Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Mini Cooper Emptying This Person's Pockets!

Hi Tony,

Thank you for reading this email. I came across your very informative website and I hope you can answer some questions. I drive a 2005 Mini Cooper with about 26,000 miles on it. It's emptying my pockets! Amount Financed :$26,330.51, Annual Percentage Yield : 11.55%, Monthly Payments: 582.53Net Payoff: $16,440.63.

I purchased this vehicle brand new in late 2004 with a cosigner while I was in college. I was making enough money to pay for it, but I was laid off. I have a job, but it's only $8/hr and now I'm struggling each month to make payments. I live in Dallas and a car is a necessity here.

How do I go about selling my car to someone else? Does my cosigner have to be involved with the process? My father can afford the payments and said he would buy it, but his credit is very poor, and I wouldn't want him to pay more through a bank if he could just pay me directly. My dad will be giving me his 2002 Tracker which is paid off and take on my Mini Cooper.

I'm afraid to refinance because my credit is now horrible (my mother used my good name to purchase property, and now I have 2 foreclosures, and a dismissed bankruptcy!) What options do I have? Any advice would help me!

Thanks and God Bless,

Kristine



Hi Kristine,

Well, in order to sell the car you need to sell it for at least the payoff amount. Whoever is listed on the title will have to sign off once the loan is paid off so you can transfer the title to the new owner.

In the case of your father you can list him on your car insurance as an additional driver and just leave things the way they are as long as he gives you the payments on time . . . which of course, you will have to turn around and pay to your lender on time. As long as the payments are on time every month no one will bother you.

Of course, you can also try to increase your income by getting a better paying job or taking on a second job. Sometimes we just have to buckle down and find ways to make things happen. If you stop making the payments the bank will repossess the car, sell it at auction and come after you and your cosigner for whatever balance is left, plus all kinds of fees.

Also your cosigner's credit will be in the toilet right along with yours! You have a responsibility to your cosigner to prevent that from happening.

All my very best to you, and may God bless you also . . .

Tony Iorio
http://www.InsiderCarSecrets.com
http://www.Car-Loan-Quotes.com
http://www.Used-Car-Warranty.com
http://www.GreatCreditCardDeals.com

Friday, November 09, 2007

New F & I (Finance & Insurance) Manager Asks for Advice!

Thank you Tony for all the advise I read from your web site. I have a question: could you tell me what is the smoothest way, as an F & I Manager to handle a customer once they enter your office? I am new in this department but not to car sales. I am interested in knowing the order of operation.

Thank you

Pamela




Hi Pamela,

Well Pamela, the first thing that should always happen is that before the customer is brought into your office the salesman should brief you on all the details of the deal. Things like is the customer expecting you to arrange financing, has the sales dept. quoted any payments, money down, etc. This way you have an idea of what's going on.

Once the customer is in your office simply put them at ease with some small talk. The customer is relieved that the deal is over, so they are already in a good frame of mind. You need to fill out a credit app if they are financing so you can run their credit to see what their score is. You will need this to determine what kind of terms you can get them. They will want to know what their payment will be, and you need to know what interest rate you can get them in order to accurately quote them a payment.

Beyond that be courteous and professional, and above all, be honest with them. Most complaints people have about car dealerships stem from their dealings in the Finance Office. Be honest and up front with them and you'll do just fine.

You will find that you have to walk a tight rope as the Finance Manager. On one hand the dealership owner wants you to sell high interest rates, extended warranties and credit life and disability insurance on every deal, and convert all cash and credit union buyers to your financing.

On the other hand the Sales Dept. wants to maximize their gross profit, so you have to sell the customer on a higher payment than they were quoted in order to sell your products and satisfy the dealership owner. At the same time you have to be able to structure the deal properly so the banks buy the deals you send them, but most importantly you have a responsibility to the customer to treat them fairly and not take advantage of them.

Trust me, it's a real tight rope walk! There are very few honest F & I people who are successful. Most are always pulling all kinds of shenanigans to make a living in that department. Doing things like lying to the banks on the credit app about the customer's income, time on the job, etc., lying to the customer about the interest rate they can get them, lying to the Sales Manager about how much you can get bought at the banks so you can squeeze your own F & I products into the payment, forging documents, and on and on. There's no end to the crap that Finance Managers pull to get deals done.

And oh yeah, then there are the chargebacks for early loan payoffs against your commissions that you will be constantly dealing with. Fun, fun, fun!

All my very best to you . . .

Tony Iorio
http://www.insidercarsecrets.com/
http://www.car-loan-quotes.com/
http://www.used-car-warranty.com/
http://www.greatcreditcarddeals.com/