Anyone else disappointed with financing?

[Se7enLC]

I just bought my 2013, and it wasn't until I was signing paperwork that I was told that there is no "Subaru Financial" - Subaru has assorted local banks handling their loans. I was told that my loan would be handled my "Belmont Savings Bank". I didn't think anything of this, and the rate was good, so I went with it.

I just got my first bill in the mail. After calling up 4 different numbers, I found out that the Belmont Savings Bank doesn't handle the loans - it's a "completely separate group" according to them. There's no web login. You have to mail a check or set up auto-pay (over the phone). They charge you a fee to make a payment over the phone, even.

Am I crazy for having expected a web account I could log into for this sort of thing? If I'd known going in, I would have gone with a different bank. Now that I already have the loan, though, I can't get a competitive rate from another bank (refinance is not the same as a new car, of course).

Yes, I know I can probably set up auto-pay, or even set it up so that my bank mails a physical check every month. But I would really much prefer an account that I can log into to see the total loan amount, received payments, etc.

[vr4Legacy]

Your'e dealer is wrong.

Subaru offers dealer direct financing through Chase Bank. It is called Subaru Motors Finance. Once you have the loan it can be access though Chase Bank's online banking site.

Here's a link to Chase
https://www.chase.com/online/auto-lo...or_finance.htm

Subaru's Link
http://www.subaru.com/financial-tool...-programs.html

Heck they're even offering 0% and 0.9% right now...
http://www.subaru.com/special-offers/index.html



I've financed 3 with em so far

I'd send an e-mail straight to SOA through their contact us button and let them know what you went through.

[JCBERB]

I know folks with bad credit that go through dealerships, and end up with some banks that you have to pay to make phone payments, and have to mail in payment, etc... in addition to 13% interest rates. A co-worker had his car financed through Wachovia Dealer Serves (WFS Financial), he would always talk about how ghetto/terrible the customer service was.

OP when you say it was a good interest rate, what do you define as good?

[adgjqetuo]

Yeah, I was financed through Chase with the 0.9% Subaru is offering.

It is possible if you didn't qualify for the 0.9% financing they signed you up with a different bank.

[upflying]

I have Subaru financing, started with Chase and then they sold my loan to Wells Fargo.
It's 2.9% for48mo.

[Se7enLC]

Originally Posted by JCBERB

I know folks with bad credit that go through dealerships, and end up with some banks that you have to pay to make phone payments, and have to mail in payment, etc... in addition to 13% interest rates. A co-worker had his car financed through Wachovia Dealer Serves (WFS Financial), he would always talk about how ghetto/terrible the customer service was.

OP when you say it was a good interest rate, what do you define as good?

1.9%, no term limits. That's what Subaru was offering at the time, but I see that now they are offering 0.9%. I have a very good credit score, so I don't think that was related.

EDIT: Just got off the phone with the dealership. Found out what happened. Apparently when a local bank has the same rate as Subaru, the local bank will add an incentive for the dealer to go with them. So my dealer decided to go with Belmont and not even mention that there was another option (and in fact mislead me into believing that it wasn't an option at all). They said that they are not willing to do anything to fix the situation (not that I know of what they could do, either).

[SeanU]

I got the Subaru/Chase 1.9 rate for a 60 month loan. I think the .9 is for 36 months.

[subiesailor]

Originally Posted by Se7enLC

1.9%, no term limits. That's what Subaru was offering at the time, but I see that now they are offering 0.9%. I have a very good credit score, so I don't think that was related.

EDIT: Just got off the phone with the dealership. Found out what happened. Apparently when a local bank has the same rate as Subaru, the local bank will add an incentive for the dealer to go with them. So my dealer decided to go with Belmont and not even mention that there was another option (and in fact mislead me into believing that it wasn't an option at all). They said that they are not willing to do anything to fix the situation (not that I know of what they could do, either).

This is the first thing that came to mind reading your post. Dealers do this all the time ie get kickbacks from pushing financing through local banks etc. They basically hand pick certain customers based on credit score ie risk level and filter them through a local bank for a kick back. What is very wrong about this is the way your local dealer handled your situation they should have laid out all your bank options for you and let you choose vs telling you no this is your only option.

Another reason I pay cash for my cars

[vr4Legacy]

Originally Posted by Se7enLC

1.9%, no term limits. That's what Subaru was offering at the time, but I see that now they are offering 0.9%. I have a very good credit score, so I don't think that was related.

EDIT: Just got off the phone with the dealership. Found out what happened. Apparently when a local bank has the same rate as Subaru, the local bank will add an incentive for the dealer to go with them. So my dealer decided to go with Belmont and not even mention that there was another option (and in fact mislead me into believing that it wasn't an option at all). They said that they are not willing to do anything to fix the situation (not that I know of what they could do, either).

I would be contacting the BBB and Subaru of America immediately. I would be curious to see if there were any additional financing costs too. I just think that seems very shady IMO. Even if you got the same rate, you deserve the option of quality service after the sale.

[Se7enLC]

Originally Posted by subiesailor

This is the first thing that came to mind reading your post. Dealers do this all the time ie get kickbacks from pushing financing through local banks etc. They basically hand pick certain customers based on credit score ie risk level and filter them through a local bank for a kick back. What is very wrong about this is the way your local dealer handled your situation they should have laid out all your bank options for you and let you choose vs telling you no this is your only option.

Yeah, and when I called them just now they seemed genuinely uninterested in my complaint and made no attempt to make it right. When I got off the phone with them, I said "I hope your dealer enjoys the incentive at the expense of your customers experience"

Another reason I pay cash for my cars

I may just do that. I had intended on paying off a large chunk as soon as the first bill came in anyway, but now I may just pay the whole thing, instead. Problem is, it's much more difficult because my money is mostly in online accounts that I can't write a check from.