Once you have fallen in love with your bike they are 3/4 of the way home. Next time you are in your dealers showroom just listen to the words and phrases that the salesmen use when talking to a prospect and you will see what I mean.

Now they want to try to make the next phase with the salesman go as fast as possible. Yes they will seem like they are "negotiating" with you on the price but that is more for show so that you feel like you "got a good deal". Frankly they are not too worried about giving up a point or two here, this is not where the real profit is anyway. What they are really after at this point in the process is for you to feel like you are done! That you have closed the sale and you have bought the bike you "love" and that it will be just a matter of a few minutes and you will be out the door and riding your new scoot.

Now your salesman will hand you over to the "paperwork and finance" guy and this is where the process is designed to come to a screeching halt! This is where they will try to sell you the high margin items like extended warranties and pre-paid maintenance contracts. This is designed to produce as much psychological leverage over you as possible. The longer they draw out this process the more likely you are to sign up for these high profit items just so that you can get out of the showroom and onto your nice shiny new bike. They particularly like the folks that are financing the purchase and are just focused on the monthly payment amount. This allows them to say things like "hey, what's a few more dollars a month".

The key to staying out of trouble is to first understand the process. Realize that they are the experts in using this process to separate you from your hard earned money and to remove as many of their advantages as possible. Never finance thru the dealer unless they are offering some special reduced rate. Usually you can do better with your own loan. And get that all approved ahead of time so that to the dealer it appears that you are paying cash. Next make sure that you have an entire day to devote to the process. Take time out of the equation entirely. Finally never buy anything extra at the time of purchase (other than add on parts since the dealers usually give a pretty good discount on parts bought with the bike). If you really want to buy an extended warranty (not a good financial decision but I know some people just feel better buying them) you can always do so later, same with pre-paid maintenance and you never want to finance any of that stuff anyway.