Auto Shopping - How soon do inquiries ding your score?

[BGinVA]

So I'm going to be auto shopping soon, in about the next 6 -8 weeks.  I'm waiting for my tax refund and also have about $700 in cc debt that I want to pay off this month and see what the decreased utilization does for my score next month.  Since I want to be confident haggling the price of my new car when I get to the dealer, I want to walk in the door with at least one pre-approved financing offer (if they can beat it fine, but I don't want to be at their mercy).  I plan to apply at Chase & Wells Fargo, and put 20%-30% down, do you think I have a shot at a decent rate if I can hit 660 by then?   Next, I've got 4 inquiries on my report right now, the first one won't drop off until May.  I'm kind of unsure how to time new inquiries so my score doesn't plummet.  I'm planning to buy a 2012 Chevy Traverse, so its possible that GMAC/Ally can beat my non dealer financing, but I want to avoid dealer markup on the loan as much as possible, so that's why I was thinking of walking in with my own financing and making them beat it.  However I know the dealer is going to pull my credit just to let me test drive the car.  So who should I let pull it before the first score ding?  Or does it automatically rescore right then and there with that pull?  I know additional auto pulls should only score as one hit, but I guess I'm wondering, do they provide the score and then it dings, or does the ding appear right as they pull it?  How much might I loose on this 5th inquiry?  Thanks in advance!

[pizzadude]

Inquiries are counted in your FICO score as soon as they show on your report.   But FICO only scores AUTO inquiries as a single inquiry within a 30 or 45 day window, depending on the FICO scoring model that is used.   Note that sometimes, the inquiries may not be coded as AUTO so they would could as regular inquiries if that is the case.

I would advise getting pre~approved from the banks you mentioned first.   Then do your test drive, and if you don't want them to pull your credit, tell them so.   Have a photocopy of your DL with the words "Credit pull is not authorized" that they can use for your test drive.

IF you decide that you want them to try to beat your financing deal, let them run your credit AFTER you have negotiated the sales price of the car.

[BGinVA]

Thanks Pizzadude, that's pretty much what I have in mind, except maybe I'll try the copy of the license deal and see if they will let me test drive without a pull.  So I guess my real question is, WHEN does that first pull show on your report?  Does the system immediately recognize it as a new inquiry (as in WHEN they pull that first score) and score based on that pull, or do I have a window to let several lenders pull, like 24 hours, before it updates with a new score after the pull(s)

[pizzadude]

Most inquiries show immediately.....But the score damage of a single inquiry shouldn't be too severe, so I wouldn't worry about it.

[ScoreBooster]

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@BGinVA wrote:

Thanks Pizzadude, that's pretty much what I have in mind, except maybe I'll try the copy of the license deal and see if they will let me test drive without a pull.  So I guess my real question is, WHEN does that first pull show on your report?  Does the system immediately recognize it as a new inquiry (as in WHEN they pull that first score) and score based on that pull, or do I have a window to let several lenders pull, like 24 hours, before it updates with a new score after the pull(s)

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My experience showed that they show up the next day. But that was when I pulled either from myFICO or another third party provider. Not sure if they show up directly at the CRAs.

[webhopper]

Since when do they pull credit just for a test drive?

[pizzadude]

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@webhopper wrote:
Since when do they pull credit just for a test drive?

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They request your driver's license before you take a test drive, and pull your credit using your Name & address.

Sometimes people have reported dealers pulling credit from the name & address of the tag number of the car that you get out of.....

It happens.

[pizzadude]

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@ScoreBooster wrote:

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@BGinVA wrote:
My experience showed that they show up the next day. But that was when I pulled either from myFICO or another third party provider. Not sure if they show up directly at the CRAs.

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Yeah, that might be the case ....sometimes they could be delayed.  IME they have always been more or less real time, so I think it's best to plan for that, but if they take longer that can be a plus.