Sign Of The Times??

Eight years ago, I bought the very first car I ever owned in my life. I was as fresh as a college graduate could be and had nearly $4300 to my name. I had a roommate at the time with a brother who was an auto dealer. I was prepared to look for a car in the $6000 range and commenced a search for something which fit my skeletal requirements.

As a last final acquiescence to my roommate, we went to check out her brother’s Lexus lot. And there She was.

A five year old Toyota Camry with 58,000 miles on her. She was a sleek, sexy black and very well maintained. As I was test driving her, the dealer so typically explained how she was an afternoon trade-in the day before and the older gentlemen loved Her but was treating himself to a new Lexus instead.

It went down velvety smooth. I knew She was to be mine.

We negotiated out $8500 (which I naively did not know meant $9500 out the door), and I was to be on my way shortly. After the finances were all in place, of course.

I knew nothing about securing a loan. I trusted the dealership to do their part to help me get into this car, which they do so well, and they did for me. The man assisting me came out after running a credit check on me and I’ll never forget what he told me next.

“Your credit score is so amazing, I would let you drive away with any car on this lot for no money down.” I was proud because my parents had been incredibly instrumental in teaching me how to be a good steward over my money.

(Ironically, my interest rate was astronomically high. I took care of that one week later under the tutelage of a more financially knowledgeable man. Don’t finance through a dealership if you can help it. I know you already know this.)

Four years ago, I bought the second car I ever owned in my life. The story, though containing interesting elements to me, is unimportant.

Except the time has come for me to buy the third car I will ever own in my life. I have loved my baby but She is no longer as reliable as I need. (And I’m feeling a long distance road trip in my very near future.)

So once more I traipsed to my local bank branch whom I bank with and applied for another auto loan. I applied for a liberal loan on behalf of generality’s sake in an effort to have my finances in order for when I located Her yet again.

This morning my loan officer called me with the outcome of my application and what follows is the craziest experience I’ve ever had. Truly a fiscal sign of the economic times.

Loan Officer: Elizabeth, we ran that paperwork, do you have a minute?
Elizabeth: Absolutely! What are we looking at?
LO: Well as is, we’re more than happy to loan this amount to you but we’re going to require a strong co-signer.
E: (Actually surprised quite a bit.) Wow this economy has really affected you guys, huh?
LO: (Silence.)
E: (Joke is not well received. Noted.) Umm… well then you’re not really going to loan ME that amount, are you? How much can I get without a co-signer?
LO: Well we’re not willing to loan to you without a strong co-signer?
E: (Frustrated now.) Can I ask what my credit score came up as?
LO: Mid 700s.*
E: That doesn’t sound right to me. It should be higher I believe.
LO: Well there is this $130 charge off….
E: (**OH MY GOSH, I EFFING HATE M&T BANK!!! This is a mistake I’ve been working on for FOUR years now.) You can’t get me a decent loan when my credit score is sitting in the mid 700s and I’ve got SIGNIFICANTLY more than my loan amount sitting in my savings account right now? (This fact felt relevant to me as I know you can take out a loan against your own savings, at the very least.)
LO: You do?
E: (Still can’t believe I’m even having this conversation.) What kind of loan officer are you? You work at my bank, processed my application, and haven’t taken a look at my current account balance?
LO: (Confused and fumbling for words.) Well, let me see here, uh, well this does change things, ummm, I can run the numbers again which should make a difference, uh…. Can I get back to you?
E: Please do.

I hung up the phone and called one of my best friends in the world (Holla!) and couldn’t help but talk to him, a financial consultant, about my experience. We laughed and although he wanted to help me complete a 15 year plan (stop doing that), the talk was all I needed.

I guess I’m still waiting to hear how this will go down. Strangely, I feel confident the numbers will come back reasonably, and without the need for a “strong co-signer.”

*I know Mary and Mom both have phenomenal credit scores. You win. I’m over it.
** My apologies for the strong language but I have a searing hatred for that bank.