Credit unions can be great, but it all depends on your situation. Some credit unions do not offer simple interest loans. They may not have a prepayment penalty as such, but may be able to decide where to apply any overpayment. If your payment is 350 and you send 400 to offset some of the interest on a simple interest loan it goes to the principle. On a non simple interest a credit union could apply part of the 50 extra you have sent to interest and part to priniciple. Cap one can be great or terrible. If you pay them perfectly they are very nice, if you pay them poorly they can be a colossal pain in the rear.

 

I used what is now called Capitol One Auto Finance for my car loan back on a new 2000 Honda Prelude when they were called PeopleFirst.com Their rates were the best I could find. The service was excellent. And there were no pre-payment penalties. I paid off my 60 mo loan in 20 months.

I have not used them since Capitol One bought them though. So I can't comment on if anything has changed since.

Andrew

 

So I'm guessing you ended paying less than orginaly estimated?

 

JRL459 said it right, I had a new car loan through a credit union and they decided where to put my extra monthly pmts. That sucked.

 

^^^ Not sure I understand what you are asking. I brought the Prelude for like $23k-something total. My loan through PeopleFirst (now called Capital One Auto Finance) was for $17,000. The rest of the $23k+ I paid in cash. I made the monthly payments for a while, then I was paying monthly payment+$xxx for a while, then I paid off the last few thousand on the loan in a lump sum payment because I had the money and I liked the idea of not having any more car payements. So overall, I saved probably $2000+ in intrest payements by paying off more than 3 years early.

Andrew

 

Yup. That's exactly what I thought. Thanks.

 

Whoever you decide to go with make sure it is simple interest with no prepayment penalty. Then you have control over how much interest you pay. If you make the minimum payment for the full term you pay all of the rate. If you pay over your monthly and pay early it will save you a bundle in interest. Good luck!!

 

Thanks for the info! Look forward to getting a new used car.

 

right now i have cap one financed brand new car. as long as i know there is no penalities for paying it off early. and i have direct payment from my bank so as long as i have money in my bank i guess we are all happy. they have the best rate and i am happy with their service and i will use them again.

 

I used Capital One when I bought my S. I loved their service over the phone, and they were the lowest rate by far. They even give you a further rate discount if you elect to have payments automatically deducted from your account. I chose this option, and I never have to worry about late payments, rate hikes, fees, etc. The best part is that I got approved for the loan in about 20 minutes, and I got the check in the mail the next morning! So far, so good!