topic Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep? in Auto Loans

Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

kabrex — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 03:20:29 GMT

Hey Gang,

Been a lurker for ages, but now I am in the final stages of purchasing a car. Ordered it directly from Jeep.

Pulled Equifax MyFico and I scored 660. TransUnion the same.

Total is $31770 with the TreadLightly Discount.
Minus-$500 from a Targeted Direct Mailer.

$31,270
x .06 Sales Tax (PA) = 1876.20

Total: $33,146.20
Doc Fee: $129.00
Plus License & Title: 92.61

Out the Door: $33,367.81

I plan to put down 5,700.

What do you think are chances? Anything I can do between now and May 1st to improve the overall picture?

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

Brian_Trying_700 — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 03:22:47 GMT

Im thinking you need another $5k-7k for a down payment. I had the same score buying a 2008 BMW 328 with 49,000 miles. I put 10 k down for a 23k car.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

kabrex — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 03:24:20 GMT

You think that much more? I should mention annual income is 64K and I am lucky enough to be employed in Public Education. Just passed my 5 year anniversary.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

Brian_Trying_700 — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 03:33:10 GMT

My dealer ripped me off I bet. What I learned from this Forum is to Bank Shop and It will count as one Hard Pull within 30 days.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

kabrex — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 13:00:45 GMT

The funny thing is that I emailed my local credit union and the banker I typically work with said that I should work with the dealer directly because they will get the better rate.

But If I may ask, how do I "bank shop". What is the best method to do this?

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

Brian_Trying_700 — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:17:57 GMT

Go to the dealer and then to your local credit union. Compare all rates. My dealer pulled from 5 banks.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

Revelate — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:21:23 GMT

Brian_Trying_700 wrote:
Go to the dealer and then to your local credit union. Compare all rates. My dealer pulled from 5 banks.

You also bought a used car, new cars are completely different from a risk analysis perspective for the lenders, and often as large of a downpayment isn't required.

To the OP: I think you will be OK, though realistically another $1000 on a downpayment would probably seal the deal outright. 20% down on a new car I suspect most lenders will find some financing option for you... even if you had my credit issues, which you don't appear to have.

As Brian correctly suggests, it costs you nothing but time to do a little bank shopping on your own... though I would certainly take advantage of that a few days *before* you're planning to walk down to the dealership. I'd strongly encourage you to have the numbers before negotiating with the F&I person, more information is always better in this case.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

kabrex — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:41:52 GMT

I appreciate the efforts and responses. Looks like another 1K, or close to $6700 will provide me a good chance to get a good rate.

What frustrated me on MyFico Information is that stated:

Ratio of revolving balances to available credit was 82%. Not sure how that is completely accurate as I am not paying off the mortgage myself.

It also said my credit history was too short, even though my first account was opened over 11 years ago.

Hmmmm.

Also, if I coulkd ask one more question, If I coul pay off another 1K to my CC Debt, how and when would this be updated to my credit report?

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

FrugalRican — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:43:33 GMT

Brian_Trying_700 wrote:
Go to the dealer and then to your local credit union. Compare all rates. My dealer pulled from 5 banks.

Other way around. Go to the banks first.

Then the dealer. Make the dealer beat the banks, because the banks aren't going to budge.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

Revelate — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:48:24 GMT

Mortgages don't count as revolving debt (they're installment).

If you had more time, you might do better by using some of that down payment to pay down whatever credit card balances you do have. The reports have to list *something* on them unfortunately as dings, and usually the ones near the bottom of the list can be somewhat irrelevant.

If you're curious I'd post more information on your various tradelines on the Understanding FICO scoring or even General Credit Topics forum (including current balances vs. their credit limits); however, any payments you make now probably won't hit the report until sometime after May 1st at this point, and that doesn't help you right now unfortunately... I don't think you're going to have much if any trouble getting financed, even the extra 1K is probably unnecessary but it might help with some lenders

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

Brian_Trying_700 — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:58:40 GMT

I learn everyday as I get older. Thanks for the information. It will make my next car shopping much easier.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

kabrex — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:34:03 GMT

I hate to be so specific, but would it make sense to bank shop maybe one week before I pick up the vehicle?

If I do a mix of online and brick and mortar inquiries, would it be just "one pull" on my credit report?

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

FrugalRican — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 20:35:32 GMT

As long as they are all classified as AUTO and are done within 30 days, they will eventually all be counted as 1.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

Brian_Trying_700 — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:57:12 GMT

+1 dont geat panic when you pull your C.R 1 week after getting your Jeep. It will be all counted as 1 H.P. They will drop off within 1 month. My old 1993 Cherokee had 328k on the clock when I sold it and she was still running stong. Great choice.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

dodgeball — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:08:30 GMT

You shouldn't have any issues getting financing at all. 660 while not a great score is not a horrible score either and most lenders should have no problem financing you. Contrary to popular belief, Lenders are not as strict on there lending practices than a few years ago. They are actually quite liberal again.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

kabrex — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:30:55 GMT

Thanks, I will update the board when I complete the transaction! ;)

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

webhopper — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:58:38 GMT

kabrex wrote:
Thanks, I will update the board when I complete the transaction! ;)

You may see a significant score increase by paying off your CC balances. what is your balance vs available limit?

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

kabrex — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:08:10 GMT

Thank you for asking. I only have one Credit Card. 5K Limit with 4K on it.

I had it down to 2K but just had to add 2K for a family funeral emargency. (flight and hotel etc.)

But that is my only CC.

With me likely picking up the vehicle in the last week of April or first week of May, I didn't know what made the most sese. Use some of the Down Payment towarss the CC or just use it all for the car.

Either way I feel comfortable I will be able to pay off both and meet the payments. Probably more agressivelyy with the CC.

If I could hold out for another month or two I would....but with 216K miles on my Ford Escape, no AC, Oil leak, and inspection due in July.....the new car is a necessity.

I woud appreciate your thoughts though.

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

webhopper — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:30:37 GMT

kabrex wrote:
Thank you for asking. I only have one Credit Card. 5K Limit with 4K on it.

I had it down to 2K but just had to add 2K for a family funeral emargency. (flight and hotel etc.)

But that is my only CC.

With me likely picking up the vehicle in the last week of April or first week of May, I didn't know what made the most sese. Use some of the Down Payment towarss the CC or just use it all for the car.

Either way I feel comfortable I will be able to pay off both and meet the payments. Probably more agressivelyy with the CC.

If I could hold out for another month or two I would....but with 216K miles on my Ford Escape, no AC, Oil leak, and inspection due in July.....the new car is a necessity.

I woud appreciate your thoughts though.

I was in your boat, with Discover More being my only CC, the util% was killing my chances on getting a house because it was making my score be in the 667 range... After paying down the balance to less than 50%, I got to 694. If you could bring your balance below 50% Utilization, which would require about 1500-1600 from what you've stated... then contact the CC company and ask for an out of cycle update to the bureaus, I believe you would get a better rate on your new vehicle and be required to put down less money. After paying down the balance to less than 50% you could also ask your CC company for a Credit Limit Increase, which would also decrease your util%. Make sure you ask if they can do it with a soft inquiry, you dont want them pulling a hard inquiry to do it. Also, having 2 or more major CC's reporting to the bureaus will increase your score, due to the boost you get from having 2 CCs. My scores have increased 20 pts as a result of adding the credit lines in my siggy.

Any other forum members comment on what I've posted above? Is this a good plan for the OP?

Re: Credit Score is 660....I will be putting some money down.....will I get my Jeep?

kabrex — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:41:57 GMT

I never heard of an out of cycle update. Thanks for the heads up.