went car shopping today

[pjbleek]

with someone who is dire straits and needs a car ASAP. his finances are not in the best shape, but I figured that the dealership would be rather desperate for a sale, so we took a chance. the dealership ran his numbers and said that they could get him into something in the $14,000 range. my mind quickly figured the math out and I knew he couldn't scrape up even 10% down. so,my question is: does the dealership who ran the numbers only good for their dealership or can he take that number to other dealership without running his credit history every time he looks at purchasing? (btw: this dealership is a used car dealership and not a new car dealership)

 

[nadrrek]

It's likely the dealership dreamt up that number as being as expensive as they dared go given your friend's credit history, and as you say they could have been desperate for a sale so it is likely that it is an abnormally high amount in order for them to get your friend's business. It's unlikely that any other dealership would offer that amount without a check of his credit history but it's always worth mentioning to them for comparison.

 

[AnitaBeer]

Other dealerships will run their own reports. They don't all pull reports from the same credit reporting agency so the numbers aren't necessarily going to be the same based on which it's ran through.

 

[Kakapo Dundee]

with someone who is dire straits and needs a car ASAP. his finances are not in the best shape, but I figured that the dealership would be rather desperate for a sale, so we took a chance. the dealership ran his numbers and said that they could get him into something in the $14,000 range. my mind quickly figured the math out and I knew he couldn't scrape up even 10% down. so,my question is: does the dealership who ran the numbers only good for their dealership or can he take that number to other dealership without running his credit history every time he looks at purchasing? (btw: this dealership is a used car dealership and not a new car dealership)

If he can't find $1400 to put down, don't do it. Buying a used car is a risky business, and if he finds a few months down the track that it needs major work, he'll be stuck paying for a car that doesn't run, and no money left over to fix it.

 

[mostroop]

Another thing, each time they run his credit, his report takes a 'ding'.