How soon after discharge can I apply for a car loan?

[sah2]

Well, I am officially car-less. I had to turn in my leased car (was in my husband's name) yesterday and now I am renting a car to get to work ($$$). My discharge should be any day now and I am obsessively checking PACER. How soon after discharge can I start applying for loans (I am hoping not more than a day- I literally CANNOT AFFORD to wait). How soon after discharge will it show on my credit report? Do you think I can/should apply on more than one website at once and see what the best deal is (assuming I get more than one offer)? I am thinking of trying Capitol One Blank check and Web2carz.com. I got the link to Web2carz.com off of Myautoloan.com under the bad credit "other products" area. It seems legit as it is a BBB accredited business with an A rating. I have heard good things on here about Roadloans but it is not available in my area. Also, my husband, who did not file BK, needs to get a car too. His credit is basically in the dumps right now. He wrecked his car and is getting a cash payout. He is thinking of using the money to pay off his overdue Amex (I know maybe stupid, but he is not yet ready to declare BK) and try to get a car loan. Does he have a chance of getting any kind of loan with no BK but crappy credit?

[ROB37LAW]

Multiple auto loan inquiries within a 14 day period only count as ONE inquiry in regard to your score. You're expected to rate shop. Best case scenario, you should start applying as soon as the discharge appears on your credit reports which in my case was almost immediately. Many, many people on this forum had absolutely no problem with getting a car loan immediately after discharge. Try a local credit union as well. Good luck.

[mkuki]

sah2, I hate to state the obvious, but have u checked craigslist?

I got both my cars there - BEFORE THE CREDITORS - came to pick up their cars.

Your AMEX credit card (and whatever else u r using for the current rental) will get shut down pretty soon. get a craigslist cash car, ride it out, once pacer declares you discharged, then u "MIGHT" be back in the game.

I was discharged exactly 92 days after initial filing

[sah2]

Thanks, actually got the discharge today!!! Can't afford to pay cash for the car, need a loan- besides, I want the loan to rebuild credit. Just looking for a $10,000 used car. The Amex is my husband's, not mine, and he didn't declare BK, so it is not shut down. Am paying on my debit card for the car rental. Hoping to get approved and get a car within the next week.

[mermaids614]

Go to Carmax. I was discharged on 07-16-10. Applied online for Capital One Auto Finance 3 days later and was instantly denied. I called Carmax and stated to the person on the phone that I had just discharged bk and had $500 down. The guy on the phone completely shut me down and said that he won't be able to do it. He said it was too soon after discharge and that I would need at least 30% down to get financing. So I applied to a local Ford dealership. The Special Finance guy said he had gotten me approved with $500 down, but he was playing the "how much do you want to pay a month" game and was trying to sell me a Lincoln MKZ with $425 a month payment and thats with no extended warranty, no gap coverage. I didn't even know what a Lincoln MKX was. He even had the nerve to tell me if I planned on shopping around, each hit would lower my credit score. I told him that's not true, and that it would only hit my score once within a number of days. He was at a loss for words. LOL He wouldn't tell me the interest rate, or for how many years the loan would be or who approved it so I don't know how genuine he was.

So yesterday, 5 days after discharge, my friend convinced me to just go to Carmax. We got there, the guy I spoke to started showing me cars. I mentioned nothing about my personal situation, bk, none of that. I picked a 2009 Dodge Charger, priced right under $13000.00. We went into his office, he asked how much I was putting down. He asked for my license and entered some demographic info and asked my income. 5 minutes later, guess who comes back with an approval.....CAPITAL ONE, 10.80% interest, $500.00 down for 72 months. Only verification they requested is a copy of my Drivers License. Payments including an extended 3 year warranty and Gap protection come to $297.04 per month!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never had an interest rate lower than about 15%. When it came back approved, I told him to attempt to see if they would approve a Dodge Charger, which was $2000.00 more dollars, they denied that!LOL. Drive Financial approved me at Carmax also, but they wanted $950 down and 24.99 percent interest for 72 months and they wanted all sorts of verification. I don't know what scores they pulled. My scores are between 620-673. They were around 560 when I filed Bankruptcy. I was in shock that I was approved! So don't let anyone discourage you and don't be nervous! Go online and have a few cars picked out to cut down on time when you get there.

[sah2]

Thanks. No Carmax in my area unfortunately. I was denied by Capital One and Up2Drive (instantly too). Am trying to deal with dealers directly now, but want to get preapproved before I make the trip in.

[mermaids614]

The dealer may even get you approved at Capital One. Only thing with dealers is they don't want to give you any information over the phone. They are very evasive and you can't take their word for anything half the time. I had to force him to give me the bit of information that he did. Try this place called CarSmart too. Just search them and see if they have one near you. I don't know much about it, but maybe it's something more like CarMax, a car store rather than a dealership.

[Medport]

Hey sah2, if I may ask why did you have to turn your lease in? I have a 3 year lease with about 2 to go and the lawyer said it would be not problem if I wanted to keep it if I filed a bk7. I hope he was telling the truth as it was just a consultation and I don't want any surprises.

[sah2]

We had to turn it in because the 3 years was up. It was in my husband's name, so the BK had no bearing. It was just bad timing, I wish I had more time on it.

[Medport]

You probably would have had an option to buy out the balance in a conventional loan or trade it in for another one. I wonder why they did'nt mention that? Maybe because your bk was just discharged?

[sah2]

Well I got approved for a car! Had to use a cosigner though (didn't want to put my husband on the loan because of his own bad credit and he is maxed out, so my mom cosigned) and still got a pretty bad rate - 13% for 4 years (couldn't get approved for 5) so my monthly payment is about $100 more than I would have liked, but just $1000 down which is all I can afford. Hopefully I can refinance in 6 months for a better rate and/or get my mom off the loan. Loan was through Capital One who rejected me initially for Blank Check auto loan (which I applied for without cosigner, so maybe I would have gotten it). I couldn't have used Blank Check anyway for this because it is over the required miles. It is an older (2004) car and I got a pretty good deal as it was on an end of the month special.

[JKPDX]

Sah,

Do you bank with a credit union? I am two months out of BK and purchased a 2008 Prius at 7.49%. I put $2500 down (they wanted 10 percent, I put a little extra). The loan is now with Wells Fargo, but when I get to a 650 credit score (I am at a 648 two months post-discharge) I can refinance through the CU at 5.24%. Strangely enough, the car I had prior to the discharge was at 9.49% (when I had a 730 credit score).

I have a secured VISA card through the CU too, as well as checking/savings. They are all about building relationships, and I think they are awesome!

[sah2]

I do not bank with a credit union, but there is one where I work. I am going to look into it. Thanks for the suggestion.