Pre-qualified with capital one! What next?

[Anonymous]

I'm in need of a new car and have been rebuilding my credit for the past year. Finally got my scores where they are reasonable to apply for an auto loan. Applied for capital one Auto navigator and was pre-qualified for up to $38,750, APR of 3.24-9.95%! My current scores on this site are: EQ:657, TU:663, EX: 683. I think that's a pretty good rate for my score, and all the new vehicles that I'm interested in show up as the 3.24%.

Going to go shopping this week and was wondering what to expect. Is the pre-qualification pretty solid? I'd hate to drive an hour to check out a vehicle and get denied after being pre-qualified.

[Anonymous]

Super easy, just make sure you are using a dealership on their list.  We were fresh (2 wks) out of chapter 13 discharge when we got our approval.  We tried financing with multiple banks before we found Cap 1 navigator and were denied by all.   Our loan approval on a used car was 4.93%.  Fortunately Penfed approved a refi a month later at 3.7% and was very easy to process.  Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Cap1 prequals are solid. Take it with you to the dealership. You could use it for leverage if the dealer could beat it. I would talk with them BEFORE they pull anything about your scores and what you already have with Cap1. Hopefully they'll be honest if they can or can't beat it, but you might at least keep them from shotgunning your reports. Cap1 doesn't end up being a HP until you actually use it for financing. They will run credit then, but your prequal should be solid.

[Anonymous]

Awesome! Thanks for the info. Found an awesome deal on a brand new truck so hopefully I'm good to go!