Wagon Considered Commericial Vehicle??

[TC281]

Trying to buy a 2014 Transit Connect XLT Wagon and the Ford dealership is saying it was hard getting approved for a loan because it's considered a commercial vehicle.

Anyone else run into this problem?  It has rear seats, windows all around, regular license plate...there's no way Joe Familyman has been buying these and paying commercial rates.

==========================

Little background: My wife has great credit (750+) and mine isn't that great (low-mid 600's).  With both of us on the loan they said we need to put $2,700 down and it's still 7%.  I'm not interested in putting that much down so we decided to just have my wife on the loan.  They then said it would be 6%.  I think that's really high for someone with great credit.  So I'm currently waiting on Wells Fargo to get to back to me on a rate...pre-approved online at 6.9% with both of us on the loan but waiting on the underwriters to see if that holds up.

Also, I went to purchase a new 2016 XLT cargo van 3 weeks ago at another dealership and was offered 5.9% with no money down (both my wife an I on the loan)...and that was obviously commercial.  So I'm not sure what this other dealer is smoking.

 

[Fifty150]

Those kinds of classifications could vary from state to state, and different finance companies have their own rules in regards to vehicle classification and financing.  

 

In California, I had to fill out additional paperwork, and pay more to Department of Motor Vehicles in order to get commercial license plates.  Otherwise, it would have been licensed as a regular passenger car.  In my case, I wanted commercial license plates so that I can park in commercial parking spaces, and drive on streets which are zoned for commercial vehicles only.  Yes, we have streets here that you cannot drive on unless you have a commercial vehicle.

[Fifty150]

Also consider that each dealership has their own finance department, and those guys are also responsible for generating profits on the loan.  

 

Ask if you can have a "fleet price" since you're purchasing a "commercial vehicle".  

 

Focus more on out the door pricing, and actual cost of ownership after payments.  You are getting a car with a 5 year warranty.  You loan should be a 5 year loan.  You do not want to be the guy still making payments on a car without a warranty.

[DonShockley]

I had it happen to me when I bought my wagon in July 2015. I have all my personal banking with BofA and they turned down the loan due to being a "Commercial" vehicle. But since I had already almost walked out once, the Wells Fargo financing the dealer finalized the deal with was almost the same as the advertised Ford 1.9 % offer, just 1.99% so close enough for me. 

[Fifty150]

Big difference from 2% to 7%.  

[mrtn]

I now get it. The bank sees a commercial van in private use a burden if you fail to make payments. A used commercial van has less resale value. For a business it's not as much of an issue as the vehicle serves a purpose in your business income.

[TC281]

21 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

Those kinds of classifications could vary from state to state, and different finance companies have their own rules in regards to vehicle classification and financing. 

In California, I had to fill out additional paperwork, and pay more to Department of Motor Vehicles in order to get commercial license plates.  Otherwise, it would have been licensed as a regular passenger car.  In my case, I wanted commercial license plates so that I can park in commercial parking spaces, and drive on streets which are zoned for commercial vehicles only.  Yes, we have streets here that you cannot drive on unless you have a commercial vehicle.

Streets where only commercial vehicles can drive?  CA is odd with some things.

I don't want commercial because my insurance would then be about $140 a month higher.

21 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

Also consider that each dealership has their own finance department, and those guys are also responsible for generating profits on the loan. 

Ask if you can have a "fleet price" since you're purchasing a "commercial vehicle". 

Focus more on out the door pricing, and actual cost of ownership after payments.  You are getting a car with a 5 year warranty.  You loan should be a 5 year loan.  You do not want to be the guy still making payments on a car without a warranty.

Yeah, I'm almost positive they're trying to make a percentage or two on the deal.  And I'm going with a used 2014 wagon, so no 5 year warranty, only what's left on it.

20 hours ago, DonShockley said:

I had it happen to me when I bought my wagon in July 2015. I have all my personal banking with BofA and they turned down the loan due to being a "Commercial" vehicle. But since I had already almost walked out once, the Wells Fargo financing the dealer finalized the deal with was almost the same as the advertised Ford 1.9 % offer, just 1.99% so close enough for me. 

20 hours ago, DonShockley said:

 

Makes no sense that some see this (wagon) as a commercial vehicle.

21 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

Those kinds of classifications could vary from state to state, and different finance companies have their own rules in regards to vehicle classification and financing. 

20 hours ago, DonShockley said:

 

Yes, as I'm now finding out.  Never had to deal with anything like this before.  It's been a definite learning experience.

Waiting to hear back from Wells Fargo on Monday about a rate for just my wife.  I'm either going to go with what they give (if it's lower) or just suck it up and go with the 6% from the dealer.  My only concern with Wells is they don't do commercial loans.  I gave them the VIN # already so they know what car it is.  They haven't said anything after 2 phone calls so far.  So hopefully they don't view it as a commercial vehicle.

Thank you to everyone for responding.  Not sure how to edit this thing so excuse the quoted mess above.

 

Edited November 27, 2016 by TC281

[mrtn]

Yeah, the quoting function has some issues. 

[GotPepsi?]

Chase Bank here in Jersey was the same deal. Tried to refinance the loan (3.99/48mos) right away after I got my XLT Wagon and evidently the Transit only comes up as a cargo vehicle only in their system. Bottom line I didn't pursue it since I didn't meet the minimum loan amount.  Missed it by $300 or so.  Could of gotten 2.69 for 72 months, $50 lower payment a month and a lower total cost by the end of the payoff.

[Spooner]

I bought my 2015 Wagon used and have a loan through wells fargo as a normal vehicle loan so you should be ok.  My interest rate was 3.74%

[zalienz]

States seem to decide the difference between passenger vehicles (wagon) and commercial vehicles (van).

