[jkoral]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

No bank "writes a check" for a car loan nor "sends a check".

I saw above you haven't used a credit union, but my credit union is out of state. I email them a signed purchase agreement and they overnight a check either to me or the dealer (I've had both happen). A physical check that I hand to the dealer at delivery (if sent to me).

[SoCalJon]

Originally Posted by jkoral

I saw above you haven't used a credit union, but my credit union is out of state. I email them a signed purchase agreement and they overnight a check either to me or the dealer (I've had both happen). A physical check that I hand to the dealer at delivery (if sent to me).

jkoral Thanks! Have you ever done an option/courtesy contract so you can take the vehicle at the signing of the purchase agreement?

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by SoCalJon

jkoralHave you ever done an option/courtesy contract so you can take the vehicle at the signing of the purchase agreement?

No, but I have done it all over email (DocuSign) and the first time I went to dealer I paid/took delivery.

With a paper check in their hands, we skip F&I pitch, but one time they asked me the terms out of curiosity and replied they wouldn't have been able to touch that.

YMMV and good luck with delivery.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by jkoral

I saw above you haven't used a credit union, but my credit union is out of state. I email them a signed purchase agreement and they overnight a check either to me or the dealer (I've had both happen). A physical check that I hand to the dealer at delivery (if sent to me).

Sounds a bit antiquated to me, but there are differences between Banks and Credit Unions.

[NoMods]

mine pushed wheel insurance, some kind of sealant crap and anti-theft id stickers on all the inside doors, trunk and hood.

they wanted to charge me $400 for the antitheft crap since they already applied the stickers, i said no or i'll file a complaint and they give it to my for free.

those assholes are worst than used car salesman, i paid cash for my car so they're not making anything

[OriginalFake]

I debated the wheel and tire insurance since it came in handy when I lived in LA but now I live in NC where the roads are a bit better. Any damage I've done to wheels since I've moved here has been my own fault.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by OriginalFake

I debated the wheel and tire insurance since it came in handy when I lived in LA but now I live in NC where the roads are a bit better. Any damage I've done to wheels since I've moved here has been my own fault.

Whether it was your fault or not, it is still damage.

I had to replace two Michelin Pilot SS rear tires that had nails in them in the first year and the value of those tires was half the price that I had paid for my 5 year policy.

[OriginalFake]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

Whether it was your fault or not, it is still damage.

I had to replace two Michelin Pilot SS rear tires that had nails in them in the first year and the value of those tires was half the price that I had paid for my policy.

This is true. My point was that in LA, it made sense because I don't have any control over the roads whereas I do have control over curb rash. Ha.

[SoCalJon]

Hey all! Just wanted to pop in with an update.

We picked the car up on Monday. We had a 2:00 appointment, and arrived around 1:40. We came over straight from the airport, so we got there a little early.

We did a thorough inspection of the vehicle, some time with the Genius to learn some features, and a test drive before we signed the purchase agreement and went upstairs to the F&I guy. I bet we spent 1:30-1:45 on all of that stuff. The dealer certainly seemed anxious to keep me moving -- I know that he was very busy, but I also suspect they hate these things to drag out... with the risk of losing a sale.

Anyway... the F&I guy had probably been prepped (because I telegraphed it to the CA a couple of weeks ago), that I wasn't interested in any add-ons. He presented them to me, and had me sign off on a document that showed that he had told me about all of the Extended Warranty and Protection options. After a couple of "waiting around times" and a couple of phone calls to the bank and to parents, we finally left... probably about 3 hours after we arrived. Some of that was our own diligence in vehicle inspection.

There was significant conversation in this thread about my "Option/Courtesy Contract," so I wanted to come back to it and report on it. This was the thing that made me most nervous, as I had a great pre-approved rate from my credit union, and didn't want to lose it.

