How does one buy a car with a loan from a credit union?

CU rep told me that once we're approved for our car loan, we have to show the CU a purchase order (or whatever - a signed contract to buy the car). But we're buying the car at a time when the CU is closed.

And how can we buy the car without having the loan in hand?

Catch 22?

Anyone know how this works?

I doubt he/she would have any problem writing up some kind of contract/PO to bring to the credit union when they're open.

You can do 2 things

First - you can get 'pre-approved' for the car loan up to a certain amount. Second is you can pick the car out of your choosing and then put a deposit on it - deal with the paperwork monday.

Here's the thing - the dealership will still want to make a deal to get you a better rate and if they can, go for it. Most of the time dealerships are also working thru various banks; a few times thru the car manufactuerer (Like GMAC).

If you walk in to the dealership and tell them you are pre-approved say at 6% interest then there's a good chance they'll come back with something even lower. So it behooves you to have that available negotiating power for interest. CU aren't necessarily the by-all end-all of cheap loans.

BTW, if you bring the pre-approved letter the CU is going to want an idea of what you're buying (Brand New, pre-cert, used) and therefore might have some conditions (they aren't going to want to finance a car that has 200,000 miles on it or is 10 years old unless this happens to be a straight loan, not car loan). The CU will then say that you are approved up to a certain amount and may provide rates varying on what type of car you are buying (not model - but back to the New, Used etc. etc.). You will have to go back to the credit union after you buy the car to finalize the loan application. Just because you get pre-approved for say $25k means that you have to buy $25k worth of car.

That way I don't have to keep going between the CU and the dealership. Your CU will want to know if you're buying new or used because -- at least at mine -- down payments and interest rates will be different.

I always finance my cars through my CU; the rates are generally better than the dealership offers (at least around here), there are more options for the length of the loan, and -- the best part in my opinion -- the payments come right out of your paycheck so there is no dealing with the monthly payment; it's automatic.

I've worked for a dealership ages ago and we routinely beat CU rates - mainly because a dealership has usually 5-6 different banks they can work with to find the best rate. They also have programs through the manufacterer that allows us to provide lower rates. I'm not saying the dealership is cheaper - just saying it's dumb to not shop the rate around - give the dealership's finance guy/gal 10 minutes and find out.

I always hated when someone came in and was like "Oh I'm going with my CU - they have the best rate". 9 times out of 10 if I could get them to sit with our finance officer for even 10 minutes they'd usually walk away with a loan from one of our banks at a much lower rate. And yes, if I get you to finance thru our dealerships finance department that's more money for me as a salesperson. But the customer still walks away with a lower rate and that's all that matters!

As for coming directly from your bank - the same thing can be setup up no matter where you finance. Hell my mortgage was origially done through my bank and sold to Countrywide. I still setup the automate, 2-a-month payments I wanted that are pulled automatically.

So I financed with them.