When I bought a Prius in 2016, I had applied for a car loan prospectively through my credit union (up to the full cost of the absolute most the car might cost including options, taxes, and fees at a 1.5% annual rate) and brought the paperwork with me. I had already arrived at an excellent price through emailing five local(ish) dealerships and comparing their prices offered through TrueCars and the Costco purchase programs, and getting the closest dealership to price match the lowest offer and also throw in a few accessories for free (since the car in the color I wanted in their inventory had extra options that I didn't need and wouldn't pay for, and I would have bought elsewhere if I had been charged extra for them). I brought printouts of the correspondence. I timed my email negotiations for the last week of the month and showed up to buy on the last day of the month (although that was probably unnecessary, since I had the offer in hand). The car had a manufacturer's rebate of $1,500 and I knew about the 0% financing offer through Toyota (Consumer Reports will send you a summary of all the rebates and discounts in play for a small fee. You also find out what the dealership pays for the car and can know exactly where the point is that they can no longer make any profit, which sometimes they'll go under to meet sales quotas. I think it was $15). However, I learned when the financing guy presented me with Toyota's financing offer that there was an either/or choice between the rebate or the 0% financing. I chose the rebate, went with the 1.5% financing, and ended up paying the loan off early (in 6 months, rather than the 36 month period), so I actually paid very little in terms of interest. Although there were a few steps, it was an easy and smooth process (and simple to freeze out the dealerships that wanted to play games with their numbers).

For me, any local Toyota dealership...and if you go in end of month and your score doesn't quite meet their guidelines, they'll give it to you anyway to get rid of inventory...win, win...

We got a loan at 0.5% in early 2011 when we bought a new 2010-model Honda -- they were eager to clear out the inventory, I imagine. We had been prepared to pay full price up front, but taking the financing lowered the price and saved us more than $1,000 (and because the car was a super-cheap Honda Fit, the total interest we paid over the life of the loan was only about $400, so we still came out ahead).

Just as there is no such thing as a free lunch, it is not really a no-fee no-interest loan. While they may not say there is a fee, if you negotiate the best deal you can for cash, and then say throw in the no-fee no-interest loan, they are going to say no.

Anonymous wrote:The other thread got me wondering - how/where are you getting car loans with 0% interest? We may need to replace one of our cars soon and I know DH will never go for a used car. But we’ve never been offered 0% interest anywhere. Do you have to shop at a certain time of year? DH has excellent credit, mine is good, not as good as his.

Toyota does it: i think on up to 60 months.

You will trade some kind of factory rebate to get the promotional APR.

In theory, you can negotiate very well to try to get the same "deal" on price. However, the finance and sales team will be playing all manner of games, so you may or may not be getting the deal you would have gotten in some other circumstance. I go through a real run-around every time. I can ask a specific question and will get "I can't give you that" and "here's a specific number [but actually we just made it up or inflated it, so we can "magically" find a new better number later, when trying to sell a service].

I bought a Nissan and they offered it to me right there. I was buying near the end of the year (October) and had excellent credit and a much higher income than was needed.

Great suggestions. I am interested in getting a car since uber/lyft prices continue to go up. I will definitely be on the lookout for dealerships finance specials

Anonymous wrote:Can you trade in and still get the 0% financing?

I don't see why not. But you are much better off keeping the two transactions separate, or selling your car on your own. At minimum, get a free quote from Car Max. You can't do worse than selling it to Car Max.

Can you trade in and still get the 0% financing?

It's just another incentive with a financial value often less than a cash rebate (If available). Why is spending money on cars causing you stress? It is so easy: you know your budget, you know your earnings and savings, you know your car preferences.

Thanks, everyone! This is all really helpful as spending $ on cars is a huge source of stress in our marriage.

I just keep an eye out for sales/dealership offers.

Typically they have these kinds of offers to clear out inventory to make way for up coming models. For example this summer you may be able to find those types of 0% financing deals on 2018 models so they can make room for the new 2019 models.

Also I recommmend shopping towards the end of the month when they are more likely to make a deal so they can hit their sales numbers.

Anonymous wrote:The other thread got me wondering - how/where are you getting car loans with 0% interest? We may need to replace one of our cars soon and I know DH will never go for a used car. But we’ve never been offered 0% interest anywhere. Do you have to shop at a certain time of year? DH has excellent credit, mine is good, not as good as his.

It's offereed by the manufacturer's financing arm, as a way to move more cars. They basically eat any interest costs though they probably come out slightly ahead since there are penalties for paying late and enough people probably get behind on their payments.

Check their site for financing specials. They wont' hide it since it's a big draw. Here's a list I found after Googling: https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/interest-free-car-deals

Anonymous wrote:The other thread got me wondering - how/where are you getting car loans with 0% interest? We may need to replace one of our cars soon and I know DH will never go for a used car. But we’ve never been offered 0% interest anywhere. Do you have to shop at a certain time of year? DH has excellent credit, mine is good, not as good as his.

I’m the one from the other thread that you’re referring to. I bought a Toyota. When I bought, they asked if I wanted to put anything down so I asked them if I needed to do that to get the zero rate. They told me no so I didn’t put anything down. It would have reduced my payment but I would pay the same dollars either way.

When I bought, I just went to my closest dealership and showed them the website of another dealer and said “match this price or I’ll buy there”. They matched it. Don’t buy the ads-ones. They tried to sell me some junk coating for the car paint but that’s a huge rip off, don’t do that. Also, I wouldn’t buy the extended warranties (any of them) but if you really want one, remember that you can also haggle on the price of these. The prices are NOT set and they have a huge profit margin.

The other thread got me wondering - how/where are you getting car loans with 0% interest? We may need to replace one of our cars soon and I know DH will never go for a used car. But we’ve never been offered 0% interest anywhere. Do you have to shop at a certain time of year? DH has excellent credit, mine is good, not as good as his.