First, I just wanted to say thank you to the contributers on this forum! I have learned so much from reading and searching over the past couple of weeks 
My 2000 Taurus is not long for the world. My plan had been to car shop this summer or fall, but even my mechanic is saying he doesn't want to see me put more money into it and it will need more work to pass inspection.
Credit Score: from myFICO - 620 (EQ), 618 (TU), 617 (EX) - up from 560's in early 2014, pretty proud of that
AAoA: 12 yrs, guessing that will change when my new Cap1 card reports
# of positive trade lines: 3 (New - Cap1 Quicksilver. Old - Discover More Platinum & Chase Slate, high utilization on both, waiting for them to report for this cycle as I have paid a bunch to them this month and hope to see my scores go up a bit)
# of negative trade lines: not sure on this, but may be 1. BoA personal loan marked "closed by grantor, paying as agreed" but still shows up in my open revolving accounts on my CR. Only 1 payment left, some previous 30 & 60 day lates, 100% on time for the past 8 months.
Income: Full-time job - $34k before taxes plus apartment, garage and utilities paid in exchange to doing some extra work, I pay my phone & internet. I also have a very small part-time side business, 2.5 years doing that, sole-proprietor, haven't finished my schedule C reports yet but I think I'm clearing about $9k-$10k for 2014
Lenght of Employment: 11 yrs 8 months at my current job
Previous Loan Experience: only the BoA personal loan mentioned above, no auto loan history
Debt-to-Income (DTI): 17% only counting my full-time job pay.
Year of Car: Flexible
Miles: Under 50k
Purchase/Refinance: Purchase
Requested loan term (XX Months): Flexible
Down payment amount: would like to put down at least 10%
Co-borrower/Co-Signer: My dad has offered (IIRC his scores are high 700's - low 800's), but I'd really rather not use him if I don't have to. I'm willing to suck it up and pay a higher rate then refinance in 6-8 months after bringing my score up more if I can get a halfway decent rate to start.
Other: My horse developed several chronic medical issues several years ago costing thousands in vet bills each year, hence the lates and high CC balances bringing my score down. She passed away 2 months ago right before Thanksgiving 
Her vet bills are now paid and this month I took every bit of money I would've put towards her into paying down my CC balances. If my math is right, my CC utilization will be down to 78% from 94%. Still a long way to go, but getting better. Was approved for a Cap1 Quicksilver with $500 CL 2 weeks ago, using it for groceries and paying it each week.
My plan was to wait until summer or fall and get my utilization down to at least 30%, but my car won't go that long without putting way more money into it than it's worth.
I know being a first-time buyer doesn't help either (bought my current car with cash from family 8 years ago, prior to that still had the '95 Escort my dad bought me as a teenager... I drive 'em till they die, lol!)
A few questions besides the obvious "will I be approved"
1. When applying, if the form doesn't specifiy, do I enter my income before or after taxes?
2. Do I include my self-employment income? I have my tax returns from last year... only cleared $3k in 2013, lots of growth in 2014 so trying to get all my Sched. C stuff finished and printed out so I can file as soon as I get my W-2 from work.
3. I'm guessing it's not good to put $0 for rent??? I do an average of 5-10 hours extra work per week and I'm "on call" 3 nights per week in exchange for my apartment. My boss is willing to verify this if needed.
Im also trying to develop a plan of attack. I've done the budget worksheet from the CarBuyingTips website and figured out what I can afford in terms of a loan and payment while still working on paying down CC balances and putting some into savings. Looking at applying to Cap1 and maybe DCU... definitely want to go in with one approval. I've wanted a Subaru for years and am scouring local dealers for lightly used Impreza's. I'm also looking at other vehicles & keeping my options open.
Thank you in advance for any advice or insight
Thank you, Irish! And thank you for helping with my questions
Yep, I do realize my rates won't be the best, but hopefully I'll be able to keep improving my scores and refi before the end of the year. Really hoping to see one more (even small) jump in my scores before I pull the trigger on loan apps.
Guess I just needed a little encouragement, lol! Reading the forums has definitely been good for that, but I am still somewhat nervous about going into this.
@Anonymous wrote:Thank you, Irish! And thank you for helping with my questions
Yep, I do realize my rates won't be the best, but hopefully I'll be able to keep improving my scores and refi before the end of the year. Really hoping to see one more (even small) jump in my scores before I pull the trigger on loan apps.
Guess I just needed a little encouragement, lol! Reading the forums has definitely been good for that, but I am still somewhat nervous about going into this.
Good luck and try not to be too nervous. If you go about it smartly (and you're already doing that by being on these boards and asking questions) it will end up being easier than you think. Lots of informed people here than can give you guidance as you get closer to the purchase. As for your scores, utilization is a major factor in determining your score. The lower you can get it the more your scores will rise and potentially rapidly. If you haven't pulled your credit reports recently you should do so that you can do everything possible to 'fix' any problems. The credit rebuilding section of these forums is great about helping people with guidance on how to remove 'baddies'.