DH and I are planning to buy a used SUV in September. I don't know what his scores are but my Eq was 555 as of a couple of weeks ago when I was in the 30-day trial for ScoreWatch. It had gone up from 543 during my 30-day trial! Yeehaw! Anyways, I'm still working on increasing my score before I buy BUT...I was wondering if anyone here has ever used collateral instead of cash down payment? My husband will be keeping his 2001 Dodge truck (still worth around $10,000 according to KBB and NADA). I don't want to spend more than $13K. He will be keeping it because he is self employed and the extra truck does come in handy for jobs and such. We were thinking of using it as collateral though since it is paid for.
Also, I was hoping to get "pre approved" first somewhere so I at least know that I have financing before I find the vehicle I want. Would it be possibly to pull my scores and reports myself and take in with me to my local CU's and my bank (where I currently have another loan that is almost paid for) and see what they can do for me WITHOUT having to pull it themselves? I would feel better getting the financing preapproved so I don't get my heart set on anything and then can't get financing. I don't even want to start looking until I am approved somewhere. Sorry for rambling!