As a reminder, I was told by all of the dealers that I worked with (3, on this particular transaction, because my first CA got promoted), that we could sign an option contract for a loan with BMW, which would allow us to drive off the lot with the car, even though the Credit Union check wasn't there. As an additional reminder, my Credit Union wouldn't write/send a check without a signed purchase agreement, and the dealership wouldn't execute a purchase agreement without the vehicle onsite for me to inspect.

The contract that I signed was incredibly clear, and removed most of my concerns right away. In the "Your Payment Schedule" section, it said "One Payment of $30,000 due 11/19/2022 (Saturday), OR 59 monthly payments of $579.84, beginning 12/14/2022."

Elsewhere in the contract was an "Option" box that said "You pay no finance charge if the amount financed, item 7, is paid in full on or before November 19, 2022." The seller has to initial that line.

Anyway... it worked like this:
1) We signed the paperwork.
2) He securely emailed us the paperwork.
3) We uploaded it to the Credit Union
4) We got our keys and registration/temp plates
5) We went home
6) The next day we docusigned the loan with the credit union.
7) They FedExed the check overnight (at my cost) to the dealership.
8) The Credit union supplied me with a copy of the check and the FedEx tracking numbers
9) I got a text from FedEx when it was delivered.
10) I emailed the finance guy a few hours later to confirm that the check was received an everything was in order.

I'm putting all this out here because I know several of you thought that it was pretty risky to do it this way. I confess I was pretty skeptical too, and this was what kept me up at night... working out all sorts of contingency plans if it went sideways.

There isn't a lot of information on Option/Courtesy contracts on the internet. Maybe they aren't all that common. If my experience helps someone sleep better down the road, it will have been worth typing this all out!

[KevinC]

I don't understand all this drama they created around "alternate financing" in case yours didn't come through. Your CU pre-approves you, they can easily verify that, you're given some reasonable time for the check to actually show up (more than a couple of days!), and you drive off. Game over. I've never been jerked around like this before.

I did have a HORRENDOUS overall experience with F&I when I bought my M2c last year. Seriously considered reporting the entire debacle to the state AG's office, it was THAT bad.

[SoCalJon]

Originally Posted by KevinC

I don't understand all this drama they created around "alternate financing" in case yours didn't come through. Your CU pre-approves you, they can easily verify that, you're given some reasonable time for the check to actually show up (more than a couple of days!), and you drive off. Game over. I've never been jerked around like this before.

I did have a HORRENDOUS overall experience with F&I when I bought my M2c last year. Seriously considered reporting the entire debacle to the state AG's office, it was THAT bad.

It may vary by state. I didn't feel jerked around, I just didn't understand exactly how it was happening until it actually happened. That probably caused me to overthink things.

I actually bet that lots of people sign these sorts of "option/courtesy contracts" without realizing it. Alternatively, lots of people put a down-payment on a vehicle and leave it at the dealership for a day or two while they secure financing and the dealer does prep. In our case, we wanted to do everything all in one day.

Some credit unions will provide a check in advance that has limits on it. I suppose some banks might ACH funds while you're on-site. Our CU is pretty small and won't fund the loan until they see the final paperwork. Since we wanted to drive off that day, the dealership is right to have some assurance in case the funding doesn't show up.

[Wolf 335]

What car did you get? Post some pics.

[duffmanwoo]

Originally Posted by SoCalJon

It may vary by state. I didn't feel jerked around, I just didn't understand exactly how it was happening until it actually happened. That probably caused me to overthink things.

I actually bet that lots of people sign these sorts of "option/courtesy contracts" without realizing it. Alternatively, lots of people put a down-payment on a vehicle and leave it at the dealership for a day or two while they secure financing and the dealer does prep. In our case, we wanted to do everything all in one day.

Some credit unions will provide a check in advance that has limits on it. I suppose some banks might ACH funds while you're on-site. Our CU is pretty small and won't fund the loan until they see the final paperwork. Since we wanted to drive off that day, the dealership is right to have some assurance in case the funding doesn't show up.

Yeah, the dealership needs to have their money just in case so that's why there's that options contract. I guess if you weren't leaving with the car they might not have one, but at that point, they would just wait until you came in with the check and write up the final contract.

