jokeitch

so, i'm financing an 18k c3
been approved for a loan with these two lenders
lightstream has ~6% apr and 100% of the purchase price
jj best has a higher ~7.25% apr and does 90% of the purchase price

brought this up with the jj best fellow on the phone, who claimed that lightstream has much worst customer service, harder to talk to a human. It's a completely unsecured loan such that it'll impact ones credit score much worse, especially if you miss a payment. Also touted the benefit of them going out to inspect the vin number and such, but I've essentially already done that so i'm not sure what the benefit is

Question is, who's used either of these companies and what did you think?

Greg

Arithmetic would dictate Lightstream.

dennis

try Woodside

C3_DH

I did a 10K Lightstream a while back, no issues whatsoever. They said it would take up to 48 hours to approve the loan, with my credit score it came back in about 20 minutes. Never missed a payment so can't answer about that, but it was easy to set up, got the money very quickly, and honestly I would recommend them. Heck, my own Credit Union wouldn't touch a car that old and signature loans are much higher interest rates.

jokeitch

Woodside actually turned me down, sighting lack of comparable credit, I guess because my last car loan was 15k but several years ago?

Torqued Off

I used JJ Best for my 77 Vette, and had no issues. Very easy to get loan,....made the payments on time, paid it off early. Perfect without any issues at all. After the initial application and loan approvals, I never needed to talk to anyone again. I would recommend them, but again......I just paid my bills on time every month and had no need to inquire about anything.

71 Vert LS1

Loan for a toy? You got to be crazy. Save up the money and pay cash. Pay off all your debts and then think about a toy. Just my .02.

Mpls Funk

Dave Ramsey, is that you? 😉

fastimes

Lol! Very Dave Ramsey-ish reply, but very solid advice. One should think long and hard about going into debt for a classic vehicle (aka "toy").

VirginiaVette78

I have a current Lightstream loan on my F150 - I am very impressed with that company. Super fast deposit of the funds, didnt require holding the title, and great interest rate. When I was researching them, it sounds like its fairly difficult to get approved by them, but that might just be the complainers on the internet.

Based on the comments, sounds like either loan would work out nice, but i have to agree with Greg that overall the Lightstream seems better.

rgsGarage

Go with the lower APR. FWIW, an unsecured loan will actually IMPROVE your credit score as it is paid down, and as long as you make payments on time. Any missed payment on any loan will negatively affect your credit score for up to 7 years. Just pay on time and you will not have to worry about customer service.

pltmgr

have you looked into a home equity loan?

Mpls Funk

Don't disagree!!

jokeitch

Ended up going with Lightstream, we shall see how it all ends up.

vettebuyer6369

Look closely at the terms. Many of these lenders, Woodside included, charge a penalty for early payoff. This comes into play when companies like Woodside lend money at Barrett Jackson for people who don’t want to deal with bank letters or carrying large sums. However, when they get home they find out it costs an extra grand yo pay it off early.

Look at these terms closely. Your note isn’t very expensive but don’t get surprised by stuff.

jokeitch

lightstream actually explicitly states a couple times in the documentation that there's no prepayment penalty, at least with my agreement
i didn't check jj best though, but i think i remember the guy mentioning over the phone there's also no prepayment penalty
so if i want to skip the interest rate i can just pay the rest in a lump sum and close out the account no questions asked

71 Vert LS1

No not Dave Ramsey. Didn't mean to seem harsh.
My wife's family and my family both came from car dealer ships. Owners and general managers.
So easy to get sucked into "easy" payment plans. We were and soon found out that even though we made good money most went to payments of some sort.
Best advice I can give is save up your money and pay cash.
End of preaching.

Scottd

While Im not against the idea of a loan for a 'toy' (boats, sleds, motorcycles) I couldnt imagine taking a loan on a 40 year old car. I hope this thing is either NCRS gold or a totally rebuilt, everything is brand new and documented car.

Its too late to second guess it now, whats done is done......so all you can do now is enjoy it. (and make monthly payments). Payments SUCK while your toy sits during the winter. I bought a Harley brand new when I was in my late 20's and financed it. I really hated paying a loan for 48 months for a toy I could only use for less than 1/2 of that time. It is what it is. Get the most enjoyment you can from it.

Eliredandblack

I had a loan with LightStream and they were very fast, also didn’t hold the title. They required automatic withdrawal from my checking account for their lowest rate. No complaints, but I paid the balance off early.