Woman Buys New Car. Then She Asks The Salesman If She Can Finance Her Down Payment: 'Have A Nice Day'

You can finance a car. You can finance a house. You can finance a couch. But a down payment? That's the part you're supposed to show up with. A down payment is partly proof that you're ready and can make the financial commitment, and if you don’t have that it doesn’t instill much faith.

Getting into a car loan without a down payment means you’re starting underwater, and lenders know it. That’s what one salesman says recently happened to him.

Car salesman Shauon (@shauonsellscars) recounts the exchange with the kind of exhausted brevity that only comes from doing this long enough to know when a deal isn't going anywhere. 

"Customer just asked me if she could finance her down payment. I said, ‘Have a nice day. You got it, champ,’” he recalls in a tikTok about the experience.

Shauon probably knew from experience that if someone needs to borrow their down payment, they might not be the best candidate for a car loan.

Can You Finance A Down Payment?

Technically, some lenders will give you a car loan with no down payment at all—but that's very different from borrowing money specifically to use as a down payment.

According to Chase, skipping a down payment means financing the entire purchase price, which comes with real consequences, including:

• Higher loan amount—you're borrowing more from the start, which means paying more in interest over the life of the loan
• Higher interest rate—lenders view larger loans as riskier and may charge more for them, or require a better credit score to qualify
• Bigger monthly payments—a larger loan at a higher rate means more coming out of your pocket every month
• Risk of going upside down—new cars lose about 20% of their value in the first year; with no down payment, you can quickly owe more than the car is worth

How Much Should You Actually Put Down?

If you're in a position to buy, NerdWallet recommends putting down at least 20% on a new car and at least 10% on a used one. 

With the average new car price sitting at around $48,000 in 2025, that means coming in with roughly $9,600 upfront. For used cars, which averaged over $25,000, 10% down comes to about $2,500.

The more you put down, the better your position across the board. Every $1,000 in down payment reduces your monthly payment by roughly $15 to $18. A larger down payment also signals lower risk to lenders, which can mean a lower interest rate. Plus, it reduces the chances of being underwater on the loan if the car depreciates faster than you pay it off.

Do People Finance Their Down Payment?

Responses to the customer’s predicament were mixed.

One felt her question was a sign of an economic downturn. “Recession indicator,” they wrote.

“Sure you can just use a credit card for the down payment and pay an APR of 29.99% (don’t ask how I know),” another suggested.

A third pushed back, writing, “You actually can tho.”

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“Double finance with the down payment in the car is nasty work,” opined another.

Motor1 reached out to Shauon for comment via email and Instagram direct message. We'll be sure to update this if he responds.

 

 

 

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