How big of hit did you take for buying a new car?

[Jayleesmimi]

I have almost paid off half of my 2006 Honda Civic, but was thinking of buying another car. I owe about 11,900. My original loan amount was $ 22,800.00 with Honda Financial for 5 years.

Anyone care to share how much their scores dropped when they purchased a new car and approx. how long it took to recover those points?

[Anonymous]

What is your current average account age?

The real question doesn't involve much of utility factor because installment loans are not heavily factored in the utility category.

You will take a hit for the inq and having new credit, as well as a hit to your average age. You will gain back most points related to the new account within 6 months and after a year you will get your inq points back. The tricky part is assessing when the added payment history will make up for the loss of account age.

[Jayleesmimi]

Thanks for the input.

I have already talked to the person who sold me my last vehicle and she said they use Transunion for scores. My average age is only 4 years with Transunion, although my oldest account is opened 16 years ago.  

[Anonymous]

If you have 3 accounts total you will regain your age in a year. If you have 6 accounts it will be back in 7 months. If you have an even higher # of accounts it will be in even less time. I think that most likely the penalty will last for a year and it will be very slight. If it is what you want to do and it makes sense financially go ahead and do it.

[Jayleesmimi]

These are my open accounts/balances:

Home Depot  .00 bal.     opened   3/08

Hooters          .00 bal.     opened 11/07

BOA           59.86 bal.     opened 11/07

WF           151.83 bal.

Best Buy        .00 bal.

Discover        .00 bal.     opened 4/08

and my current Honda payment of 429.00.

I have other credit history showing, mostly real estate loans, a few other CC that

[Jayleesmimi]

These are my open accounts/balances:

Home Depot  .00 bal.     opened   3/08

Hooters          .00 bal.     opened 11/07

BOA           59.86 bal.     opened 11/07

WF           151.83 bal.

Best Buy        .00 bal.

Discover        .00 bal.     opened 4/08

and my current Honda payment of 429.00.

I have other credit history showing, mostly real estate loans, a few other CC that are paid off due to a divorce five yrs ago.

[rubaty]

The hit shouldn't be too big...a few points at most.  Here is my strange situation:  I got another new car in Oct 2007 and my score was 738 on Oct 6 (day of the inq).  On Nov 18, I pulled my EX and saw the new loan was reporting along with my other car loan and my score was 768!  I had $7K in revolving debt and my available credit was $50K. 

[Anonymous]

I lost 9 (nine) points for the car purchase. 14 year history, average age of 9 3/4 years or so.

[Jayleesmimi]

That's crazy! Did your score stay up or fall later?

[Anonymous]

I'm new to this... Anyways, I'm a city gal that has a lot of experience that isn't reflected in my credit score. I'm working my butt off to improve my relationship with money. I want to make a move to the suburbs, but I don't have a car. I'm looking at buying a townhouse within the next 6mths-year. I'm in a pickle and need some advice. My credit scores are border line, so I don't want to goof myself up. Any suggestions?