Roscoe...If you can find someone to loan you the $ then you'll be paying loan shark interest but the bright side is that once you pay the bike off your credit will improve. I have to have a bike or life just isn't too good and I suspect that a lot of us are that way. Get the bike Bro.

 

That's really hard to believe. What reasoning did they give you?

 

No one mentioned homeowner line of credit (HELOC). I have a $100,000 credit line at 3/4% below prime rate which I think right now is about 7.875 %. It does float a bit, but the neat thing is you only pay interest if you need to. The bad side is that you are really writing yourself a second mortgage. A $20,000 loan would cost $130 per month in interest at 7.875%. But you need the discipline to retire the debt too.

I financed my 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe at 3% through their finance arm. Never have tried HD Finance.[8D]

 

my credit looks pretty sorry as well but a few years back i had a tractor trailer repossessed which popped a $46000 amount still owed on my credit which really set the cherry on top of the cake.

i called quite a few different harley dealers and was turned down for a big twin so i then started trying for a sporty. knoxville of hd told me they could get it done on a used sporty and they could work with my meager down payment of only $700. it was financed thru eaglemark.
now the funny thing is last month i was in my local hd dealer and saw a night train and had a fit over it (my one mistake is i never tried them when i was first looking to buy a hd, dont ask why stupidity i guess though). i asked the salesman how long i would need to pay on the sporty and rebuild my credit before i could trade it on a night train. he ran a credit app and told me that eaglemark would approve the trade and finance the night train that day so i left as a new owner of a 06 night train.
due to my credit the interest rate is pretty crazy and the payments are even crazier due to the dealer having to pay off the sporty and add it to the price of the night train but i would have jumped thru flaming hoops if they would have wanted me too. anything if it meant me leaving with that bike.

im still kinda surprised i got financed on it though since my credit was so bad. banks and credit unions wouldnt even approve me for a $1000 loan much less a loan for a bike if that says anything.

if you really want a HD my advise is too keep calling HD dealers until you find one who is willing to work with you. they are out there you just have to find them.

 

No complaints.

 

That's pretty interesting, as my score was south of 650 on my first 3 bikes, and the highest interest rate I got through HD credit was about 9% (hovering just a little below 6% for my Glide). Oh, and I NEVER even put the 10% down either (I think on my Lowrider I only put about $500 down!) Now, granted used bikes (and cars) tend to have higher interest loans, but the two Buells I bought were used, and still was only 9%. I wonder if he just thought you could be suckered into the deal?

I think what they were doing with you is what I've seen in the car business. You'd go in, test drive, and sit down to talk numbers. The sales guy would go to his 'manager' and come back with a huge down payment required, and still a larger payment/interest rate. That would go back and forth until it came down to the numbers that were agreeable. I think you were in that type of situation, and had you started to walk, the interest rate would 'magically' be dropped to something more respectable.

I guess it varies some, as each dealer does have some say in the interest rate (at least that's the impression I've always gotten.)

 

All the dealers I talked to said I could get lower interest rate by not going through Harley Financing. They said the only thing about Harley fiancing is that you could get a loan term of greater than five year and not need to put any money down.

I filled out a loan request on-line through USAA and got approved instantly. Went to the dealer got a price worked out. Called up USAA they fed-exed a check overnight for the amount of the loan. Pretty smooth and I didn't have to tell the Dealership loan officer all the details of my life.

 

5.99% for 48 months through HD finance. No problems, although I did tell the fiannce manager I was an accountant BEFORE he went through the motions.

 

Roscoe, as you've probably surmised credit is easy for those that really don't need it or have very good credit ratings. Those are the guys that get the low, low rates. You're going to have to shop around your locale to get the best deal for you. The rate may be high but how bad do you want the sporty. My first ride was a 1975 Superglide. I put my car title up for a loan and was paying around 17% interest. These were the guys with the broken noses. I just paid it off as fast as I could but I was ridin' a loud *** harley and having a great time. Now my credit rating is great but I don't need credit but may use it if rates are low enough. Life's funny.

 

First off, thanks for all your replies & please keep 'em coming. Some of you have asked how bad do I really want that
Sportster & I really do want it bad, even in spite of the interest rate that I'll be taking a bath on.
You also may wonder why I picked a Sporty for my choice; I'm reasonably sure I can find a late model ( '04 & up ) for
around $ 6500 up to $ 8500 or at least in that general range give or take a little either way. Sure, I'd love to have a
softtail or Dyna Streetbob, but with what I'll be facing I want to be practical about this; it won't be any fun riding &
trying to make a $300-400 note on something I can't afford.
I'm planning on taking $1200 cash in to use as my down payment. In spite of my screwed credit, I have no credit cards
or credit card debt & all my expenses are just everyday living expenses, rent, utilities, ect, so I think I should be at
least 51-49 going in. I'm also planning if I should get accepted say on a 5 year note, to pay extra on the principal of the
note & have the bike paid off in 2 1/2 years.
Now, another question for yall; I've been looking at Barnetts website & they say to give them the 1st chance at bad
credit financing; they also state if you get turned down there is a waiting period before you can apply again;
FACT or BS ?? I talked to one of the local dealers here in my area & they said that they had never of that, so I'm just
curious. I'm going to try & stay local if possible, but I'd consider Barnetts as my final option to get my bike.
Once again, thanks for your replies & comments & please keep 'em coming.

thanks,
roscoe46