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I just financed my wife's birthday present ('06 Softail Deluxe) the dealer told me that to get true HD financing they needed 20% down. Otherwise it is financed through another bank. I ended up with a local bank and 10% interest with $500 down.
I wouldn't consider 10% very good.
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I have been fortunate enough to pay cash for my bikes, but I have a question for those in the know.
Considering this fellow's situation, would it be a positive thing for him (credit wise) to have the cash he is going to spend, sitting in a savings account, take out a loan for the bike and then take that savings account money and pay off the loan within say, 30 days?
Again, I'm not a finance guy, but this would seem to me to be a positive thing to further strengthen his credit rating.
Thoughts?
That is a good question. Your credit score is based on the amount of debt you have, and your history of payments.
The first thing I would say is if you can pay cash for the bike you want to do that. It doesn't help the credit at all, but I am not a big fan of debt. With that said most folks do need to take out the loan. To help improve your credit you want to keep the loan for a couple of years to show a steady payment history. This will help your credit score. Having the loan for 30 day's wont help your score much, but from a financial planning stand point it is the smartest thing to do. I hope that helped.
Hey all!! How's Harley's financing? A buddy of mine said, "if you take a 10% down payment to a dealer you'll get a bike". I think he meant no matter what your credit is (I THINK). My credits not to well right now, but not awfull. Do ya'll think they'd finance me?
I really don't understand why people finance thru HD -- there are almost always better options available.
The eligibility rules for credit unions have expanded so much that virtually everyone can join one, and the interest rate available from a CU is almost sure to be more favorable to the borrower. IF I intend to finance a major purchase (which I do usually avoid if possible), I get the loan pre-approved from the CU before negotiating final price with the dealer.
__________________ _____________
'05 FLSTN, Stage 1
'08 FXD (wrecked, gone but not forgotten...)
Faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, and more money!
Hey, try all your local credit unions. I did with a cedit score of 660 got 100 percent financing and was able to buy from a private party 7.5% way better than harley and I got a deal from a private party.
Definately go credit union. Get pre approved and go shopping. When you find the deal you like have them write up a purchase order and fax it over to your credit union.
Then drive to the credit union, give them your down payment money,(this will buy down the note, I usually like to give 5-6k of my money, this usually keeps the note right side up) do all the paperwork and hand carry the check back to the dealership.
I have done this for both cars and bikes.
AP
I agree you should check around at different banks / credit unions. When I bought my RoadGlide a couple weeks ago the dealer quoted me 10.99% with 10% down for 72 months. I called my local credit union and they said they could give me 6.9% for 60 month or 7.9% for 72 month, I went back to the dealer and told them their rate was too high and I could get 6.9% and suddenly they could give me 6.24% for 63 months with no down.
__________________ Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass It's about learning to dance in the rain
Normally, (but the current credit crisis may change this) if you can fog a mirror and have at least 10% cash down Harley will finance you with bad credit, BUT you will pay as high as 24.9% interest. I have a friend that his DA self financed a Fatboy for 84 months at 24.9%, $580.00 a month payments. With teh down payment he'll end up having like $50,000 in it when/if he pays it off! CRAZY!
That's a good way too do it....Then at bike night when he's bragging to everyone about his bike he can say....Ya, I got about 50G tied up in it and he won't have to do all the work normally involved with putting 20 thousand dollars worth of stuff on a bike.
I have been fortunate enough to pay cash for my bikes, but I have a question for those in the know.
Considering this fellow's situation, would it be a positive thing for him (credit wise) to have the cash he is going to spend, sitting in a savings account, take out a loan for the bike and then take that savings account money and pay off the loan within say, 30 days?
Again, I'm not a finance guy, but this would seem to me to be a positive thing to further strengthen his credit rating.
Thoughts?
That's not a bad idea, especially when you consider that you'll get a better deal on a bike if you finance it instead of paying cash. Why? The dealer is comped by the lender.
Now if you go with HD Financing, the dealer will get comped only if the loan lasts at least 90 days. If you pay it off in 30 days, the dealer will not be comped and he'll consider you hosed him by financing the bike and paying it off immediately. You might not care what he thinks, but keep in mind that he might be servicing your bike and you might very well need his help with some warranty issue in the future. IMO, iuf you can wait 90 days to pay off the loan, that's better and everyone's happy. 90 days of interest shouldn't cost much anyway.
__________________ "Frenchbiker"
2009 Vivid Black Ultra Classic FF Edition w/ ABS
SE AC / PC-V / CFR slip-ons
"Sex is like bridge, if you have a lousy partner, you better have a good hand."
Hey all!! How's Harley's financing? A buddy of mine said, "if you take a 10% down payment to a dealer you'll get a bike". I think he meant no matter what your credit is (I THINK). My credits not to well right now, but not awfull. Do ya'll think they'd finance me?
After a bankruptcy in 06. Bought a brand new 07 street bob the next year. With no co sign. Traded in my honda shadow for down payment which brought 2500
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