Financing your future cobra/ car?

[cschuette]

Hey everyone.

First off - if this isn't in the right spot please feel free to move it or delete whatever you wish.

As many of you know, financing these cars is absolutely a huge PITA. If you are able to get financing it usually comes at an extreme interest rate.

Long story short is this - I financed my car very recently, @ 12.49% *OUCH* I did some researching and reached out to Steve Haas who is the Director at Hagerty (collector car stuff if you haven't heard of them) and he informed me of a company called Lightstream.

Well let's just say I am now RE-financed with the same terms as my initial loan, at 4.69%! On top of that the loan is considered unsecured, meaning no lienholder.

I was skeptical at first, but I read through the "fine print" and it appears there are no catches beyond the normal loan processes. I will say for doing this, you need to have good credit - the better score, better the rate.

I'll for sure keep you all posted if I end up in some pyramid scam or something lol.

 

[blownfox]

This is good information for people who need to finance older cars that have held their value very well, like the 03/04 cobra. I've seen this question asked a lot on here. I got lucking and someone asked to buy my 93 Cobra and with the mod money I had saved up, I was able to buy the car out right.

That's actually a good rate for an unsecured loan.

 

[cschuette]

This is good information for people who need to finance older cars that have held their value very well, like the 03/04 cobra. I've seen this question asked a lot on here. I got lucking and someone asked to buy my 93 Cobra and with the mod money I had saved up, I was able to buy the car out right.

That's actually a good rate for an unsecured loan.

I envy you! Payments in general aren't ever fun. I figured I would pass this along for fellow members - hell if I can help even one person get into their car I'll call this a success. So far no complains, the "bank" has had excellent customer service and they called me after sending my documents over to ensure I understood everything and answered any questions I had. Very impressed thus far!

 

[blownfox]

What did you end up getting and welcome to the site!

 

[NateDogg]

I know a few of my buddies have used light steam with success.

I'm military, so I've used Navy federal on all of my cobras and always have excellent rates. My last car was 24,000 3.69 @60 months

 

[cschuette]

What did you end up getting and welcome to the site!

I had a local 04 Redfire Coupe show up, for 16.5 - wrong time for me to buy a car like this, but couldn't pass it up!

 

[cschuette]

I know a few of my buddies have used light steam with success.

I'm military, so I've used Navy federal on all of my cobras and always have excellent rates. My last car was 24,000 3.69 @60 months

Thank you for your service.

Reassuring to hear someone knows someone who's used them and not been bent over lol

 

[NateDogg]

Thank you for your service.

Reassuring to hear someone knows someone who's used them and not been bent over lol

Thanks for your support!!

Congrats on the refinance.. That interest rate is much better LOL

 

[thatdude305]

I financed mine about 6 month ago with Navy Fed 48 months @ 3.75%. Most importantly I already paid it off. Got lucky and came across some money

 

[NateDogg]

I financed mine about 6 month ago with Navy Fed 48 months @ 3.75%. Most importantly I already paid it off. Got lucky and came across some money

Got anymore of that luck? or money you want to share?

 

[thatdude305]

Got anymore of that luck? or money you want to share?

Unfortunately I've had horrible luck the past few months, but the good thing is that I do have money but not to share

 

[Zemedici]

Financed my last cobra at 3% through a credit union without an issue....applied for loan Wednesday, had cash in my account Friday to fly out to pick up the car.....

Credit unions for older cars - thought this was common knowledge?

 

[cschuette]

Financed my last cobra at 3% through a credit union without an issue....applied for loan Wednesday, had cash in my account Friday to fly out to pick up the car.....

Credit unions for older cars - thought this was common knowledge?

Wish it was that easy - tried that, they don't see the value of the car thus creating a high risk scenario. Even with an excellent credit score the most I could get was 10k at over 7%. I'm sure the majority of folks looking to purchase cars like this experience similar issues.

But if it worked for you - kick ass. I'm sure there's quite a few loop holes that allow for financing on these cars, and every bank/ CU has their reasons!

 

[DropSVT]

You need better than good credit for collector car loans lol. I got denied through them and one other collector loan which was embarrassing because I had a 770ish at the time. Ended up just paying cash :/


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[Zemedici]

Wish it was that easy - tried that, they don't see the value of the car thus creating a high risk scenario. Even with an excellent credit score the most I could get was 10k at over 7%. I'm sure the majority of folks looking to purchase cars like this experience similar issues.

But if it worked for you - kick ass. I'm sure there's quite a few loop holes that allow for financing on these cars, and every bank/ CU has their reasons!

so go with a credit union that knows the value in these cars. My car was already modified with the whipple, and my CU had ZERO issue cutting me a $21,000 check for the car.

You have a small town CU?

@DropSVT I completely agree here, I probably had close to an 800 credit score at this time

 

[cschuette]

so go with a credit union that knows the value in these cars. My car was already modified with the whipple, and my CU had ZERO issue cutting me a $21,000 check for the car.

You have a small town CU?

@DropSVT I completely agree here, I probably had close to an 800 credit score at this time

This was a small town CU yes - I think it's a completely different ball game depending on where you go. Point of this post however was to inform people of options.

If it worked for you sweet - truly happy for you but seeing all the posts on here about financing leads me to believe your in the minority.

 

[01yellercobra]

I went with Navy Fed as well. The funny part was the girl was really surprised at what the car was valued at. And according to my buddy she was hitting on me. I didn't care though. I just wanted my money so I could get my car.

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[Zemedici]

I went with Navy Fed as well. The funny part was the girl was really surprised at what the car was valued at. And according to my buddy she was hitting on me. I didn't care though. I just wanted my money so I could get my car.

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pretty much how I am.

'yeah great, where's my beer / food / car?'

hahahahaha zero interest in that shit, I got mines at home

 

[Goose17]

If you are military or ex military, look no further than USAA! They have financed all of my non-cash cars. I paid cash for my last Terminator, but I temporarily financed my 2000 Cobra R in the Fall of ‘16 with them. They financed the entire purchase price, which is waaay more than a Terminator and the rate was somewhere in the 2% range. The loan process is quick/easy and they send a check right away. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about them.

 

[oneof185]

I know this is off topic, but since Haggerty was mentioned....where do you guys insure your cars - for the ones that don't drive much etc? Last 04 I had, I was able to go through Haggerty or someone and get full coverage for 'driven less than 3000 miles per year' for like $120 a year. So the one I have now, I just bought, arranged for shipping then checked into insurance. Called several of these places to be told it wasn't old enough blah blah. So I called Geico who I'm with and as soon as I told them it had different exhaust even, they told me it was modified and they wouldn't cover. Of course they told me they had a collectible area too, but when transferred, my car wasn't old enough. So, I ended up calling back to Geico again and just saying it was stock to get covered. With telling them less than 3k per year, I still pay around $100/mo, no tickets and I'm 48 with like 5 other cars....WTF