Denied......afraid to try again

[tonyahunting]

My BK was discharged May 09. In june of 09 I bought a used 2001 Dodge Durango. We needed a car with 3rd row seating. Anyway, my credit score has never chnaged since before filing. It was 520 before filing and it 528 today. I have the car which is direct deposit, never late, and two credit cards also direct deposit, never late on payments. I want to buy a newer car(old way may not last much longer differential prob), a kia sorento with 3rd row. We negotiated a great deal. It was listed at 26500, we negotiated it at 20,500. My husband just bought a kia soul with them. He got approved with Capitol One for 20,000. I was denied. I make more them him, but his score is higher. Anyway, the dealer wants me to fill out an application but I am unsure. If cap one denied me won't the companies the dealers use deny me? Don't want to have a bunch of hard inquires on my credit? I make 55,000+ a year. My husband makes 35+ so that puts us at about 90,000. I have stable work history-respiratory therapist at same hospital 5 years. Should I fill out dealer credit app?

[ROB37LAW]

Multiple auto loan inquiries within a 14 day period only count as "one" inquiry as far as your score is concerned. You're expected to rate shop when purchasing a car.

[StartingOver08]

OP, have you cleaned up your credit at all? Go thru the tradelines and make sure they are reporting correctly. Remember, the tradeline is to report iib and ZERO balance. If you have a blank in the field, rather than a zero, it will impact your score negatively. The scoring algorium can't "read" a blank. If you have a blank, dispute it with the CRA and you will see your score jump up.

It is unusual that your score has only moved 8 pts in more than a year. Did you check each individual report through www.annualcreditreport.com and then check the two scores through myfico.com?

BTW, auto dealers are known for two things: 1) they use a different score than what we can see on our reports (its an 'auto' enhanced score and 2) most of them will *lie* to you about your score. They will tell you it is lower than it actually is in order to put you into a higher interest rate loan. This is typical for all buyers, not just buyers with BK's on their reports. That is why you want to at least know your approx score before you ever go to a dealership. My personal opinon is to get financing at a credit union first, then shop for a car. But before you go to a CU, make sure your CR is correct.