RV Loans

[coachtcardoso]

I'm getting very close to placing an order (maybe 2 days away). Now I'm looking at RV loans and noticed something weird:
A 10 year $20000 loan @ 9.25% has the same monthly payment as a 10 year $25000 loan @ 4.25%. (anything under $25000 has that 9.25 rate). I was looking at Good Sams and 2 other Rv loan sites for reference.

If we order a $21000 trailer I'd imagine we have to put 10% down ($2100). So after taxes and other fees (I don't know what they total) I think my loan is going to be under 25k and more than 20k. My "dead zone" of interest rates.

What advice or strategy can you recommend to get my monthly payment lower? It seems like if I follow my own logic, anything over 20 grand is a waste until I reach 25 grand (when the interest rate is cut in half) . Do dealers have ways of working numbers?

[stickyTaco]

Find a different lender. Check with local credit unions.

If you qualify for 4.25 on a larger loan there's no reason you should be paying 9.25% on a smaller loan.

FWIW, we got a $20,000 loan under 4% when we bought our trailer a little over a year ago.

[namusmc65]

USAA has some very competitive rates. We used them on our last purchase. Even beat our credit union rates!

[ShawnR]

I noticed the same thing a few years ago when I bought so I offered a tiny down payment. The lender wanted more down so I said sure, as long as the interest rate stays low. Done. They can and will negotiate.

[spoon059]

If you own a house, you might consider a home equity line of credit. That gives us 15 years to pay back our RV loan at just under 4%. We are planning to pay it off in 5 or7 years though. It was by far the cheapest and most flexible loan for us.

[need-a-vacation]

Not sure if you have completed the deal yet or not, but as mentioned, call any and all credit unions somewhat local to you!!!

We have a local credit union (about 15min away from the house) that had 6yr loans for 2-1/2% (think that's our rate, was right around there if not exact). We purchased last July for reference, but last I knew they still had the same rate. Had the rate been higher, we probably would have held off at the time.

Good luck!!!

[jloco]

I went through my dealer.. rate is 4.5% for 5 years.. I thought about home equity loan, but I didn't want to tie my house to it to save about 1%, especially since I'm one year from paying the house off. Plus it would have required home assessment and all that bologna.

[maromeo]

We went in prequalified for a loan through Good Sam at 3.87 % for a fifth wheel with the stipulation it would fit under our RV cover needless to say it didn't. We ended up ordering a the Eagle which cost us less and got the same interest rate through US Bank. It pays to have all your ducks in a row.

Congrats on the new purchase.

[DocBrown]

I'm not sure how you got those quotes, I haven't had to do this in a while. But your credit rating will also make a huge difference in your rate and terms.

[3'senough]

The rates you have seem in line for Essex Credit. They have a structure like that. Agree that you should start with the dealer. If not search in your zip for loan rates like light stream or lending tree to give you an idea of what is out there. I have had good luck with matching my best rate by the dealers(car or RV) since they want their money faster and in house financing is better for them.

[wags999]

Costco if your a member also does RV loans at competitive rates, as does KOA.

[The Logans]

It's all about your credit rating (FICO) score. It make a HUGE difference in the APR!

We shopped rates for a year, and found that the three best deals were a local credit union, USAA Bank, and State Farm Bank. We went with State Farm Bank as we were able to do everything at the Agents local office. Ended up doing all of our insurance (cars, motor home and house), financing the motorhome, and re-financing the mortgage there.

Made it so easy to do everything from the same chair! lol