[SoCalJon]

Originally Posted by duffmanwoo

Yeah, the dealership needs to have their money just in case so that's why there's that options contract. I guess if you weren't leaving with the car they might not have one, but at that point, they would just wait until you came in with the check and write up the final contract.

Yep. Most people probably don’t realize that they verify your bank check before they start doing paperwork.

[chad86tsi]

I bought my M760i CPO from 2000 miles away sight unseen through a large BMW dealership. CU financing was pre-approved, but I let them pull my credit anyway and got pre-approved by their own bank too. It didn't' hurt me, and their bank was actually 0.1% less on rate, but I still went with the CU because of other perks I got, and the convenience they have with all our loans being with one bank. The dealer knew I would close on the deal either way. I had to get the paperwork to and from the dealer before the deal was "done". I paid for shipping separately on a credit card. It was pretty easy and painless, had a bank check next-day aired to them, and it was on a trailer the day after they got the check.

The F&I guy was nice and professional. He did offer wheel/tire packages, and the usual extended warranties. I asked to sent it ahead of closing the deal, which gave me the time to. Looked it over, gave it honest consideration, and declined based on my use-case, which is that I'll put ~5000 miles on it a year or less, and intend to keep it long term. I'm fine with self-insuring after the CPO expires 2 years after purchase. It wasn't' awkward or ugly. They did try, but accepted "no" when I explained my reasons. This was with Sewell BMW in Huston.

[chassis]

Originally Posted by SoCalJon

Picking up new car (hopefully) in a couple of days, provided that it has actually been delivered, inspected, dealer prepped, etc.

I'm using outside financing, but will have to sign off on dealer financing in case my bank's check doesn't arrive within 3 days. (Bank won't issue a check without a purchase agreement, dealer won't write a purchase agreement until I inspect the car and make downpayment.) The dealer has assured me that the BMW financing option will be destroyed as long as my check arrives within the timeframe.

I know that I'll have to go sit with the F&I guys to finish up paperwork, especially since I'll have to sign off this optioned loan.

My question is... what else are they going to try to pitch me on? The last time I did this, I had an F&I guy lie to me outright (demonstrably so... numbers don't lie, but you can lie with numbers) and it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I know these guys are doing their job, but I'd feel better prepared if I knew what their pitches likely include.

(My outside financing is 72 months at 2.74%... pretty unlikely they can come close to beating that.)

Before the guy starts his spiel, look him straight in the eye and say, "The answer is no to all offers." Then when he ignores you, say no to everything.

Sleaziest and scummiest part of the retail auto buying process.

[SoCalJon]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

What car did you get? Post some pics.

330e, Phytonic Blue, Canberra Beige

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by SoCalJon

330e, Phytonic Blue, Canberra Beige

Very nice.

[ErikV55]

Originally Posted by SoCalJon

Picking up new car (hopefully) in a couple of days, provided that it has actually been delivered, inspected, dealer prepped, etc.

I'm using outside financing, but will have to sign off on dealer financing in case my bank's check doesn't arrive within 3 days. (Bank won't issue a check without a purchase agreement, dealer won't write a purchase agreement until I inspect the car and make downpayment.) The dealer has assured me that the BMW financing option will be destroyed as long as my check arrives within the timeframe.

I know that I'll have to go sit with the F&I guys to finish up paperwork, especially since I'll have to sign off this optioned loan.

My question is... what else are they going to try to pitch me on? The last time I did this, I had an F&I guy lie to me outright (demonstrably so... numbers don't lie, but you can lie with numbers) and it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I know these guys are doing their job, but I'd feel better prepared if I knew what their pitches likely include.

(My outside financing is 72 months at 2.74%... pretty unlikely they can come close to beating that.)

Was straight forward for me. They asked about each thing once, simply declined and we moved on. same with the two we've purchased for my wife over the years.

[________]

Originally Posted by SoCalJon

330e, Phytonic Blue, Canberra Beige

No wheel locks or VIN on the windows.

Good job!