Big Truck Financing - Ontario

I looked at a truck in Ohio once...extremely shady dealer. It looked good after I could tell they had an extreme detail done on it, and when I asked if I could pull an oil sample, he demanded a $5000 deposit on the truck first...LOL...see ya!!

 

The exchange right now makes shopping south of the border a bit less lucrative, for sure. I do read some posts by Americans considering Canadian equipment because of the 20% increase in the greenback's value. I've also passed a few convoys of tractors with French auction info scribbled on the windows further South, in Tennessee and Georgia.

As for financing, I know a few of my friends couldn't get he big banks to finance a truck, as they were told it is too high risk, even with near perfect credit. These were the usual players, RBC, TD. Scotiabank and CIBC.

One guy settled for an older and cheaper truck and borrowed against an RRSP the capital he didn't have liquid in his account.


Another friend had no problem getting financing from a local credit union, after becoming a member of course. He now does all his banking there since he was so annoyed that he had paid a mortgage off and bought about a dozen cars through RBC and they denied him because trucking is too high risk.

Yet a a third guy went with one of those companies who post signs on the utility poles all over Brampton. The dealer was happy to finance a $150k but he didn't want to pay that.

There are finance companies advertising all over Kijiji and Auto Trader... Make sure you understand what you are signing and of course don't rely on "best case scenarios" when figuring out how much and how quickly you can pay it back. Borrowing money is very cheap today, but don't feel encouraged to borrow more than you would otherwise.

 

When you're going through a financing company, your rate is going to depend on a few things; age/wear on the equipment, terms, and financial standing.

I work for an equipment financing company that specializes in the Transportation industry. We fund both with our own capital, as well as some funding partners so we can get a lot of different credit circumstances looked after and I know quite a bit about what's out there. Generally if you want to get your best rates you're looking for something within 5 model years and less than 750,000 km. How many KM are on it, will dictate how long your term can be. Longer terms are discounted, so credit remaining the same, you'll get better rates for newer equipment.

Also older equipment generally has more down times and non-routine maintenance costs. If you're not getting paid, have to pay additional repair costs, and regular scheduled payments, it can be pretty burdensome.That might be something you consider when weighing the purchase of a pre-emissions truck.