Do I have a chance?

[The_ocho]

Hey everyone, this is my first post here though I have been reading though this forum on and off for a while now. There is so much knowlege here I get lost reading for hours and hours.  Im just looking for some input before I try to get pre approved on a "New" used car.  I always hvae this thought in the back of my mind that my credit is not good enough. Though I suppose it is true haha. 

Credit Scores from creditcheck monitoring. EX 640 EQ 640 TU 659. These were pulled last month when I had high utilization on my 3 credit cards like 80% or so. I have since paid off two of them and hold a $1000 on the third that has a $3000 limit. I plan to pull one at the end of this month, I am wating for the cards to report their new balances before I do.  I did get approved for my current loan with the high utilization at 10% apr , I thought that was a good deal at the time considering I was unexperienced and thinking my credit wasnt that good. It was lower than USAA and CAP one pre apporved me at. the dealer said I had a 640 then too. 

AAoA: 3 years

Income: $43k a year

Lenght of Employment: 4 years, living at the same address for 3 years. 

Previous Loan Experience: I have had one auto loan for 5K that is paid in full, Opened in july of 2010 and closed in Feb of 2012 no missed or late payments.

Another auto loan I currently have is for 13K, Opened in July of 2013 and will closed with trading it in on the "new" car. Again no missed or late payments.

One personal loan for 5K. Opened this month with navy federal. 

Three credit cards. oldest opened in Jun 2009 and youngest in sep 2011. Of the three cards I have two 30day lates. one in january 2010 and the other in jan 2012

Debt-to-Income (DTI): 27% with current auto loan.

Anyway I want to try to get pre approved for 25K. Though I only plan on using 21K max. I have 2K cash to put down at the moment and that grows the longer I wait and look for the car. I spoke with navy federal on the phone asking about their loans. They told me they will finance up to 125% LTV and Year and miles don't mattery they are just worried about LTV using NADA value. Im looking for a toyota FJ cruiser. 2007 or 2008. I found one at a dealer locally I like(though I didnt let him know that) clean retail NADA for it is $21,100, while TMV is listed at 17,100 for my area with its options. I saw it listed online for 19,780. I know I can get them down from their asking price and If not im not worried as there are plenty of FJs around. 

Do you guys think I have a chance for 25K? I dont plan on applying until after my new balances have reported and my score does whatever it wants to do from the change. I also plan on having navy federal use the same pull for a credit card whenver I do apply. 

Thank you for your time

[Remember0]

What is your rent/mortgage?

Having paid it down, what is your new util considering the 1k balance? (I know you said 1k/3k, but I'm looking for 1k/total credit limits on all cards)

What is KBB Good Trade-in on the car you'll be trading in?

Overall though, I imagine your FICO increased if you got util down significantly from 80%.

Yes, as long as rent isn't outrageous, I think you have a great chance. In fact, I can pretty much guarantee you'll get 25k. As far as interest, it'll depend on FICO. But if you get the fico to 675+, I'm hoping you'll get <4-5% with NFCU. If you can, definitely hold off until the cards update to buy the car.

[The_ocho]

Thank you for your reply,  

Rent is 450 a month, Personal loan is $207 a month, car payment is 326, and the credit card payments will be small with the new balances. I don't plan on running those up ever again. Utilization is 20% now from 88% before I paid everything down.

KBB good trade in is $10,112 and NADA is 10,400. I owe 12,800  So I'm a little bit upside down. Depending on what I get for it I will augment the down payment as much as I can to try not to roll over too much. I plan on going to carmax and getting it appraised and using that as a bargaining chip.

Fortunatly I know that this will be the last car that I buy for a while as long as nothing major goes wrong, the whole point of switching cars is to get something that will be well rounded and will make me happy, Im one of those people who holds a car as more than just getting point A to B though its not a status symbol just a major tool in my lifestyle. My last toyota I kept till 380K miles, I had to sell it before leaving for boot camp.

My thoughts are this. Navy federal will finance 125% though I would never do that. Lets say I get 10K for my car leaving me 2800 upside down. I put 2K cash down I now have 800 negitive equity. NADA retail for the FJ is 21,100 and they are asking 19,700. If I can get them down to 18K thats 85% LTV. add 2k for tax, title, and fees plus my 800 of neg that puts me back up 20800 or just below NADA rounding to 99% LTV. If I get them to 19K it will total out to around 22K financed or 104% LTV. I think I shoudl be ok either way but obviously I will want to roll over and pay as little as possible.

Unless I did all that completely wrong which is possible haha

[Remember0]

You should be good with DTI! Just wait for the util to update BEFORE you apply to NFCU. I'm guessing FICO will increase significantly with the new util.

By the way, you seem to be on top of everything. Good call on getting the trade appraised at Carmax. Just do NOT get it appraised more than 5 days before you know you'll definitely buy. Once it updates and you know you're buying, feel free to go in as long as you know you'll most likely buy within the next 5 days. And you're not too underwater + you have a really good plan, so no sweat there!

Your LTV calculations seemed perfect and logical. Remember to negotiate the "new" used car's price down, before uttering the word trade or anything that sounds like that (eg upgrade) to them! Also if you haven't already, my guide on buying/financing a car is here:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Auto-Loans/Guide-to-Financing-Leasing-and-Refinancing-a-Car/td-p/289...

Finally, and most importantly, thanks for your service!

[The_ocho]

Awesome, its reassuring to hear that I am in fact going about this logicaly and not all wrong. Its not my first time buying a car but it is my first time doing it the informed and proper way. I have read your guide as well as a few others online. I'm sure it will be read again while I'm waiting for everything to update. The plan for now is the keep reading up on the vehicle and how to get the best deal. On the first I'll pull my report and if everything is good I'll apply for preapproval. I'm thinking the last weekend of this month I'll go look at the vehicle I want again if its still there. Make sure everything works and take note of all the defects. Then start the email negotiating. I will make sure to post how everything goes. 

Thank you again 

[The_ocho]

Ok I just wanted to give an update, I applied for a pre approval with NFCU today on the phone after looking at a FJ I wanted. I asked for 26K and they counterd with 28K at 8.1% APR. I know this isnt the most fantastic APR but for me its great. My current loan is at 11% and my loan before that was 13%. I plan on letting the dealer try to beat it tommorrow and see what happens. 

Also while on  the phone I applied for a Cashrewards card, Instant approval for 15,000 at 10.65%. This is amazing considering the CL on my other 3 cards are $700, $1700, and $2800.

Thank you for the help and Info