Dumb question about buying a car

[wannabe]

yes, it's best if you get the loan approved and ready to go first. you should have a good idea of how much you want to spend. when i got a credit union loan, they cut a check directly to the seller.

[wannabe]

it may vary from one CU to another, so i'd just check with yours to see what their process is.

as for dealing with the seller, they may ask you to leave a deposit or they may continue to show the car for sale. just make sure you know the exact timeframe with the CU as to how long it will take to get a check cut after you make the deal.

[sailorgray]

Lurker, but we just bought a car a few months ago using a loan from our CU. I applied online with the credit union stating what kind of loan we needed. This was BEFORE we found a car we wanted. They instantly approved us and then a few days later a blank check came in the mail. It said on it that the amount should not go over $15,000 (the amount we were approved for). We found a car at a dealer. There we filled out the dealer's name and then the amount they actually needed.

We did NOT have to contact the credit union once we picked out the car as we had already been approved and given the money. When car shopping, we went out with our own checkbook and the check from the CU. It was very easy. If we didn't find a car after a certain amount of time, the check was then void. I assume that if you get a car from a private seller, you would just fill out the check from the CU to them and they would cash it or whatever.

Hope this helps!