24 Jun Avoid the Dealer Rip Off- A True Story

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]We love it when our members share stories with us. Whether they have been good or bad experiences, when they turn to us for help that lets us know who they trust.

Recently, a member purchased a new GM vehicle from a big, local dealership. This member ALWAYS finances his vehicles with us. He knew about the opportunity to save some money with the “love my credit union” program on new GM vehicles. He mentioned the program to the salesperson and negotiated his deal.

The dealership proceeded to tell the member that he must arrange his financing with the dealership’s credit unions in their finance department to take advantage of that program. He didn’t understand that since we promote it on our website, but went ahead, agreed and proceeded. After the deal was complete and the paperwork was signed he drove away happy with his new vehicle.

About a week later he gets a packet in the mail from a national bank that typically finances GM vehicles. The member was very confused expecting that he was financed with a credit union, having received the “love my credit union” discount.

The member proceeded to set up the national bank’s app on his smart phone, and set up his account to make his payments. Before his first payment was due, he logged in to make his payment only to find his information was wiped out. He attempted to contact the large national bank and waited longer than 30 minutes on hold. They couldn’t explain what happened and the information would have to be set up again, with no help from the person on the other end of the line.

At this point, the member decided enough is enough and contacted us to bring his loan where he wanted it in the first place. He stated that “No one else offers me the ability to make my payments according to my payroll schedule, this is the easiest way I have ever made a loan payment; I don’t really even miss the money!”

This is coming from someone that knows a little bit about our business, knows a lot about trading vehicles because he does it a lot.  He still fell victim to one of the tricks at the dealer.

We love to make things easy for our members. Everything we do revolves around YOU!  Please, believe us when we say, you are the only reason we are here!

We do not participate in dealership financing because in the end, it is usually not a good deal for you. Financial institutions that participate in indirect lending pay the dealerships for every loan that they receive from them and essentially those costs are passed along to you in fees in your paperwork.

We want to make your payments affordable for you! We are one of the few institutions around that offer weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, semi-monthly, and monthly payment frequencies. This is a huge convenience for you. It makes it easy to budget and you can even set up transfers to pay your loan directly from your direct deposit or transfer it right out of your account. If you choose to do this, we give you a discount on your rate.

The other products sold at the dealer (i.e. Extended Warranty, GAP) are usually marked up so high that they make it seem like you are getting a good deal when they say they will knock off $100 or $200. We offer those products too, and at a fair price to begin with.

In the end, it’s always our goal to make sure our members receive a fair deal at a good price when they finance a vehicle with us. We see so many situations where people have been taken advantage of. If you ever question a situation, know that we are here for you. We are your trusted financial partner!

Thank you to our member for sharing your story, you know who you are!

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