jharrell

If a deal is made, I plan on buying an ES350 tomorrow. Since I'm gonna let the dealer shop my credit, they'll probably use Toyota Motor Credit (a company I used before on my Tundra). Was wondering what bureau they were biased towards.....

On all the credit monitoring sites, my Experian seems to consistently be the highest...

Mike728

Do you have any alternative credit options? My Credit Union was a couple points lower than Toyota, so I had no intentions of financing through the dealer. Then, out of nowhere, the finance guy found an even lower rate at a local bank. I did put about 50% down, though.

gmanusmc

If you had a good payment record on the Tundra, you should have no problem if you meet all the other criteria (income, debt ratio, etc). When we got ours last month, for some reason our auto credit score was some 40 points lower than our mid 700s FICO scores - no one could explain the disparity as we have a history of owning/leasing 20+ cars with no derogatory payment history. They blew it off because this is our third Lexus.

Good luck with your deal and please do your best not to let emotion enter into your negotiations - it might cost you. Keep in mind what others have said about your option to go out of state if necessary - I know that complicates the situation a bit, but it might be worth the savings. Let us know how it goes.

Bill G

bc6152

Keep in mind that when you finance thru the dealer the dealer gets a cut of the financing money. As Mike 728 says, check with a credit union if possible as they are usually at a lower rate. Especially if you have the payment deducted from an active account with them.
My sale was at 2.49% for 36 months thru my Credit union. Not bad...

jharrell

I do have a perfect payment record with TMC. So I should get their best rate. Hope it's competitive, I don't know any CU's.

lexusity

how much u planning to buy it for? what i would do is apply for PenFed and get pre-approval by phoen tongiht (they close 11 pm eastern). They are at 1.74%. then go to your dealership with the pre-approval and say u can get it at 1.74%. The dealer may try to match it. Your toyoto motor credit previously will get u extra savings during the deal.