This VIN guide shows the complexity of VIN.

http://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/maintenance/vin-decoder/2016_VIN_Guide_Final.pdf

Looking at this guide, you can find that the Transit Connect is produced in Valencia, Spain, with the world manufacturer characters NM0 - decoded as a "Truck - Completed vehicle" which is probably why some lenders think they are all commercial vehicles.

I know when I purchased my van, the financing was turned down by Wells and Chase due to the "commercial vehicle" status. I wanted to go with my local credit union, which happily went for it.

 

[Fifty150]

For a lot of these things, Credit Unions are the way to go.  That is, if you can obtain membership in a Credit Union.  I belong to The San Francisco Credit Union, which apparently accepts everybody.  But each dealership has a finance department.  And some of those finance guys are more aggressive and effective when sourcing out lending.  And if you can get it, the manufacturer's 0% incentive is always the best.  

 

I've found from personal buying experience, that you're in the best position to negotiate pricing when you have cash in hand.  My real focus has always been final cost.  In a cash sale, it's the out the door price.  With financing, it's total cost after all payments.  Rarely will you save money by financing.  It can be done, but it's rare.

[TC281]

I ended up just going through Ford.  Just my wife on the loan...planning on refinancing/buying it from her in about a year or so when my credit goes up.

Finance guy said he had to call the bank after they declined it because of commercial and tell them that it's a passenger van.  When looking on my own, Wells Fargo would have been able to do it, but I didn't have time to wait and their rate wasn't that much better at all.

And yes, the next car I buy I'm just going to go through a local credit union.  They seem to have the best rates.

 

Off topic, need to go back to the dealer because the USB port is broken and the rear wiper doesn't work.  Other than that, all is well.  TONS of visibility out the front, plenty of space in the back, I enjoyed the first day of it.

[G B L]

The factory 0% was avalible when I purchased mine. The other price Iincentives that were available made the 2.9% loan from another bank a better deal over all. 

So you have to work out all the financing paths to be sure.

[Fifty150]

18 hours ago, TC281 said:

 

 

need to go back to the dealer because the USB port is broken and the rear wiper doesn't work. 

 

I hate when you buy a car, expect everything to be right, then  find something like that after driving off the lot.

I've never used the rear wiper on any car.  Yet, I know people who insist that the rear wiper should be on every car.  

 

[TC281]

On 11/30/2016 at 7:39 PM, Fifty150 said:

I hate when you buy a car, expect everything to be right, then  find something like that after driving off the lot.

I've never used the rear wiper on any car.  Yet, I know people who insist that the rear wiper should be on every car.  

 

Yeah, I don't really care about the wiper.  The first 2 days it poured and I could see fine out of it.  But I'd still rather have it fixed.

Now the USB port, I will use that everyday so that definitely needs to get fixed.

Off Topic:  Is there an easier way to play your music from your phone through the radio via Bluetooth?  I had the hardest time figuring it out.  Took several steps to do it.  Either I'm missing something or they could have made it way easier.

[Fifty150]

My car came with only AM/FM.  My simple solution was to use a little device that broadcast over FM, kind of like my own radio station.  I hear that those Ford stereos leave a lot to be desired.

[tcconvert]

Bought mine late Friday afternoon. Had only intended a test drive. My credit union would have had money to the dealer in a day or two but I wanted to finish up the paperwork and the dealer offered financing that was close to my C.U.s, and I wasn't financing that much so I said OK. US Bank turned down the financing. "Commercial Vehicle!" Went with Ford for almost the same amount (Not significant as I pay off early anyway). This was the first of several surprises I was presented with after buying this.

Yes, The Ford Sync System is perhaps the lamest part of the vehicle! Worse...If the electronic device you want didn't come installed - good luck with adding it aftermarket while retaining factory functions.

I had to convince my insurance company that this van would be used exactly like the previous string of pickups I owned - Part business, part daily driver. No gear was installed in the cargo compartment.

[Fifty150]

The girl at my insurance company just asked, "business or personal?"  I answered that it was the kind of van with seats.  She said, "Yeah, people use passenger vans for business too, but sometimes they don't tell us.  We have to ask.  That way, if you are driving people to the airport, or doing Uber, we can deny the claim unless you are upfront and honest in the beginning."  

 

Makes a lot of sense.  I really am using my vehicle for personal driving.  I can see how the insurance company would tell you that since you lied, they are not paying.  Especially in the case of Uber drivers, who are engaged in commercial activity without the proper licenses.  But that is another conversation.  This topic is already way off topic.

[TC281]

Put a few hundred miles on it so far.  Averaging 20.7 mpg...that's with about 80% city (well, suburbs technically) driving.

Dropping it off this week to have the USB and wiper fixed.  Also need to have the muffler raised...right now it's vibrating on the metal brace below it.

Other than that, I've realized 2 things that annoy me about the car:

1. The interior lights turn off very quickly if just the rear hatch is open.  Not sure if that setting can be changed??

2. Playing music from my phone - Too many buttons to push to select the source.  Not sure why there is no AUX button where you can just cycle through Radio, CD, USB, Bluetooth?  Although I did just discover that I can press the button on the steering wheel, wait like 3 seconds, then say "Bluetooth Audio" and it will connect.  Still could be much easier button wise.

Other than those minor things, I do love it.  Drives nice and quiet, decent gas mileage, INCREDIBLE visibility.

 

[mrtn]

No AUX button? That's weird. Only seen head units with one.

[TC281]

On 12/11/2016 at 3:32 AM, mrtn said:

No AUX button? That's weird. Only seen head units with one.

Yeah, it is weird.  Without using the button on the wheel and saying Bluetooth Audio, it takes a good 5 buttons to get to selecting the bluetooth source.

And figured out how to keep the lights on in the back if I want.  They have a switch right on the light.  DOH!