Mortgage Loans

[Bunny1013]

Hello!  We have been trying to get a new truck and have heard the same result at 3 dealerships.  We are in our 40's and our credit scores from Experian are 633 and 638.  We have no serious delinquencies and decent salaries.  We have a crystal clear record with GMAC and never late.  We were told from all three dealers that these credit scores are not accurate, we just pulled our reports and scores last week.  We had no problem getting a new vehicle a few years ago and are very upset we are having trouble now.  They are telling us that these scores are nowhere near what our FICO is coming up as, aren't they the same?  The finance people really insult us when we are in there and act like we are horrible people with terrible records when we are not at all, we have decent credit.  When we used to have two incomes we had a lot less debt but now we just have one and I am a stay at home mom of our toddler, maybe it is the debt to income ratio.  I still don't think our credit is that bad, worse scores have gotten loans.  So how do we fight them as far as our scores go when I have it right in front of me?  What do we do?  Thanks for any help.  Very discouraged.  Bunny

[hunting_bears]

If you bought the score from Experian.com it might be a "Plus Score" which I see they sell on thier sit which isn't the same as a Fico Score.  Any score that isn't certified as Fico is a FAKO and will be different.  I would buy one or all three Fico Scores from this website and see where you exactly stand because that's the only way you can fight them with the financing. 

But what you can do is shop around to see if you can get a better loan from a CU or from a bank and then go back to the dealership and see if they will offer you a better deal.  Capital One offers Blank Check loans for nearly all types of car and motorcycle purchases.  If you come in with a better deal on paper, most dealers will work with you because they make commissions not only on the car but with setting up the financing from certain companies.

[DTG12878]

The one thing I can tell you before you even go into any dealership and have them try and finance is to call around your city to various dealerships, ask to speak to the finance manager and ask him/her what CRA they pull from and then ask what is the minimum score needed to secure a good rate on a vehicle. If you do it that way, then you will cut alot of time off your hands because once thats done, then you can actually buy your scores from this site based on which one you need, take in the printed piece of paper with your genuine score thats dated and the dealership will see a legitimate score thus you not having to go through the ridicule of your last experience because thats wrong what they did......A-holes! You also mentioned you having one income, that could be alot of the reason also, but they still have no right to do what they did. I hope you all the best

[Creditaddict]

sounds like you should spend the money to get all 3 of your scores from myfico.com

These scores should be the same as the dealership.

[digitu]

Even once you get your FICO score it probably wont be the same as the score the dealers use because they pull an 'auto enhanced' FICO score that uses a different scoring model.

[Bunnymama]

Hello all and thank you!

We do have some credit card debt, well actually a lot.  If we were to close some accounts, even if they have balances, does that help your score?  Just not having them open?  I need to make some payment arrangements with these creditors or have the finance charge adjusted or something, it is like swimming around and around.  Thanks.

Bunny

[Cooneyca]

Hi,

No, do not close any accounts that still have balances.  The reason is that a significant part of your scoring calculation is the utilization percentage of your total credit line.  When you close a card, the associated credit limit is no longer added to your available credit, but the amount you owe still continues to factor into the total utilization.  

Carol

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Bunnymama wrote:

Hello all and thank you!

We do have some credit card debt, well actually a lot.  If we were to close some accounts, even if they have balances, does that help your score?  Just not having them open?  I need to make some payment arrangements with these creditors or have the finance charge adjusted or something, it is like swimming around and around.  Thanks.

Bunny

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[fused]

The link in my sig line should answer your questions! Also keep in mind some lenders will use an auto-enhanced FICO score. Try reading my link on closing credit cards and Tuscani's, another moderator, link below. GL and I hope you get the auto you want.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&message.id=1231

Message Edited by fused on 11-03-2007 04:02 PM

[OBXFrank]

Fused has a great article, and so does Tuscani, check them out if you can!  We just bought a new vehicle and refi'd another one a few weeks back, and let me tell you, Freecreditreport.com's PLUS score has little/nothing to do with a FICO.  My plus score was 705.  My auto-enhanced FICO?  594!!  No lates, but limited age of accounts and (at the time) high utilization of cards.  Using the myfico.com calculator, simply paying off the one high card down would boost me to 700+.  After going through all this and using this forum extensively, we got a 6.5% rate on a 2006, and refi'd a 2002 at 7.25%, having gone from 15.5% (when I was a credit newbie).

I back the other recommendations - pay down your CC balances, and try again, you'll thank yourself for the better rate, and for not having taken on more debt.