Know Your Budget-Stay on Budget
In today’s world of internet shopping, the tools you have available online can be very helpful in finding the perfect vehicle. An important step in finding the perfect vehicle is to first establish a personal budget and then “Stay on Budget”. When you are paying cash for a vehicle, this is certainly much easier, but when you need to finance the vehicle, there are several things to consider. Ultimately you need to determine a target price. To do so, you need to establish a finance rate, finance term (how long you’re going to finance the vehicle), how much money down is available including your trade in value or equity, and which bank or lender you are going to consider. Finance costs are based on risk to lender which will include one’s credit history, payment to income ratio, employment and residential stability, the collateral value currently and throughout loan term, and the initial equity position or loan amount as it relates to collateral value.
Knowing your available finance terms before selecting a vehicle will enable you to establish a budgeted target price. Your ultimate goal is to find the perfect vehicle that fits within the price and terms needed to” Stay on Budget”. Secondly, you don’t want to spend days, much less weeks, to accomplish this goal. Many dealers offer an online process for loan pre-approval. Major lenders or credit unions will offer the same. Minimize the number of credit inquiries by taking control of which lenders are right for your situation. A dealer’s finance manager can be very helpful with this process as long as you have a good conversation with them regarding your overall objective and concerns. If you are not comfortable with the dealer’s finance manager, then why would you waste your time with a salesman from the same store? At BBC Motorsports, we find that customer’s are most comfortable when the finance manager and salesman work closely together or are one and the same person to begin with. Knowing the parameters in which a customer needs to stay within, allows us to be efficient in vehicle selection and creates an environment of quick and comfortable negotiations. Get pre-approved today.
Make a short list of vehicles to target
Once you have established a target price and are familiar with the lender’s requirements regarding vehicle parameters like age and mileage, you are now in a good position to narrow your search to 4-5 targeted vehicles. Depending on personal preferences, your short list can be determined by model, mileage, equipment, style, location, and even color. Most importantly it is recommended that all of the vehicles on this list allow you to “Stay on Budget”. Third party companies whose websites are helpful in your search include Autotrader, CarGurus, Cars.com, TrueCar, and USAA. BBC Motorsports has a large selection of vehicles of most all makes and pricing segments. Our vehicles are specifically priced to land on your target short list.