Preparing For My First Auto Loan

[SALEEN961]

I'm currently planing to purchase my first new car in June/July 2014, 7-8 months from now, at that point I'll be looking for a good rate on a 72 month 30K loan and I'm wondering what I should be doing at this point to prepare for that.

I currently have FICO scores around 722 due to 3 new CC accounts added in the last 6-8 months, and high util accross 2/5 revolving accounts due to a work related purchase. I have 6 closed students loans that have been paid in full and one left reporting at 72% of the original balance. I have been inquiry free since May 2013 and have less then 4 inquiries at each bureau, all will be over a year old when I apply for my auto loan.

When I'm ready to apply for the auto loan all of my new accounts will over 1 year old,my AAoA will be 3yr7mo, and my FICO scores will be back around 760 perhaps higher as my scores were 747, 758, 754 during my last spree; however it has been pointed out that since I've never had an auto loan, my auto enhanced FICO scores may be lower.

Now that all of that is out of the way here are my questions:

Should I be looking to join a credit union now even with my current high util on 2/5 tradelines and lower then normal FICO score (722)? This would give me one 6 month old inquiry when I apply for the auto loan as opposed to none within the past year. If so, is there a particular credit union I should be looking at or that works particualrly well with first time car buyers? (I live in SE PA)

Should I pay off my student loan in full before I apply for my auto loan or should I leave a very small balance on it to keep it reporting as an open account, I recently saw someone report a large score drop when their last installment loan was closed, but it was also a mortgage and not a student loan.

Aside from saving up my down payment is there anything else I should be doing or looking into that I may have overlooked?

[KoolDev]

Do check into the CU's.   The one i use does not go by auto enhanced but by Fico Eq, YaY for me lol.   Some can tell you what they pull and it can give you an idea of what they will be looking for.