Those Who Have Financed - How Much Have You Put Down?

If I use a bank's money to buy anything, I let them pay for EVERYTHING. Zero down. Nada. Zilcho. If you're going to use someone else's money, don't use THEIR money and YOUR money. Use THEIR money. Otherwise, what's the point?

That said, I hate debt, so I don't do car loans anymore.

 

There's one more option which I haven't seen shown here, so I'll throw it out there. When I bought my Diablo, my bank gave me a loan using the car as primary collateral and my house as secondary collateral. Benefits are a fixed rate (unlike home equity) but because there's a lien filed on the house, the interest is still tax deductible like a home equity loan. I put enough down on the loan that if something horrible happened and the bank had to sell the car, it would bring enough to cover the loan (counting depreciation) and not jeopardize my house. Seems like an all-around win.

 

FWIW, I believe Capital One offers up to $100k now on their auto loans.

 

I went with JJ Best. Easy loan for any year/make/model car, so I didn't have to find one less than 7 years old to obtain financing. I had to put 15-20% down, though. Payments were fixed, no floating interest rates.

 

I just refinanced, previously had 2 loans, one was a home equity line. Its rate has been going up by about 0.1% each month for over a year, and just surpased my regular loan (went to 5.4%), so I rolled them together. They will keep going up.
I'm looking to finance a toy, and a fixed rate would be great, especially if I could get 4.5%!!!

 

Vik,

Did you ever figure out who was offering the best loans?

 

I put 20K down on a 34K 308

 

I guess it depends on what kind of payment you want, and how long you want it for. I personally hate payments. Say you get a 3 year loan, a lot of things can happen in that time, and your money might be tied up in those payments.
Just a thought.
Jim