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I want to buy my EX score, but it says something about it being Vantage. Is this legit?
It's what we call a FAKO; i.e., not a FICO score.
"Legit" is in the mind of the beholder, but very few lenders use the Vantage score.
You can't buy your own EX FICO score any more, per Experian's decision. They make a nice sum off of selling the others.
Thank you for responding. I will keep my $ in the bank in that case
The thing to keep in mind about any FAKO scores is that they can't be correlated back to FICO scores. And by far most lenders will pull some variation of FICO scoring to evaluate your creditworthiness.
Thanks for the input Pizzadude...I am learning more and more day by day. Im feeling super liberated
Vantagescores, unlike most other "scores" that are mostly or only sold to consumers do not emulate FICO score ranges. I call "scores" that purposely obfuscate and have the same or similar range as FICO scores FAKOs. They are fake but pretend they are like FICOs. They aren't.
Vantage scores are legitimate, validated, credit scores but they have a small market share. They make no pretense of being "FICO" scores so I don't call them FAKOs as it dilutes the implicit meaning and so many "scores" out there truly deserve the term "FAKO."
This doesn't mean Vantagescores are all that useful unless you happen to have a lender that uses them. Few do.
Further, the marketing of Vantagescores can be misleading if you aren't up on "marketing speak." You can say something like 4 out of 5 of the largest banks use Vantage scores without noting that the usage is small and that most of those use FICO far more often on credit decisions.
With that being said, whats the BEST way to go about knowing my true FICO score? I am looking to get a car loan soon (2-3 months) and I really like to know where I stand ahead of time and what interest rates I would be faced with
Well, you have three classic FICO scores (EQ, TU, and EX), and you have three auto-enhanced FICO scores (EQ, TU, and EX), and, and, and...
If all three reports are pretty much the same, your best bet (cheapest, anyway) is to buy your EQ score here at myFICO. Even if you have absolutely identical reports, your three main FICO scores will probably be slightly different, but not by much. If there's a lot of variation on your reports (a collection on one, but not the others, or a very old card on one, but not the others), your scores could vary a lot.
If you're considering getting your auto loan through a credit union, which in most cases is absolutely the way to go, you might find that many CU's are EQ pullers. It does vary, especially by region (the Upper Midwest and Rhode Island have a lot of TU-pullers.) You might visit your local credit unions and ask which report they pull.
The EQ FICO that you can buy here is the Beacon 5.0 (industry name for it.) If your CU uses a FICO auto-enhanced score, that's a whole other thing. We can't buy those, unfortunately.
At any rate, I'd start checking out your potential lenders now.
Have you pulled all three of your credit reports? Don't buy any scores, as you have discovered, but it's good to know what's on your reports, in case there are any errors, etc.
@haulingthescoreup wrote:Well, you have three classic FICO scores (EQ, TU, and EX), and you have three auto-enhanced FICO scores (EQ, TU, and EX), and, and, and...
If all three reports are pretty much the same, your best bet (cheapest, anyway) is to buy your EQ score here at myFICO. Even if you have absolutely identical reports, your three main FICO scores will probably be slightly different, but not by much. If there's a lot of variation on your reports (a collection on one, but not the others, or a very old card on one, but not the others), your scores could vary a lot.
If you're considering getting your auto loan through a credit union, which in most cases is absolutely the way to go, you might find that many CU's are EQ pullers. It does vary, especially by region (the Upper Midwest and Rhode Island have a lot of TU-pullers.) You might visit your local credit unions and ask which report they pull.
The EQ FICO that you can buy here is the Beacon 5.0 (industry name for it.) If your CU uses a FICO auto-enhanced score, that's a whole other thing. We can't buy those, unfortunately.
At any rate, I'd start checking out your potential lenders now.
Have you pulled all three of your credit reports? Don't buy any scores, as you have discovered, but it's good to know what's on your reports, in case there are any errors, etc.
+1
The EQ MyFico FICO score is a good indication of what other CRA current FICO scores would yield if your CRs are reasonably consistent.
And, yep the three free reports are really good to get. You can't beat the price and it's important to check them from time to time and take actions to remove things that are in error. That's what I did before I started worrying about scores.
Yes, I have DILIGENTLY been working on my CR since about June of last year. I have worked my way down from owing over $20k to owing $1,111 EXACTLY (so proud of me). The plan is to wait until I have finished up my SL rehabilitation and for that to show as no longer defaulted before I go looking to qualify for a CL. I have old medical bills which when encured I had insurace, but now that I have asked for the agency to pay- they will not stating that it is too old (why they werent paid to begin with is beyond me-my fault for not keeping up with my stuff). They are all due to fall off within the next 2 years, so IDK if I should pay them or what???
Anyway, in regards to the car loan, I have never bought a newer car, ive always paid cash. So this is all new to me. What would you all suggest as far as pre-approvals, paying the old medical bills and shopping for loans in general?