I recently graduated from college, and now coming out of my stubbornness and ignorance of letting my credit go bad. I now am looking for a work in my career field, but until then I'm working a job that isn't paying too well. My car of the past 7 years just died, and I'm in need of a good reliable car with a warranty. I went to a local dealer who said they can give me a loan for the car I want, but require a min of 20% down. I am prepared to pay high interest rates so that will be of no shock to me, but plan on putting more then 20% down to help with that. My question is, my credit is in the high 500's. can staying on top of the monthly payments help raise my credit, and how long will it take. I also want to apply for a credit card as well later this year, prob years end to try and help with my credit and stay on top of that as well. I have min credit history so I am hoping this will help. I also, plan on doing my free annual credit report, and slowly pay off any collections I have accrued, due to my lack of caring. Any more insight or advice of how I can get my credit better as week will be helpful. Thank you.
Current (8/2015): Equifax 688, Transunion 689, Experian 708
First get the auto loan...checkout Prestige Financial to see if they can do better as far as down payment is concerned. Pay your auto loan on time for 6 months to a year and then try for a Cap One card. If they deny you unsecured, try secured. You can also try Wells Fargo or BofA as they have secured cards that graduate to unsecured. Try to stay away from First Premier and CreditOne as their fees are atrocious. With Cap One try for their Classic Platinum card as that is subprime. The Cash Rewards and Venture cards are prime and will lead to a likely denial. After you pay your unsecured/secured Cap One card for 6-12 months, try to apply for the Cash Rewards card for average credit so you can get some cash back. Don't spend to the limit. Spend up to 75-80% and pay in full before the statement cuts. Cards are considered maxed out by lenders at 90%. Your goal is to get 2-3 cards and then garden them and your auto loan for two years as you work to get the collections off and then you will be golden.
Cards: Orchard Bank ($1100) | Cap1 Cash Rewards ($2500) | Chase Freedom ($1000) | Best Buy ($2500) | Discover It ($1000) | Barclay Rewards ($2500) | Current scores: EX FAKO: 684, CK TU: 649, FICO EQ: 680, FICO TU: 698, FICO EX: 658 Happy Homeowner Since 2/6/13! 
Last App: 4/5/13 Gardening until July 2014
Thank you very much, your advice is very much appreciated. I will look into that.
You're welcome! Best of luck to you! You'll get there! 