Will be getting a car in six months, and new to credit

[Anonymous]

Hi, I will be getting a car in six months, but I am new to credit and would like to know what step(s) to take to get the lowest interest rate possible. After making the decision to get a car, instead of going the more frugal route and getting a motorcycle, I discovered this forum. After reading up, I got my first credit card, a secured capital one card, in late April and my utilization is 4%. As of this month, I have a 687 TU Fico. I can't get an EQ score because I don't yet have enough credit history. (The only reason I have a TU score is bc my energy company reports to that bureau only.) In order to get the best score possible, I was wondering if I should get a second secured card. The simulator says that could actually hurt my score due to the inquiry, but on these forums I have read that two or three TL is ideal. So.. I'm not sure which to do. I was also thinking about increasing my limit, but because I'm saving up for the down payment I won't be able to add much and that may have little to no effect on my score. Any advice or suggestions?

[Revelate]

I think in your situation I'd do the following:

- Go open up another card ASAP, like right now or tomorrow morning.  It should be a positive within six months in your case as a near thin-file.

- Get whatever auto loan I could in six months, the interest rate may not be ideal, but suck it up for six months of payments even if it's sub-optimal.

- If you don't get a good rate (you might, see the approvals thread for aggressive CU's): once that sixth month is reported on the auto loan, and the card you open up tomorrow has hit 12 months reporting, go and refinance your car for a better APR (better tradelines, no first-time car buyer penalty, all around good stuff).

Edit: you may qualify for a starter unsecured card to, that'd be fine for what you want... and actually even better as it takes time to setup secured cards unfortunately.  Don't bother adding to your limits on your card, you're doing fine managing your utilization anyway just keep that up and the downpayment is where it's at for auto loan approvals.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much for the response!  I will be taking your advice and opening a secured card tomorrow.  Thanks again!