Car Salesman Raised My Monthly Car Payment!

Richie from Florida wonders if the $550 a month car payment he was quoted is accurate...

"So, my wife and I wanted to get a new car; and we were interested in an SUV that was listed at $35,500 brand new with options. I've learned a few things form this site so I decided to put a few into play. The guy wants to know if we're trading in; I tell him no. He then asks if we're putting money down; and I say yes. He immediately wants to know how much, but I refuse to tell him, which sort of pisses him off and makes him keep bugging me about how much I had to put down. We end up test driving and really wanted the car so we go to negotiate after talking the guy down to $32,000 plus tax, "out the door" with just the regular warranty - no extended. We have a sit down at which time he then asks again how much we have to put down and I tell him $13,500. This car is going under my wife's credit since she has a 750+ score. This guy tells us he can get us the car with a 3% APR for 60 months, this is after a credit check (we had a credit report on us too, just to be careful), which I had no problem with, in fact that was perfect because I was looking to have a car payment under $400 if not, around $350. All of a sudden this guy spits out the monthly payment estimate, and I literally wanted to choke him. His superb math skills has estimated a monthly payment of around $550; "WHAT THE HELL DID I MISS BESIDES TAXES BEING A FEW GRAND". He then tells me that I have to put more money down to bring that payment down. Needless to say, we just got up and walked out telling the guy no thanks. Was this guys math correct, or was he trying to BS me?"

My response...
Richie, without having all the details of this transaction, it sure seems that $550.00 per month is a high payment for borrowing about $20,000.00 for 5 years at 3%. It would have been fun to ask to see the guys math. Once again, you can avoid so much time, energy, frustration....and yes MONEY, by getting pre-approved for a car loan by applying online before you ever step on to a car lot.

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