how do I know if I qualify the 0% APR?

[pickupjason]

hi, guys..

got a job and wanna take the 0% APR advantage to get a 2002.5 Protege5. ..How can I know if I am qualified or not? I mean what's the credit score for that? Or should I just go to dealer and ask them? will the sales B.S. me?

If I am not qualified, I will wait and save some more money later next year...



Best

Jason

 

[I_Vtec]

My credit is spotless and I couldn't get the best thing Mazda had to offer when I bought my car.(it wasn't 0%)

Now the guy at the dealership said if I had a house or another car payment then it would look better for me. Now I rent and every car before this was purcahsed outright.

The moral of the story is good credit with loans and stuff looks better thatn just good credit with credit cards.

That's what I had, really really good credit with credit cards.

 

[bilihor]

Mine score (FICO, myfico.com) was 702 for qualify for no payments for 9 months and 3.4 APR

 

[Sir Nuke]

the 0% they are offering is through Mazda American Credit...so you are going to have to go to the dealer....will the sales people BS you? DAMN STRAIGHT SKIPPY!...but the finance manager won't when it comes to this....so....go to the dealer and ask to talk to their finance manager.....have him do his thing and tell youwhether or not you qualify or not...if you do...go and make your deal on the car......and you are set...NOW...if for any reason AFTER you make the deal on the car....and you are once again sitting in the finance officer/managers office to do the paperwork...and he comes up and says that NOW you don't qualify for any reason......just reach across the desk, extend your hand....shake his hand and tell him thank you for not only wasting YOUR time...but he salesmens time...and that HE just blew the sale since HE told you that you qualified for 0% financeing and that the sale hinged on that.....THEN what I would do is go DIRECTLY to the owners office....and ensure that he/she knows what just happened......

and I would NEVER return to that dealer for any reason.

 

[LambOfSilence]

Listen to Sir Nuke, because this is one of their (dealerships') strategy of making you pay more, and I think it is also one of the only few ways the finance manager can make $$, other than the extended warranty thingie, the paint protection thingie...

 

[eeveyl]

The 0% APR is for Tier1 and Tier0 only. My experience with credit reports has been that these are all relative. There are three major credit reporting agencies (Experien, Equifax, & TransUnion). I'm not sure about where you live... but in New Jersey you can obtain a copy of your credit report from each for free. When you do, you'll see that there are two types of debt: "good debt" and "bad debt". Revolving debt (i.e. credit cards) is "bad debt". It doesn't really help you, but it definately hurts you when you have alot of it. Having a mortgage of financing a car are "good debts". Keep in mind that the credit report only serves as a "guideline" for them to decide whether or not you qualify. That does not mean it is etched in stone. I've seen people with not so perfect credit qualify as Tier1, just because the finance manager really wanted to close the deal. It happens.

 

[mts3]

I am not sure how my credit is...wasn't so great about a year and a half ago thru college. Now that I'm out and my wife and I make decent $ and have a mortgage, we had no problem qualifying for the best that Mazda had at the time when we bought her Millenia (4.9%) or my P5 (0%). Both of our names are on both loans.

I live 100 miles from the dealership but I did all my financing arrangements over the phone and had them verify for me that I did indeed qualify before I wasted my time driving up there. Basically I drove up there, the car was ready waiting on me, test drove, did paperwork and drove away.

The finance department from the dealer has the ability to tell you if you qualify before you even begin to buy the car. If they won't do that for you, ask them for directions to the next closest Mazda dealer.