Anyone else having a problem with leasing/financing a car because of status?
 

Or is it just me?

Dealerships are asking for a visa or something and it is pissing me off cause my credit is exellent but I can't even get a 2 year lease...

Re: Anyone else having a problem with leasing/financing a car because of status?
 

Go to a local credit union. Dealerships will give you the worst interest rate possible. Credit unions geniunely care about their clients and will try their best to retain you as a long term costumer. Open a bank account with them first and then ask them about a car loan and how it works. Credit unions are known for their low interest rates. They also never asked me for my visa/status, the only thing they asked was an ID, SSN, and a paystub and the time I had been working (which was about 8 months continually).

I got a 15K loan at a 2.4% interest back when my credit was in the 660's. My credit is even better now and my monthly car payment is around $220.

Re: Anyone else having a problem with leasing/financing a car because of status?
 

It's almost like being undocumented has some kind of inconvenience for us.

Re: Anyone else having a problem with leasing/financing a car because of status?
 

I'd say ditch that dealership. They're probably trying to spin your status in order to have some kind of negotiation leverage. I leased my car last year no problem. I used my ssn/EAD and there was NEVER a single word about my status in the US.

Re: Anyone else having a problem with leasing/financing a car because of status?
 

Tell the dealership to go suck a fat one and head to a credit union immediately! Credit Union is the only option we have and its a pretty good one too especially with well established good credit history. We are not eligible for loans through financial institutions other than credit unions. Gluck.

Re: Anyone else having a problem with leasing/financing a car because of status?
 

Just a quick question, do you tell the dealer your situation before you talk numbers? I have helped many friends buy new cars from dealers with DACA but dealers never ask for any green card, they only ask why the person has in some cases two ssn on the credit file? But that's about it

Re: Anyone else having a problem with leasing/financing a car because of status?
 

NEVER tell any dealership about your EAD expiring in 2 years... there's no need to! Also no need to show your EAD card. This is just asking for them to question you making any payments in case you can't renew.

Driver's license, SSN (don't try to show the card either, just tell them the numbers) and income proof should be good. If they require anything else, that's when you give it to them. Don't hand any other documentation unless asked.

Re: Anyone else having a problem with leasing/financing a car because of status?
 

I financed a car no problem at the dealership. All I had to do was fill out some paperwork and sign on the line. The salesman asked for my EAD, drivers license, and SSN card and didnt ask questions. He didnt ask for all of them at once though just one at a time as he did the paperwork. I had a great experience and in couple more months I'll have my car paid off. I received great OTD price and interest rate. I bought new btw.

I thought about using a credit union but for me it was too much hassle. If the dealership is giving you a hard time though go to a different one or you can try the credit unions. Just know that to join a credit union they pull your credit report which adds a hard inquiry. Penfed allows you to use the same credit report to apply for auto loans and credit cards so its only one hard pull.

Re: Anyone else having a problem with leasing/financing a car because of status?
 

I'm planning on buying a new car by the end of this year. I am also thinking of opening an account with a credit union. Are you saying I should not open a credit union account because it will lower my credit score and therefore will affect my interest rate?

Re: Anyone else having a problem with leasing/financing a car because of status?
 

It may affect your chance of getting a lower interest rate because your credit score takes a hit when opening an account with a credit union. It doesn't matter if you get your loan approved at the credit union though because they probably use the same credit report. If the credit union doesn't approve your auto loan then you'll have to go somewhere else. Usually hard inquires due to shopping for auto loans get tied into 1 inquiry as long as they happened within 30days from the first one. However, the hard inquiry from opening an account with the credit union will not count as an auto loan. This means you'll take the hit twice instead of just once if the deal with the credit union falls through. Also, I know that inquiries that are close together are frowned upon because it looks like you're opening a lot of accounts in a short period of time.

This is my personal opinion though. I opened an account with PenFed because I was planning on going with them for my auto loan. I went with the dealership instead because I didn't want to deal with the headache associated with interest rate shopping. My loan was declined but the salesman hung up and made a call to another financial institution until my loan was approved. I ended up with 1 inquiry only on my credit report. I'm not sure if I got the best rate I could have gotten but I'm definitely not complaining because it's a lot better than what I was expecting.I think my salesman was on the phone for 2-3 hours. During that time I drank some tea and helped myself to some refreshments.

My advice would be to put down as much as you can. Banks are more likely to give loans when they aren't taking as big of a chance.