When/Where to refinance car?

[JessMN]

I got a 2010 Toyota Corolla in early October (discharged Aug 30) - cap 1 financed me at 13.31% for 6 years. Of course I want to refi as soon as I can!! Any suggestions as to how long I should wait and with whom I should try a refinance with? I assume I should wait at least 6 months to show a payment history. But I also dont want to attempt to refi too early and take a bunch of hits on my credit report for inquiries. My credit scores are at 588(EX) & 598(TU) currently and I also just got a credit card from cap 1 to help build credit.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[IBroke]

I was discharged in January and I bought my car in August. It was an emergency-purchase so my score was not "prepared". I was at 596 as well and I only got 18% for 66 months. I'm going to refi in February after having this tradeline open for 6 months and my discharge being more than 12 months ago. This time, I'll have my credit-cards at the PERFECT utilization before I launch my refi-attempt. I should be able to get my credit-score to 660 so I'm hoping for an interest-rate below 10%. I'm also planning on shortening the loan from (then remaining) 60 months to 36. That should build some equity in my ride quite fast.

If the cap1 card will be your only CC, You should wait until it shows up on your reports. Keep the reporting-balance (with cap1, that is the balance on your statement) below 9% of your credit-line BUT it shouldn't report a $0-balance either. I always used 3% of my credit-line as reporting-balance and it worked fine. A CC at a good utlization is crucial for a decent credit-score. At 596, I'm not sure if you could get a better rate in the first place so you really need that CC to show.

So I would wait for a couple of months (April?) and in the meantime, make sure your report is free of errors. In March, make sure that your CC closes at the desired utilization and in April, pull your credit-files to make sure that the utilization was reported and everything else is in order. If it is, you can pull the trigger and shop around for a new loan. Your local credit-union and lendingtree are great ways to get rollin'.

[LadyInTheRed]

Based on what I was told by the finance manager when I bought my car before filing, I suggest waiting until your middle score of the 3 reporting agencies is at least 650.

[JessMN]

great advice - thank you both! I am chomping at the bit to get my credit back to its formerly great state - I need to learn patience!