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Need advise about $$$$$ to get into an X

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Todd Winebrenner

• Hampstead, MD, USA

• Registered on 3/4/2003

• 2 posts

Posted:12/16/2003 13:54

I will not bore you have with all of the reasons why I think that the Excursion is the right vehicle for me to buy at this point in my life. We are all agreed that this is an awesome machine no matter whether it is a P.S. D. or a V 10. I need your help and the benefit of the experience of the readers of this forum so I can move into ax Excursion asap. Approximately a year and a half ago I purchased a 2000 Chevy Astro Van. My credit history was/is poor and I needed a vehicle quickly so I've visited a local used car dealership that works with Credit Acceptance Corp. and upon proving my cash monthly cash flow was put into the vehicle the same day. Credit acceptance is one of those companies that will finance you if you can improve income regardless of your credit history. The rates are high but hey it helps re-establish your credit.
Right now on I know I am upside down and with regard to the value and liability for this Van.

We live in Maryland and although we do get accumulations of snow that are substantial at times it is rather infrequent that the roads require the use of a four-wheel drive that often.(probably 3-4 times within the last 2 years) But heck at times even 4x4 is not enough when there is ice/ snow/ drifts etc. We hav enot had any trouble getting where we need to go with our 2x4 Astro van so far.

MY questions are:
How do I move into a used Excursion probably year 2000 or 2001 in the price range of about 20 or $22,000 and get away from Chevrolet Astro while spending as little out of pocket as possible? Credit acceptance would finance me again but I would have to make up the difference in what is owed vs what is it worth game. I know that most Finance companies like Credit Acceptance will only work through a dealership. Are there others out there?

I would spend less with a private sale and get more from my Van with private sale, but it is a hassle to sell privately while using the vehicle, and I don’t think my financing situation would allow me to buy privately anyway. I have considered taking the Chevy Astro to Carmax and just pay the difference out of pocket.It's a shame that these stupid credit to mess ups come back to keep haunt you years and years after mistakes are made. Here are questions I need to have specifically answered from the viewers over this form.

1. What financing companies are out there that perform similarly to the credit acceptance Corp. in handling high-risk borrowers.
2. Do any of you really think that it is worth the extra money to upgrade to a four-wheel-drive version even if I expect to use this feature very infrequently. This machine will be used mostly for family trips and for my my wife to run the kids around town to various events, and 5 –8 times per year to tow a travel trailer for camping weekends etc.
3. Although I would love to have a PSD they are hard to come by and more expensive as you all know. When I figured it out, I realized I could put a lot of gas into my tank for long time and still be less behind (ahead) than if I bought the PSD. And that assumes gas and diesel fuel remain where they are in price. Around me now they are about the same in price. But Diesel was a lot higher a few months ago. In fact since really researching the V10, I am kinda excited about what can be done with it. All of my former research has been on the PSD 7.3.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. [email protected]

thy lantyr

• san jose, CA, USA

• Registered on 12/10/2003

• 9 posts

Posted:12/17/2003 01:02

What is your credit score ? If you are not sure, spend a few bucks and go to
experian.com and get your credit history and score. The reason I say this is....
It's easy for someone who is lending money to you to claim you have poor credit
as a reason to convince you to pay higher interest rates, but you should double
check yourself. My score is low, about 660, but this was/is sufficient for me to get
normal loans.

If you own a home, get a home equity loan or home equity line of credit.
The pro/cons of home equity loan are;
1. High fees to get the loan.
2. Your house is collateral.
3. Write off interest paid.
4. Low interest rates.

The home equity line of credit is cool.
1. Low fees to get one, in some cases there is no fee to get it
2. Maybe an annual fee $50/$75.
3. There may be an cancel fee of a few hundred bucks.
4. Interest rate is usually prime rate plus some extra, right now probably 4 - 4.5% taking a guess.
5. Since the interest rate tracks prime rate, the rate is variable.
6. You can open up a line of credit, but never use it, or use it when you need it.

Other variables to help raise your credit score. If you have credit card balances close to
maximum credit limit, your score drops. On the other hand, if you have some credit cards
with low balance and high limits, your score can rise.

Applying for credit at various places lowers your score. watch out.

Have you tried dealer financing ? If you found a used vehicle on the dealer lot, see if
the dealer will cut you some slack, some may do so just to get your business.

Cash is king, be patient and save $$$

Last, did you test drive an X with V10 or PSD ? If not, you should do so and compare the ride
to it's competition. I've been doing this for the past month and test drives tell the true tales.....

edited 12/17/2003 01:06

Weatherlite

• Mountain Home AFB, ID, USA

• Registered on 10/21/2002

• 133 posts

• 1

Posted:12/17/2003 08:43

I've been there and done that as well. Try attempting to get a loan for a 00 X when you had to declare bankruptcy 2 years prior. Nevermind the fact that it was due to a banking error that they refused to fix. Nevermind that our credit up to that point in life had been nearly flawless. Nevermind that our credit after was perfect as well. Nevermind that we could afford $800/month payments if we had to.

