Save for downpayment or pay down CCs

[carsdepot]

I am going to buy a car in January. My FICO score is 603 now with around 55% utilization. Would I be better off paying down CCs in order to decrease utilization and raise score, or saving for a larger downpayment?

[cdtotten]

Lowering your util will increase your FICO score, so that would obviously help your interest rate when being financed. However, saving up a down payment, would lower the amount financed, lowering your interest paid, and larger down payments can help if you are borderline on approval.

My person opinion; pay down your CCs. You are paying interest every month on that debt and need to get it under control. That is very high utilization. Down payment does not affect a car finance that much usually, so don't let that drive you.