alpha12

When purchasing my IS350 i distinctly remember the sales manager stating that I had to:

1. Finance a minimum $15000
2. Pay a minimum of 5 (possibly 6) months of payments

Then I could payoff the remainder of the balance without risking the rebates being retracted. I just spoke with Lexus financial and they stated that there is no risk of rebates being retracted once an agreed upon price is met and you can payoff the loan whenever you desire. Should I take LF's response as the true verdict? The rebates in question are a 750$ financing rebate and a 1000$ college grad rebate, which I obviously don't want to risk.

toyotatom

There was a thread on this before, and Im pretty sure there are no restrictions on paying off the loan and losing your rebate also. Not sure why the dealer would tell you that. I financed my wife's car and I was told nothing like that what so ever.

RepDaLexus

I work for Lexus as a Sales Consultant and I am a certified LDS. I tell people to make 3 payments and on the 4th pay it off. It is a simple interest no pre-payment penalty loan. Earn a little credit and then pay it off like you would.

I usually look at it as such, lets say its a 1,250 rebate. 3 payments would accrue lets say $ 150. Youre banking $ 1,100 for free ( as opposed just paying full cash ). You're basically being handed +credit to your score. Auto loans and home loans are the BEST way to build credit.

alpha12

While that may be good general advice, in my current situation of not needing to improve my credit I'd rather have the loan paid as my bank account is earning about ~0.5% interest while this loan is at 3.6%

WiLz

I had this issue too, and different dealers gave me different answers, which leads me to believe that there isn't a set rule and they just make their own. I had dealers tell me $5,000 minimum, but can pay off after 1 payment. And another told me $20,000 minimum, must make 3 payments, then pay off.

I was told that LFS gives dealers incentives based on how much they get customers to finance, which is likely why they are trying to get people to finance more.

If LFS says it's okay to pay it off, I'd tend to believe them, since the rebates are paid for by LFS. But it's up to you, and I'd try to get that in writing/e-mail just in case.

What I ended up doing was making a large payment to lower the total interest that I would pay, but kept a small amount unpaid on the loan. Made 3 payments as agreed upon, then paid the remainder off. Dealer never called me, and I got the car's title from LFS already.

gvan1998

I paid mine off when my 1st payment was due (refinanced). Did not lose any rebates.

alpha12

Thanks for the replies, I just went ahead and paid mine off in full after 2 months of payments. I'll be sure to reply back whether mine are lost or not.

Jrdonta

I got an offer of 4000 cash rebate if I agree to finance with Lexus dealer ( currently Lexus has no finance promotion in October 2015). I am not sure it is a bait from dealer to get me to their door as they would not tell me the max and min of APR of finance that I would get based on my credit score. Is it a scam from dealer ? It is actually the dealer I got via Costo Auto Program.

Shooey

Reviving this earlier thread - How quickly can you pay off an LFS loan without penalty? I have heard different things from different dealers even though you'd think it was straightforward. Can't find anything on the LFS website. Currently $750 incentive to finance.