Community Forums

tiniree · 08-08-2005, 05:55 PM

We would love to buy a used MH (preferably a deisel) and am wondering about financing?

We've heard that financing an RV can be tough. How "clean" & high does your credit score need to be? Also, is it easier to get financing thru the dealer or an outside loan company?

tiniree · 08-08-2005, 05:55 PM

We would love to buy a used MH (preferably a deisel) and am wondering about financing?

We've heard that financing an RV can be tough. How "clean" & high does your credit score need to be? Also, is it easier to get financing thru the dealer or an outside loan company?

John66 · 08-09-2005, 01:58 PM

It is 'easier' to get financing through the dealer, but you may pay through the nose in money and/or trouble. There are a number of common tricks dealers use and a few down right scams by some.

Before you go shopping for a motorhome, have some external financing lined up. That way, you can compare to see if what the dealer is offering you is in line or outrageous. Also, you can generally dicker either on the price or the financing, but often not both, so having your own financing may get you a better deal.

I didn't do my homework, so ended up with a finance package which was for 20 years instead of the more usual 10 or 15 years, and at a rate about 1/2 a percent higher than a quote I got (later, darn it) from an internet based RV financing specialty firm.

By the way, don't forget not to give out your social security number to anyone until you have already pretty much decided to do business with them. Many will say you 'have to' but cave when you tell them they have no legal right to it and will report them for SSN abuse if they persist in demanding it.

Insurance companies are notorius for using credit reports in making offers. I refused to give my SSN to any of them, and most responded with a quote after I said 'it must not be too bad, cause they just gave me a $xxx,000 loan'.

Don't give your SSN to the dealer until you have agreed on a financing package subject to a credit check. Some dealers will send it to many institutions, who each do a check. If you don't then take one of those offers, it is likely that your credit will suffer from lots of inquiries with no resulting loan.

If any company won't give you any information without a SSN, don't deal with them.

Cruzer · 08-09-2005, 03:09 PM

It can be easy through a dealer but they may or may not be set up with the best rates. I got their initial offer, then compared it to my offer from Fun-Loan.com. They advertise in the FMCA magazine and I found them very easy to do business with. They did all the work and communicated with the dealer. Everything was in place at the dealership when I arrived. Once the PDI was over and we accepted the coach it just took a phone call to release the funds to the dealer. An instant, painless transaction by a great customer service company. And, they had the best rates.

Gary RVRoamer · 08-10-2005, 04:02 AM

The "outside" companies that specialize in Rv financing will handle all the details for you at the dealer - there is really very little difference from your point of view. Sometimes they have even an arrangement with the dealer or at least have worked with them before on other deals, so everything goes very smoothly.

As for your credit score, start shopping for financing now. Do a web search on RV Finance and contact several sources for pre-approval of some amount. If there are past credit problems, you may be able to work around them. Rv Financing is pretty liberal, so I would suspect the worst impact is that you might pay a higher rate than someone with a golden credit score.