Bob Wolf said:
It was explained to me that you had to make three payments to keep from loosing the rebate, so four months sound right.
THERE IS NO PENALTY!!!!
I did just what you are proposing. I bought the car in December, and paid it off in the beginning of January. I refinanced the 6.99% loan from Hyundai with a 4.25% loan from a credit union. The only requirement that there is is that you finance the car. After it's financed, you can pay it off anytime. This was verified by Hyundai finance. Call them yourself. After you buy it, you only need to wait long enough for HMFC to send the "welcome" letter that shows your account number. The payoff amount you get when you call is THE payoff. There is no document that you sign where you agree to delaying anything. It's not like they (the dealer) have any recourse anyway. The dealer wants you to wait because they get a kickback from the interest every month. It only cost me ~$65 in interest, and $15.00 for the re-title at the credit union to get the $1000. Not only that, the CU was 2.75% cheaper. Also, the credit union offered "GAP" insurance for $199, which I paid.
More info from my experiences for those that are going to buy.... DO NOT buy GAP insurance at the dealer. They'll try to get $600 for it. Also, when you get to the F&I guy / girl, make sure that the line "total amount finance" = what you agreed to for a price - the rebates + taxes. Also, the "doc fee" is pretty much pure profit. Remember, you are paying for the taxes, title, and tags on a different line. They'll say ANYTHING to get that. They also tried a cute stunt where they included routine maint in the total. I never asked for that, and he wasn't happy when I had him remove it. It was something like another $50 a month. I of course got the song and dance about voiding the warranty.
Remember that the amount above invoice + holdback is all profit. Nothing wrong with them making a reasonable profit - maybe 3-5% above cost, which is basically what the holdback is supposed to be. Go look it up at
http://www.carsdirect.com/home You really shouldn't pay much more than their bottom line + tax + tags + title (Title is ~$50 here in NC) . Remember, those items have NOTHING to do with the dealer profit device called the "doc fee". You are paying the state for them - you have to - you are GIVING the dealer the money for the doc. fee.
When asked if you have a trade in, don't lie. Honest answer is.... I do, but I'm not sure whether I'm going to trade it in here, or sell it on my own. It depends on what you are willing to offer me on it. We'll discuss that later, after we figure out how much the car I'm buying is going to be. They don't get the keys to your car to look it over until you've nailed down the price on what you are buying. Make sure it's locked, and only give them a spare set of keys. I once had a dealer in Owego, NY (A Chrysler dealer) "lose" my keys. They had a rep. for doing that, so I was prepared. You'll know what you are really getting for your trade, and can take it or leave it. If push comes to shove, you can ALWAYS walk until you have signed the reg. transfer stuff in the F&I office. Buyer's order means nothing. They are more likely to do whatever it takes (reasonably) on the trade after you've run them through the new car price negotiations.
