OK I see Lexus Financial has a $750 rebate this month for purchases made through them. However, my credit union offers lower interest rates... Has anyone financed to get the rebate and then refinanced through another bank or credit union? I seem to recall reading something about that on here but can't find it... Any drawbacks/issues/etc?

Thanks

 

The C U offer lower than 1.9%


QUOTE=crazych42;8415206]OK I see Lexus Financial has a $750 rebate this month for purchases made through them. However, my credit union offers lower interest rates... Has anyone financed to get the rebate and then refinanced through another bank or credit union? I seem to recall reading something about that on here but can't find it... Any drawbacks/issues/etc?

Thanks[/QUOTE]

 

Should be no issues. As far as I can tell, you are under no set term obligation with the loan from LFS. You can wait the required time to receive that $750 and bolt shortly thereafter. Or you can figure out how much the new loan will save you over the life of the loan, or forever long you keep the car,and weigh that against giving up the $750.

I've done refi's on vehicles in the past and it has never been an issue. Depending on how you do it, you can get at least a month where you have no payment. But that just adds a payment or extra month or so to the back end of the loan.

 

I financed through LFS to get the rebate in January and paid it off first month I got the statement. No problems.

 

No problems here. Financed my rx350 with lfs then paid off immediately with a check from my credit union. I even called lfs to make sure there was no penalties whatsoever.

 

How do you get the rebate for the car?

 

Very good question. It appears that some were offered it, and others were not. Could it be tied to credit worthiness (credit score)? Is it regional? I was never able to find out how one qualified. I did not receive the offer when I purchased in December. And it was around then, as I recall other threads talking about it. And in semi-full disclosure, I have a very good, high credit score.

 

I received the $750 credit and financed it thru Lexus at 2.9. A week later i refinanced with Bank of America at 2.2 but they charged me $250 in refinancing fees. But I still saved $700 in finance charges, which dropped my monthly payment by $10. The question is, is it worth your time to save $700 over 5 years?

 

Ask them to match the interest rate as your credit union. they did that for me.

 

hey craz.. i did a lot of researching in not only the car arena but finance (tips and tricks) as well (that and IT is my background) anyways, that is the smartest move to make. finance with LFS so you can take advantage of as many rebates as possible i got $1750 on back. make sure you check out the recent college grad or graduate program as well ($1000 bucks right there). they rebates are used on the spot and are built into the financing price. there is no contractual obligation whatsoever to continue financing with LFS after you bought the car (trust me i asked and it was my mistake--now the stupid dealership will is keeping on eye on my account to hold me to my promise that i wouldn't refi for at least 3 months, but f*** them i'm doing it my second month lol). also, if you want to take it a step further, consider taxes and processing fees extra from the dealership you're buying from. that makes some difference too. also also, try financing with CUs outside your area if you can. luckily my CU is only 20 miles away.. they gave me 1.49%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Better thing you could have done was asked Lexus to match the rate from the start and just stayed with LFS. Credit Unions charge lower rate but often these rates are for certain time duration and as you increase the duration so does the rates. I have great credit but dealer originally quoted ridiculous rate I think in the 3%+ and I told them I wouldn't finance unless they were more competitive and in the 1s. I told them I have 1.49% from CU ( but this rate is only good for 24 month I think). Dealer came back with 1.99% for 60 months. I did pay it off after a month but there is option to negotiate with the LFS on rates.

 

They wont match it rates if you take the $750 rebate. your choice is take $750 in rebate or 1.9 rate. If you take the rebate , you have to finace thru lexus. Yes I can have the dealer match the rate but then I will lose the rebate.

 

Thanks for all the tips and tricks all! I also talked to the dealer today and they will let me finance as low as $5K with LFS to get the rebate. If LFS won't match the rate from my CU I plan to finance the down payment with LFS to get the rebate and then pay it off. The balance will be a loan with my CU.

To answer someone's question about the rebates, I believe they are regional.

 

It would be great if they gave me the college grad rebate, but it was a loong time ago.

What do you mean by "consider taxes and processing fees extra..."?

 

I dont think you can have 2 different banks hold lien on one car. I might be wrong