Auto loan.. Sry if this is a repost!

[Anonymous]

Im new to the community so im sorry in advance because im sure this topic has already been brought up.anyways... I have a mid credit score of 600... Im trying to get a car loan for 20k... I have 2 credit cards ive been paying on time for 1 year and keeping under 20%. I have a car loan right now that i have been paying on for 8 months that i pay on time every month. The problem is my credit history... I have 5 collection accounts that are 6 years old for around 300$ a piece and 2 collection accounts around 2000$ that are 2 years old. How do i put myself in a position to get approved? Should i pay any of the collection accounts off?? Not sure what to do. Thanks ahead of time for any replies! I appreciate it

[Anonymous]

Pay one credit card down to $0, and let the other report at <10% of its limit. That will give you the most points for UTI%.

At 600 you should not have any problem getting financed. You may not get *great* interest rates, but you can certainly get approved. I got approved with 500 scores at 19%. Depending on your auto enhanced scores you could probably see high single digit rates. See if you can get preapproved at a CU, rather than going through the dealer lending meat grinder.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply! Do you think i should pay off the collection accounts?

[gdale6]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the reply! Do you think i should pay off the collection accounts?

---

If they are reporting monthly or on any other regular basis then settle them, I would start with the newer ones at 2 years. I would have to think about the ones that are near CRTP I might just wait for them to drop and then settle. I will caution you to not contact anyone that is still inside states SOL unless you have the ability to settle in full.

[Anonymous]

Well, its a trade off paying them. It leaves you less money for a down payment, but if they are reporting each month it stops that and allows them to 'age'. Also if any of them are CC charge offs, the unpaid balances will count against your UTI% portion of your score.

Always try to negotiate PFD agreements before paying something.