Deal Check: 2020 Dodge Challenger Scat Pack - $43,380 MSRP $2250 DAS $334/mo @ 24mo

Dodge has been doing this for years, and a lot of the stuff will not be standard, like hid headlights, etc etc. Although stuff like blindspots probably will be.

They sell base challenger hellcats with cloth + halogen headlights lol.

Fwiw they should have more standard equipment but it will also raise base price.

Dodge dealerships suck, I’ve never seen a car brand’s dealerships consistently hate to make money. I would plug the numbers they gave me without the power dollars into the lease calculator on the Dodge website and they would tell me I’m being ridiculous. Then I’d reply with how that number on the site is calculated and ask them for what they think the lease numbers should be and a breakdown of the numbers and they’d just never reply.

Got a sales order;

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Just ask for a quote and say I have sub prime credit. That’ll do it.

A rocky start here with Penfed. Check was supposed to go out yesterday, sent overnight, to arrive today.

Check didn’t go out until today (one day late). When they emailed me to say it was sent, they said it was sent regular mail. When I called up to complain, they said it was actually sent overnight, but they did not have a tracking number yet.

Seems unlikely it will arrive in time for my early morning delivery appointment tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll get a tracking number and figure out when to expect it.

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Welcome to PenFed.

I got the tracking number for the check package and confirmation of pickup from FedEx. I’m running a day behind schedule but it’s not a big deal.

In the past 10 months, I’ve used PenFed rebates to save $1500 on my Mercedes, $1000 on my Jeep and $1000 on this Dodge. I also use their credit card, for rewards points, and they service one of my mortgages. I must have had at least 4 or 5 prior auto loans with them. The juice is worth the squeeze.

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Got my loan package from PenFed today and thought I’d share some feedback

  • The loan document itself is identical to their standard auto loan document, except the balloon loan option is checked and the 24th payment is in the amount of the final payment + balloon $30,834.69 ($30,500 plus $334.69) due 10/14/22

  • I am paying a total of $2.034.02 in finance charges during the 24 month term, with interest calculated on a daily basis based on the outstanding loan balance. This means about $85/mo is credited towards interest and $250/mo towards principal. I believe the total interest shown therefore only applies if I make all 24 payments, one per month.

  • There is no prepayment penalty for paying early. This point, combined with the previous point, should mean I can buyout the vehicle at any point during the 24 months for the remainder of the principal-only payments, plus the final balloon payment. Thus the total interest could be much lower, for example if I sell it after 10 months. If I understand this right, it’s better then a lease buyout, where you pay the full “rent charge” regardless.

  • They require both collision & comprehensive insurance, with a deductible maximum of $1000. However they also include something they call “Penfed Auto Advantage.” It says they will pay up to $500 per loss towards any insurance deductible. This is provided by a third party “AssurancePlus” at no charge. In addition, they also provide complimentary GAP insurance and Identity Theft Protection. These are unexcepted extras.

Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have this thing in my driveway.

What happens if the vehicle is totaled? Process is fascinating I may have to pull this off after winter.

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My primary insurance provider will pay out the market value of the vehicle and then the PenFed GAP insurance will cover any difference between the market value and the “unpaid net balance of the installment loan.”

What’s not so clear is what happens to the DAS I paid upfront, since this is not part of the unpaid net balance. Mostly likely, this reinforces the idea to not pay anything upfront, but it’s also possible that I can get some kind of sales tax recovery, which is greater then my upfront DAS.

Your our canary in a coal mine haha. It’s rolling the dice but I’m 99.9% sure this deal is going pay for itself come term end.

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This was quite the saga to read but glad it all worked out for you.

I cracked up at the part about Browns because as soon as you said NY dealer I knew damn well they weren’t giving you that deal :joy: CJDR dealers in NY are the absolute worst.

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Wow, so much effort. Seems like the market just doesn’t make sense to expend so much of our energy and time trying to play their games these days. What would the experts here recommend, just wait until year-end, maybe wait 'til next year?

Wait until production returns to a more level market.

Will fix 99% of the issues with these specialty cars.

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Beautiful… love the color! Keeping the bumper protectors on, or off?

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Great color!! and more usable backseat than Ford/GM competitors!

I see only one problem with your plan, because this is a loan and not a lease: If the car is involved in an accident that does not total it, but taints the CarFax.

In that situation, you’d still be on the hook for your balloon payment, and an accident or bad carfax could depreciate the car below the balloon payment amount. On a traditional lease, you’d just return the car if it was in an accident, but in this situation you would not be able to do that.

Enjoy it in good health and drive safe!

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I suppose a diminished value claim could help? Good point either way.

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Depends on if your state & insurance company allow for that. They don’t make those easy. Has anyone on this forum ever succeeded at a Diminished Value claim in NY/NJ, because if so, I’d love to hear the story about how that can be pulled off. I’ve only heard myths of this, except on super high-end/antique cars.

This loan structure is the same thing as buying a car, and hoping for a specific trade-in value in 3 years. It’s taking on the same risk as a traditional purchase/60 month finance. Which is a completely fine thing to do. Plenty of people prefer owning/financing their cars as opposed to leasing, but it’s a different risk profile. OP bought this car, and all the risks that come with car ownership.

Balloon loans scare me, especially for people (unlike OP) that get suckered into them without really understanding what is happening. That balloon payment is going to be due regardless of the condition and market value of the car at turn-in, so you’re taking on all of the risk of the car’s value instead of a leasing bank. If you can afford the balloon no-problem, then it’s no problem.

But if you choose the balloon because you can’t afford the 60-month payments, you could get really stuck if you can’t get a good trade-in value before the payments shoot up.

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Frostbite looks so much like b5, interesting.

And since when did they start putting the hellcat hood on the scat packs :expressionless:, maybe when they went snorkel hood for the challenger.

Great looking car though.

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