No one would deal with us. No one. My credit score was around 640 when I applied and no one could help....except for one place.

http://www.roadloans.com

They were able to get us approved for a loan of $21,000. Now then...some things to consider. There were a lot of things in the semi-fine print on this loan. Vehicle HAD to come from a dealer that was certified by a major car company...in other words Bob's corner car lot would not work but a Carmax might. Also, the dealer had to be in the state you live in. No driving 5 miles across into Alabama for a cheaper deal for me!

The good thing about it was that they sent you a check for the full amount and you could deal with the salesman as if you were buying with cash.

The percentage kinda sucked...~12.5% but that was to be expected with my credit.

Eventually I did not go with this deal though because the X I fell in love with was just a little further beyond my reach and they could not increase the loan anymore-I'm only military so I don't get paid much and they base their loan amounts on your annual salary. I also could not raise enough funds to pay the offset. So, I convinced my father-in-law to co-sign on it with me. Even though I got my X I think I regret that decision because he always uses GMAC-three Corvettes in 5 years and two Trailblazers. GMAC SUCKS!!!!!!

Because I was on the application they went with 11% which is better but not by much. They also screw with me every chance they get. I've even had to threaten legal action against them because of their mistake with the first payment.

*sigh* SO I guess I'm saying stay away from GMAC but checkout Roadloans.

Now then....on to which truck to buy. I have researched this extensively and would recommend the PSD. There are, of course, some provisions on this. If the PSD is 4G's higher then maybe not. However, if you can find a good condition PSD for a similar price and it just has more miles on it then go for it. Interior wise....any given model year should have about the same wear and tear as long as it was driven normally....so mileage is usually not an issue in relation to model year and interior condition. Parts wear and tear of course are a whole different story. If possible, look up the history on that particular truck....someone on here said Ford has a database of all repairs done to each VIN. But something else that, to me at least, is a key indicating factor is how well it functions vs how many miles.

I'll try to explain what I mean by this. I bought a 93 Camaro back in 94 with 30,000 miles. At that many miles there were no "bad" sounds coming from the car at first. About halfway down the road to my house on the first day I owned it, I heard an extremely faint hum. I thought it was the road I was on because it was not a constant sound. Eventually it got worse and the rear end blew up....literally. She wouldn't even move...just spun the driveshaft. Granted, this was after 10,000 more miles. Point is, at that low mileage a faint "bad" sound turned into something REALLY bad.

Now then, my 85 Bronco. I bought him used in 96 with ~160,000 miles on him. Here's a quick skinny....302 Fuel injected, 4x4, 4spd with granny low, 4.56 gears and stock tires. A farmer's truck. He used it to tow hay wagons and such so he needed the brute towing force. On a side note, this was the first ever multi-port injection engine Ford mass-produced so imagine the type of bugs in that! So, with that many miles I checked everything out thoroughly....even went so far as to drain a bit of oil from the pan to make sure the dealer (shady type in this case) didn't put sawdust in the pan to keep the oil burning down. What did I find? NOTHING! No bad sounds from anything. Fast forward a few years. Over the course of 6 months that truck drove from Oklahoma to southern Florida at least 8 times. At highway speeds of 80MPH the engine was spinnning over 4000RPM. I know because I installed a tach. In fact I think it was 4200. That's a lot of abuse for a V-8 for hours and hours on end.

Ok, after putting 40,000 on I replaced the engine. It didn't blow but it started to develope a rod knock so I changed it before there was a problem. 200,000 miles out of a small block V-8 with lots of high RPM's for sustained periods plus being subjected to towing multi-megaton hay wagons. I'd say that engine did good. I now have over 311,000 miles on that Bronco. Guess what? I've changed the brake pads. That's it. Electrical Gremlins are a different story...had plenty of problems with that first generation fuel injection but I still got it to work ok. Mechanical wise though he has been fine! The rotors and drums are the same ones that were on it when I bought it. The clutch is ORIGINAL. No bearings, rods, etc etc changed ever. The engine and brakes...that's it. All I do is make sure he is maintained well.....to a certain degree. There is this oil change issue.

Point there is that it was maintained well by the farmer and as long as I took care of it I haven't had any major mechanical difficulties.

Boy...did I get off topic? maybe not. This relates to your situation because a PSD with high miles (~100,000 or even more) may be within your budget and still be a mighty fine vehicle. And, if it has no issues at this high mileage and you check it out thoroughly you may just get the deal of a century. Just keep an eye out for the problems you read about here....front hub bearings, driveshaft vibration, popping under the seats...and a couple of others.

A PSD, for the same or similar price as a V-10, will make you happier. Trust me on this. You'll enjoy the extra power and mileage. They're also a heck of a lot easier to customize.

Now, as for whether or not 4x4? That's your decision. I use mine about twice a year. However, the peace of mind I get during those times of need are worth the extra I paid ten times over.

Now for a plug of another website I frequent. http://www.bobistheoilguy.com

This is a forum for oil nuts basically. However, it has enlightened me on numerous things. Basically how changing your oil is not enough. I do not change my oil in my X now. I use a special filter called a bypass filter. All I do is top off as necessary and do an oil analysis every now and then. You can do the same with the tranny as well.....actually most highly recommend it considering that most trannies don't even have a filter....that excuse barely filters out large chunks. Proof that a bypass for a tranny is a good idea? Ford is going to start equipping their large vans with them. Just check the site out....you'll be glad you did.

Ok, I'll quit....no need for you to read an hour long post!

Mikie