* pulls one tiny sentence out *
All your hard inqs for the auto loan are listed, but as long as they occurred during a narrow defined period, they are "de-duped": only one is counted.
IMO, the stuff on screen 1, including the "good", "not good", etc is fluff.
The negatives, in order, on the left on screen 2 are the factors that actually impact your FICO scores. The cute little diagrams on screen one and the positives on screen two are pretty much eye candy.
--And I've never deluded myself that the CCC's are my friend. 
Haha, to be honest, OP... I had a realization the other day. I've been working hard at my credit and I've learned a ton of information. I was explaining an issue to my SO's parents and I just stopped and laughed n said "wow... this is a really stupid game haha" I was explaining things that sound extremely frivilous when you actually speak them.
Points, Scores, Too much of this, Too little of that... it's quite funny.
ahhahaa... I do love it though. 
@LilloEsquilo wrote:This is just my opinion, but a lot of this is just pretty much a joke, though certainly, it's a joke that makes the FICO folks a LOT of money. I mean they are obviously smart guys, hey they created an industry that creates a score based on information about you that you are pretty much powerless to change (and if you REALLY believe the CRAs will remove false info for you, well I got a bridge to sell you) that affects a LOT of facets of your life, like it or not.They make a lot of money this way, and for that I give them credit (bad pun).
Now talking specifically about the FICO scoring, I think some of it is ridiculous. I will give 2 specific examples that apply to me personally. First, I pulled my scores yesterday. For what it's worth, TU is 763 and EQ is 758. You may be thinking ok, what's your problem dude, and I'll tell you what that is - in the last year, I got a loan for a vehicle, last September. Been a while, but two things - first there are 5, yes 5! hard pulls on my credit dated September 18th from that, where obviously the dealer (never let them arrange financing for you by the way....) shopped me around for the loan. They ALL show as hard pulls instead of as one as you'd THINK it should be (I mean shopping around for a car loan, they are really supposed to get lumped together, from what I read - NOT NECESSARILY TRUE!!!!!)
Then, I got a lousy crapital one mastercard with a lame 500 dollar limit that after 30 years might be a grand if I'm lucky in April.
Due to that, my "Amount of new credit" rating is "Not good". I mean PLEASE! I got a car loan almost a year ago, and one credit card 4 months ago, and suddenly I'm the greatest menace to credit on the planet? **bleep**, seriously. And God forbid I get groceries on that lame-o card and don't pay it before the reporting date or my utilization will shoot up to maybe 20% and OH MY GOD I'm suddenly a threat to the point we gotta call in a Seal Team here to take care of me.
The whole fricking game is a big joke, really, and the joke is on us for playing it, and for paying these people to play their stupid little games. Ok they gotta be smart to come up with these goofy schemes, but it's still just a stupid little game.
And the card companies, they are something else, let me tell you. They are FOREVER scheming ways to try to screw you if you aren't paranoid level careful. Examples: You really have to check your available credit EVERY time you go to use your card, due to pre-authorization pulls that can linger for days, delays in posting your payment that they can do anytime they please, and things like this. You may logically think you have x dollars available when due to things that are not your fault, you do NOT have x dollars availlable. Hopefully you had the sense to have the card declined if it goes over, otherwise, GOTCHA, that'll be 35 bucks thank you very much come again. I just applied trying to get a prime card, for AMEX and Citi. Both were declined, of course, (that's a given) Citi actually declined me simply because I did not carry a balance on the credit card, I pay it in full every month (well before the date to keep the utliization down). Yes that is correct they actually frown on you being responsible. When I called for recon I was told that their policy is you must have a balance on another credit card. Unreal. No recon there I can assure you. I told the rep, well, despite the desires of Citi, I have no intention of carrying a balance and trying again, because then you'll decline me BECAUSE I didn't pay it off, as nuts as you guys are. This isn't a joke, it's a fact with these lunatics. Is it really any wonder we bailed so many of these clowns out?
AMEX declined me citing a litany of faults in my credit I didn't even know existed. They claimed I had "delinquencies". I asked the rep to show me a specific example of one, he couldn't, so I asked where he got his report from so I could see what he's seeing, and he wouldn't tell me either. I just checked them, no delinquencies that I saw, so I dunno maybe on Planet Zerg I have delinquencies somewhere who knows.
Anyway this stuff is just laughable it's not even worth taking seriously. Just my 2 cents, but I think dealing with loan sharks would be better than most of these credit card scum companies. I've been thinking of closing crapital one simply because the limit makes it pretty much a joke and useless. And it's NEVER going up, crapital one is well known for that!
not if you learn the rules of the game
Hate the game, don't hate the players. Lottery is stupid game to play, but it funds high level education in some states (like Georiga). For every downside there is, there is a upside.
Starting Score: EQ: 703 (4/2011);
Hi LilloEsquillo, and Welcome!!! 
