What scores do you need to get the best APR offers?

[kc12286]

I've been car shopping on and off for a few months now. Back in January I had a great offer from a local Honda dealer, 2011 Civic LX for 16k+ and possibly a 1.9 finance rate. Through circumstances out of my control, I had lost a lot of work hours (due to inclement weather)  and didn't want to take on a car that I might have trouble paying for if the weather continued to be bad. So I undid all the hard work I had done and told them I would come back when I could make a purchase. Fast forward to now and I basically have no choice but to buy a car.Unfortunately, with the tragedy in Japan supply is down which means the prices have skyrocketed. I know Honda's offering good APR rates for Memorial Day and I'm hopeful I can get a decent one along with a good price on the 2011 Civic.

My EQ is 704 and hasn't changed in the last few weeks, despite high CC usage, I don't know what my TU is as I haven't pulled that score yet. Is there any chance I can get a finance rate under 5-6%? That's just too high. If that's the case , I might as well do a loan from my bank for the full amount and pay them.

[Noctilum]

I don't know what the tiers are for financing, but I will say when my wife bought a new CR-V in May 2010 they pulled EQ and it was the auto formula.  She had an 802 EQ from myFico but a 740 from the auto formula and qalitifed for the 2.9% 60mo rate.

[kc12286]

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@Corvidae wrote:

I don't know what the tiers are for financing, but I will say when my wife bought a new CR-V in May 2010 they pulled EQ and it was the auto formula.  She had an 802 EQ from myFico but a 740 from the auto formula and qalitifed for the 2.9% 60mo rate.

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I'm hopeful that I could get that. I'm considering buying used because Toyota's offering 2.9 on used cars too. And there's local Honda dealer offering 0.9 on all new cars.

I was told by a Honda rep yesterday that the banks look for 730 and above for any top tier rate like 0.9 and if you don't qualify for that than the bank kicks you out of the system and they have to go to another bank.

[cdtotten]

Tiers for car financing can change daily, but historically Honda has wanted a 720+ auto-enhanced FICO for their top/advertised rate.  In my region (kentucky), TU is exclusively pulled. Good luck!

[kc12286]

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@cdtotten wrote:

Tiers for car financing can change daily, but historically Honda has wanted a 720+ auto-enhanced FICO for their top/advertised rate.  In my region (kentucky), TU is exclusively pulled. Good luck!

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Thanks. I'm still debating, negotiating.

[twinRN]

My non auto enhanced EQ Fico is 724. I qualified for Capital One's top tier with the lowest rate. 3.24 percent.

[kc12286]

I went to a Nissan dealership yesterday. Head of the finance department told me my TU was 724 and EQ was 703. I wound up with NMAC financing because al lthe major banks rejected me, despite the scores. I didn't have the 'experience' they wanted. But I got a great deal on 2011 Versa and because I financed through Nissan I got $500 rebate. I'm pretty happy.

[twinRN]

Congrats on your new car!

[John060675]

Just out of curiousity, how do you get an auto FICO score (the one dealerships use)?

[John060675]

Ah, just found the answer on the forum.  That sucks that I cannot access my auto enhanced FICO score.  I suppose the only good thing I have going is that I was perfect on my auto loan for my Honda.  I just wish I knew how much that helped my score.