What is a good car interest rate to pay for a $28,000 with at least 50% down?

Answer 1

I am the finance director at a car dealership. Let me first say that down payment has nothing to do with interest rate. The only things that matter with interest rate are:
1. Is it new or used?
a. If it is new, are their any special interest rates on that model that the manufacturer is offering? Do you have to give up a rebate to get that low interest rate?
b. If it is used, how old is the used car? Is it a certified used vehicle? The older the car the higher the rate, and the shorter the term. Certified used vehicles will often qualify for special interest rates or the same rate as a new car.
2. What is your credit score? The higher your credit score is, the lower your interest rate will be.

But if it is a new car, your credit score is over 730 and you are not using a special rate from the manufacturer, the best rates are about 6.24 for 60 months.

Answer 2

Really it depends on your credit. Even the cool deals with 0% are only for "well qualified buyers." If it's a new car the rate will be lower than a for a used car. And it seems with a smaller amount financed they like to give a higher rate. I'd shop around for a rate from banks rather than just going with what the dealership's in house financing offers. I wouldn't want anything higher than 5, but would expect 2.9% or lower.

Answer 3

Because interest rates do NOT depend on the amount of your down-payment, you can give 90% down and it wouldn't make a difference whatsoever.

The interest rate for your vehicle depends ONLY on 2 factors:

#1. Your Credit Rating (FICO score)
#2. Whether the vehicle is NEW or USED.

SOME car dealerships will offer very low interest rates on some of their slower-selling model cars, but you need to qualify for that interest rate. If your Credit isn't good enough, they won't be able to meet that offer.