djgonzo007

I'm pretty new to these forums. I'm planing on purchasing a low mileage (read 60K or less) 993 coupe within the next 6 months. I have a couple questions if you don't mind:

1. I'm pleased to see that these cars hold their values so well but at the same time wonder if I will have problems financing a 993 since they seem to sell for a lot more than their book values. Anyone have experience with this?

2. Was 1995 the first year the 993 became available in the U.S.? I've read articles online that say 1993 was the first model year but in searching autotrader and similar websites the earliest 993's I can find are MY95.

TIA

DJ

tj90

DJ: Financing should not be a problem even if the car is >> than book value. I found that many institutions (my credit union) dont like financing a car that is > 10 YO. Capital One seems to built a business around financing custom, classic and exotic cars (not endorsing, just experience)

95 was the first year for 993 in the US

Also, you will find that you can probably get a better % rate if you buy a car from a delear rather than a person-to-person sale. This is why some choose to acquire a car thru a dealer on a consignment deal. Of course, you gotta probably be friends with the dealer (either the seller or buyer) or you will pay a commision to dealer to broker the deal.

ZombiePorsche44

95 was the introduction year to North America for the 993........

When I bought my 993 in Aug 05', my credit union offered me 100% financing @ 5.2% apr up to $ 28,000, there are probably other entities that will offer you similar rates as long as you have a great FICO and checking & savings accounts with them.

Good Luck

ZP44

RallyJon

I've found that the big credit card companies (Capital One, Chase) will actually loan money at better rates if it's just a regular cash advance, as opposed to a car loan. I get offers for less than 5% "life of the loan" cash advance checks while their secured car loans are a couple of points higher than that.

djgonzo007

Thanks for the advice! I figured my CU would have a problem with a car older than 10 years and selling for more than book value. I've experienced this with a couple E30 and E34 BMW's that I've owned but I purchased those with cash so it didn't really matter. The only trouble with those cars was getting them insured for the right amount.

I will look into Capital One, costco works with them so I should get a discount on the rate. Good point about the purchasing from a dealer I do recall pp rates being a 1/2 to full point higher the last time I looked around.

djgonzo007

Another good point.

djgonzo007

RallyJon,

I like the S4 in your sig, it's a B5 right? I had a '00, man I still kick myself for selling that car. I loved the bi-turbo, it was so easy to mod!

jaholmes

I bought my 97 C4S from a dealer and financed through them just to get the car. The APR was close to 8%. I think it came through Chase. Then I shoped around for a balance transfer and I got a check from my credit card with a 3. something % APR and just paid off Chase.

InTheAir

You could use a line of credit from your house (assuming you are a home owner). In that case, the interest is typically tax deductible.

RallyJon

Yep, more torque at 1800 rpm than my 993 has, um, anywhere.

djgonzo007

Wow! Was that just the promotional APR? That sounds similar to what Rallyjon referred to earlier.

djgonzo007

I have thought about that but I like to keep my home and auto loans seperate from eachother.

jaholmes

Nope that was the term of the loan. I think there as a .25% difference if you went to Chase directly and had automatic payment or something. But it was still 8.0-something %.

95 C4 993

I have used Capital One on a few cars. In June of 2003, my rate was 6.09 on a person-to-person used. I think its like 9% today.

6, 7, 8 or 9%-not much of difference (obviously lower is better) if you make that extra principal payment every month like I do on every loan I have ever had since I was 22. I am beating the living crap out of my mortgage by taking my monthly payment, divide by 12, and add that much to my payment each month. I guess that bi-weekly mortgage consulting stint when I had when I was 22 taught me something in life that I didnt learn in kindergarden!!

RallyJon

Usually promotional rates are more like 0% or .99% for six months. That works great if you just want some "bridge" financing until your find the money elsewhere to pay it off, or get a great rate later and do a balance transfer.

I used to see some amazing low life of the loan rates a few years ago, but nowadays I don't get any offers lower than 4.99%. Maybe if you have better credit or it's a really aggressive bank they'll go lower?

The thing that makes no sense to me--is why the rate for an unsecured credit card loan would be several points lower than a secured loan for the same person.

One more key point: if you do this make sure it's a credit card you don't use otherwise. They all have the clause in the terms that lower rates are paid off first, so if you charge somthing at the normal interest rate for the card, they'll charge you interest on that portion until the whole lower rate portion is paid off.