You're absolutely correct in that the world that we live in today, that credit is used for far more than we could have imagined just a few decades ago. I don't think that's a good thing either. Don't even start me ranting about insurance companies checking your credit, and the overstepping of prospective and current employers (outside of the finance industries, and for security clearance) checking your credit. I don't think that I've ever heard of anyone being denied a job, because they had *no credit* history, but I have most certainly heard of people being denied jobs because of *bad* credit history, outside of the finance industry, and without the need for security clearance. I also agree that having and using credit has become more about convenience (for a lot of people) than about financing things. Privacy certainly seems to be a thing of the past.
But, as someone (or several someones) mentioned a little earlier in the thread, education is the key to winning (or at least staying ahead) in the credit world. I can really appreciate your desire to not use credit. I committed myself to a PIF existence as well, but with the understanding that it's perfectly okay to finance things, when the need or desire arises, as long as I have the capacity to pay, an exit strategy, and a back-up plan, should something happen. Case-in-point, for the 1st time since 2008, I've decided to strategically carry a balance on one of my cards that recently offered 0% for 12 months on BTs with no BT fees. It's a very small balance (6k), and I've got the liquidity to PIF at any moment. I charged the balance (it was actually two, for a home remodel project that we'd already planned to do) to see how much $$$ I could make on a 0% BT. I charged the expenses on card to get 2% rewards (cashback), then I immediately BT'd to my NFCU card. The cash set aside for this project is half in a high (well, as high as you can find these days...) interest checking, and half in a 12 month CD that will expire prior to the need to PIF. If something catastrophic were to happen... I can PIF from regular checking, savings, emergency fund, or with a paycheck. I won't pay any interest, and I won't pay any fees.
My point is that you can control the credit, and not let it control you. The idea is to position yourself in a way that credit is only a convenience, not a cyclical need. And, there's no one-size-fits-all formula. Reading your position, I sort of started thinking that you'd be much happier taking your business to credit unions (perhaps exclusively), and to even use secured credit. Use your own cash to secure whatever credit line you want (however high or low), without fees, or hassle, and get the exact same benefits of unsecured credit. You'll keep a positive credit history, have fraud & purchase protection, not be limited on whom you can rent a car from on vacation, not pay higher rates on insurance, but you won't be beholden to any financier (as long as you don't pay late/default). A lot (not all, though) of credit unions don't play the "big bank" games with their excessive/ridiculous 'gotcha' fees. I've been with NFCU and Alliant for several years, and I've never paid any fees at all.
So, just something to think about.
@Anonymous wrote:Hi LilloEsquillo, and Welcome!!!
You're absolutely correct in that the world that we live in today, that credit is used for far more than we could have imagined just a few decades ago. I don't think that's a good thing either. Don't even start me ranting about insurance companies checking your credit, and the overstepping of prospective and current employers (outside of the finance industries, and for security clearance) checking your credit. I don't think that I've ever heard of anyone being denied a job, because they had *no credit* history, but I have most certainly heard of people being denied jobs because of *bad* credit history, outside of the finance industry, and without the need for security clearance. I also agree that having and using credit has become more about convenience (for a lot of people) than about financing things. Privacy certainly seems to be a thing of the past.
But, as someone (or several someones) mentioned a little earlier in the thread, education is the key to winning (or at least staying ahead) in the credit world. I can really appreciate your desire to not use credit. I committed myself to a PIF existence as well, but with the understanding that it's perfectly okay to finance things, when the need or desire arises, as long as I have the capacity to pay, an exit strategy, and a back-up plan, should something happen. Case-in-point, for the 1st time since 2008, I've decided to strategically carry a balance on one of my cards that recently offered 0% for 12 months on BTs with no BT fees. It's a very small balance (6k), and I've got the liquidity to PIF at any moment. I charged the balance (it was actually two, for a home remodel project that we'd already planned to do) to see how much $$$ I could make on a 0% BT. I charged the expenses on card to get 2% rewards (cashback), then I immediately BT'd to my NFCU card. The cash set aside for this project is half in a high (well, as high as you can find these days...) interest checking, and half in a 12 month CD that will expire prior to the need to PIF. If something catastrophic were to happen... I can PIF from regular checking, savings, emergency fund, or with a paycheck. I won't pay any interest, and I won't pay any fees.
My point is that you can control the credit, and not let it control you. The idea is to position yourself in a way that credit is only a convenience, not a cyclical need. And, there's no one-size-fits-all formula. Reading your position, I sort of started thinking that you'd be much happier taking your business to credit unions (perhaps exclusively), and to even use secured credit. Use your own cash to secure whatever credit line you want (however high or low), without fees, or hassle, and get the exact same benefits of unsecured credit. You'll keep a positive credit history, have fraud & purchase protection, not be limited on whom you can rent a car from on vacation, not pay higher rates on insurance, but you won't be beholden to any financier (as long as you don't pay late/default). A lot (not all, though) of credit unions don't play the "big bank" games with their excessive/ridiculous 'gotcha' fees. I've been with NFCU and Alliant for several years, and I've never paid any fees at all.
So, just something to think about.
+++++++1