Last Friday my wife and I picked up our new 06 STX SC 4x4. It stickered for $30,640.00. I got it for $437.00 under invoice and an additional $5,000.00 in rebates. We felt it was a good deal.

Here's my question. One of the rebates was cash back if you financed with Ford Credit. The catch (according to the dealer) is that you cannot refinance the Ford Credit loan for 90 days which means three payments. I want to go through our local credit union (4.99% for 60 months). A guy I work with just bought a new Fusion and he was told the same thing but he went and refinanced anyways after just one payment. He made one payment, checked to make sure they processed his check, called for a 10 day pay-off and went to the credit union. Ford actually sent his title to him instead of the credit union.

I've been told 2 more times this morning that the 90 day deal is not legit and that you can refinance any Ford Credit loan as soon as you make one payment.

Are any of you guys running into this 90 day thing. I would really like to refinance after our June 18th payment and be doen with it. Maybe our resident dealer sales guy can help.

Truck's awesome.

TC

 

What h appens, is if you dont wait 90 days, there's a chance that the dealer could be charged back whatever extra rebates you got for financing through Ford. So, technically you COULD refinance but they want to avoid the possibility of not only selling you the truck for $437 under invoice but then also having to pay back FoMoCo for the additional rebates. Hope this makes sense. As a general rule, I tell my customers this also, but then explain to them that its a matter of good will and "people are gonna do what they're gonna do." Good luck, and enjoy the truck.

 

I think what happens is that the dealer loses whatever "kickback" they get from Ford Credit if the customer refinances the truck in that 90-day window.

A story on when I bought my truck last June -- I wanted to pay cash for mine, but decided to finance short-term to get the extra $1000.00 rebate from Ford Credit.

Well, the dealer gave me the same "you can't pay anything off until after 90-days" routine that you got, saying it was against Ford Credit's program rules. Well, when I got my payment book, it wasn't even from Ford Credit! The dealer ran the financing through some credit union that probably gave them a better "kickback" than Ford Credit!

When I saw that the dealer had used a different source of credit, despite their claiming that I must follow Ford Credit's rules as far as payoff, I called the credit union for my pay-off amount and sent them a check immediately! I figured there was no point in me paying 3-months worth of interest if the dealer wasn't upfront with me on what was going on with the financing end of the deal!

I never heard "boo" from the dealer on it.....

 

I was told the same thing by my salesman(90days) for the $1000 match. But when I was with the Ford loan guy signing all the paperwork, I asked about that match and payoff. He said that as soon as I get my registration from the state I could pay it off or refinance through someone else. So I did and got my title in the mail a week after. So I made 1 payment which was my payoff payment and got my title a week later. Hope this helps.

 

I read in the St. Louis Dispatch last night that Ford was considering going back to a 0% deal for 60 with a $1500 rebate as well. In addition, they were talking about some kind of gas deal at a per gallon rate of $2.91 (GM's is only $1.99).

RP

 

I'm going to do the same thing. I bought mine a few weeks ago and got the $500 rebate. The dealer said to give him at least 3 payments so they wouldn't get hit with the charge. After dealing with the finance guy and getting a no so good rate, I decided to just pay off the truck as soon as I get the payment book. I checked all the forms and there is nothing on them that talks about a penalty for paying off the loan early. It makes good sense to me to save $$ where I can.

Just my .02

 

We got our registration yesterday in the mail. I'm calling for my pay-off on Monday and get'n it done. My big thing is my credit union's board meets at the beginning of each quarter to review their loan rates. I'm afraid they are going to raise the rates before I can make the third payment and then I'm screwed. The credit union can refinance the truck as new for up to 6 months.

Credit Unions in our area are the best for auto loans. We are going to be refinancing at 4.99% for 60 months. Heck, even 6 years in only 5.74%.

Thanks for the help guys. 02Supercrew4X - I was hoping you would chime in. Thanks for your comments.

RP - A co-worker and myself are going to my Ford dealer this afternoon to look at new trucks to replace his 01 Dakota. I talked to my salesman this morning to make sure he was going to be there and he said they are working on a 0% for 60 months plus a $1000.00 gas card of some sort. We are going to check it out. Plus I get $50 for bird doggin for my salesman. SWEEEET!!

PS - I am in no way trying to screw my dealer with a charge back, but.

 

More than likely, it wasnt a case of more kickback, but the fact that the credit unions offer lower interest rates. Therefore, the dealer can tell you the same thing "Ford is offering 8.99%" or whatever. Then he can send the loan to a credit union, who charges 6.49%, and the dealer makes 2.5 points of "reserve." This is basically extra money (profit) aside from the profit (if any) left in the truck. By law, a dealer is allowed to make up to 2.5 points of rate. Hope this clears things up.

 

FYI -- this term is only to be used when referring to a Hemi, and should not be uttered at a Ford dealership....

 

ddellwo - my bad on the sweeeet comment. How about this. If my buddy buys the new truck and I get the $50 I'll buy a case of beer and a big fat steak and make a toast to everyone on F150online while I'm setting on my fat behind on my deck looking at my new F150. Sound good?

I want to know where in the h3ll they found those two guys for the Hemi commercial. Good actors I hope.

 

Or maybe, as Buck Owens said, "All you've got to do is act naturally!"

 

I had Ford financing for 3 months and then refinanced with my credit union for 3.75%. The dealer told me to wait but I think it's just to cover themselves so they make still make the commission from Ford.

 

Purchased mine last year memorial weekend...got all the rebates because of financing through Ford Credit. When the payment book arrived...I paid the loan off.

 

Hear that noise boys? Thats our resale value falling through the floor. Hope all of you are planning to keep these trucks for a long, long time. As long as gas keeps rising and the firesales continue for new trucks our residual values are going to suck.

 

I was also told to wait 90 days. Atleast now I know why. I purchased mine on Feb 28 and had the payoff mailed yesterday. Ended up 2.3 pts less than original ford finacing terms.