Think I can buy a car?

[Confused33]

I'm 1 year post discharge, I've got two credit cards, both of which have been used but no balance at this point.

My score, when I checked it last week was 686 on Equifax.

We got approved for a better apartment home with no extra deposit or anything crazy when I had to have a co-x last June.

Do you think I can get financed for a $15K loan and what kind of rate should I expect? I am trying to stay away from Cap 1 finance but unsure of what I should do. All of my payments were current when I filed so I don't have any 30/60/90s on my report at all.

Thanks!

[nerves]

If you have a stable employment history, you should be able to get a reasonable interest rate. There are a few ways to approach this.

1) a car dealership

2) Cap One

3) try getting pre-approved with a bank or credit union before going to the dealership.

I think the latter will give you more leverage when you negoiate. Car dealers make quite a bit off of financing.

I have read on the post that some have gotten some really good interest rates 0-5% on a new foreign purchase (haven't seen it on domestic vehicles).

If you have stable employment and if your credit score is 686, I would think you can expect an interest rate around 6-8% for vehicles five years old or newer. The year and milage will have an effect on your rate as well.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[mom2three09]

I would go thru a local credit union if I were you. If that's not an option then find a car you like at a dealership and let them get you approved. Either way I'm sure you won't have any trouble getting approved (and at a decent rate too). Good luck

[Confused33]

UPDATE!

Went to dealership and worked the entire deal out before I let them have my credit info or any idea of what my credit looked like. They came down quite a bit, roughly $4,000.

Well, when they got to the deal I wanted I gave the fin. guy a rundown on my credit and told him my score on Equifax.com this past week was 686. He says ok, no problem, we should be fine.

He comes back a few minutes later telling me my score is a 615 on the AUTO DEALER FICO OPTION credit report. I said "what?" He explained that they use a different scoring system. This is A: Retarded and B: something I've never heard of.

So after being offered 14%, then they lower it to 11% I realized they had me in the tank at this point. They tried to bail me in the Jeep and I said no, I'll talk to my bank on Monday.

I came home and did some research on this auto dealer fico option and came up with this: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/23408

After reading this I have a hard time believing that my score on that side was so low. I have financed and paid in full at least 15 cars in my day without EVER having a late pay. You can't tell me that the one car I let go under BK, which was CURRENT at the time of repossession hurt me that bad. I don't believe it.

I HATE buying cars.

[Confused33]

What a strange, strange turn of events.

I pulled my original score that I posted, 686, from freecreditreport.com. I just went on the backside of Equifax's website and paid $7.95 for my score.

Guess what it was? 626

What the hell?

[StartingOver08]

FYI, freecreditreport.com does NOT give you FICO scores. Those scores are "FAKO" scores (any scoring model that is not FICO is considered FAKO). The FAKO score bears no mathmatical relationship to the FICO score. It can be lower than your FICO or higher.

To get your actual fico score, go to www.myfico.com, it is not free. You can get a coupon code by googling for it.

There are different scoring models (cc scoring model, auto score, mortgage score) as well as different vendors (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion plus a host of small vendors popping up all the time!) BTW, Experian no longer allows consumers to see their own FICO scores. Their new scoring model that they use for consumers is not FICO and has no relationship to a FICO score.

That is why you were advised to go to a CU first - all dealerships play that game where they use a different scoring model that you, as a consumer, do not have access and they tell you whatever they want in order to bump up the rate. That is the job of the finance guy at the dealership. In order for you (and really any of us) to get the best deal at a dealership, get your financing from a CU or other lender before you step foot into a dealership. This way you have separated the two events (financing and purchase) so you can negotiate the best for each event. Of course, the best thing is to buy your car cash. If you get your financing outside the dealership, it is the next best thing to buying it for cash.

[HHM]

It is actually true, many auto dealers subscribe to a specific scoring model that is different than FICO. FICO is simply the most well known (general) credit scoring model. But their are dozens of scoring models, many of which are industry specific (auto, mortgage, etc).

Dealerships do have access to dozens (sometimes hundreds) of lenders (many of which are credit unions), so in that respect, they really can get you a pretty good deal, the problem you run into is knowing whether you really are getting the "best" deal.