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Rob, thanks for taking the time to share your experience. Like yourself, I've hated dealing with car dealers in the past. All of the going to the back to "see what he can do" has caused me to stand up and walk out more than once......but that was 20+ years ago.
The last new car we financed (2001) was a much smoother experience. I was pre-approved for a $30k loan from my Credit Union and had paperwork in hand when I entered the dealership. That car buying experience was a much smoother experience. Since then, we've been able to pay cash for older used vehicles and haven't had a monthly car payment in close to ten years now.
While I agree with !@#$%! that continuing to "make your car payment to yourself" is the way to go for helping build up your emergency / new car accounts, it's not always the easiest thing to accomplish!
Speaking of, !@#$%! - what do you consider a solid emergency fund......three months salary?
Rob, I do have two suggestions for you:
1. after making 3-6 months worth of payments on your new vehicle, pay another visit to your Credit Union. Having something more recent on your credit check may be just the ticket for your Credit Union to offer to take over the financing of your new vehicle at a lower interest rate. Also, if currently making payments on the vehicle your wife drives, ask the Credit Union about combing the two loans......if possible, you may end up paying $100 or more less per month than you do now for the two vehicles.
2. going back to what suchfriends said......that does sound sort of whack and I would suggest checking out other Credit Unions, especially if you attempt step 1 and their not willing to offer you a more competitive car loan.
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