20
Used to just grab the first loan offer I saw online before my car broke down in Phoenix
Ngl, back in 2021 I was in a rush and took a 15% APR loan from some random online lender to fix my transmission. Last month I spent a Saturday comparing three credit union rates and got one at 7% instead. Has anyone else noticed how much time it actually takes to find a decent rate?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
murphy.mason1mo ago
Used to be a hardass about always shopping rates but @sage308 is right, when my alternator died in August I just grabbed whatever loan would process before I passed out from heat stroke in the parking lot. Everything looks different when you're literally cooking in your own car.
8
spencer9811mo ago
Gotta disagree a little here. Time is money and if your car is stranded in Phoenix in July like mine was, waiting around to compare loans means you're paying for Ubers and melting your face off. That 8% difference looks good on paper but not when you factor in getting towed, rental cars, and the stress of not having transportation for a week.
3
Man, 115 degrees in Phoenix with a dead car? I've been there. Had my transmission blow out on the I-10 near Chandler a few summers back and it was like sitting in a convection oven while waiting for the tow truck. You're absolutely right, in that moment you're not thinking about saving 8 percent, you're thinking about getting mobile again before your steering wheel melts into your hands. The rental car fees alone eat up any theoretical savings if you have to wait three days for the credit union to process a loan. Sometimes you just have to take the dealer financing or whatever gets you back on the road that same afternoon. It's easy for people to sit in their air conditioned offices and preach about shopping around, but emergency car repairs don't wait for your schedule.
8