Experian is ruining my life...

Anonymous · ‎11-29-2007

Hello everyone,

Curious to find out if anyone here knows why Experian gives scores so much lower than the other Bureaus (or have they just singled me out for financial torture?)

I am currently trying to get an auto loan but the rates I'm being offered are terrible - everywhere I apply points toward my Experian score as the source of my problem. I have purchased all 3 of my reports with REAL FICO scores, and even though they are all pretty much identical my Experian score shows as 658; whereas, Equifax and Transunion show as 702 and 712 respectively. Why would FICO calculate them differently? Isn't it the same formula for each?

I appreciate any info or anecdotes regarding the situation.
Thanks a million.

Anonymous · ‎11-29-2007

What are the differences between reports? That would be the obvious reason. Some of the things affecting your score may be present in Experian's report, but not in the others.

If that's not the reason, each agency has a different calculation for their score. If they were all the same, there wouldn't need to be more than one. Each agency has what they consider to be the best formula for predicting credit risk, so they end up with different scores.

I'm pretty new to the score game, but my understanding is that Experian's scores are more heavily influenced by credit utilization than the others - so if you have a high utilization on any of your accounts, that could explain it.

Hopefully others will weigh in.

Message Edited by WAFICOwatcher on 11-29-2007 11:28 PM

Anonymous · ‎11-30-2007

VeiledSarcasm wrote:
Hello everyone,

Curious to find out if anyone here knows why Experian gives scores so much lower than the other Bureaus (or have they just singled me out for financial torture?)

My Experian score-839, Equifax-804, and TransUnion-806. In my case, Experian is my highest FICO score.

marty56 · ‎11-30-2007

mine is 729 which is the higher score by 6 points.

1/25/2021: FICO 850 EQ 848 TU 847 EX

Anonymous · ‎11-30-2007

Why are you apping at the dealership?
Go to your credit union- get the loan and be done with it.

Curious what you consider "Terrible" rate.

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello everyone,

Curious to find out if anyone here knows why Experian gives scores so much lower than the other Bureaus (or have they just singled me out for financial torture?)

I am currently trying to get an auto loan but the rates I'm being offered are terrible - everywhere I apply points toward my Experian score as the source of my problem. I have purchased all 3 of my reports with REAL FICO scores, and even though they are all pretty much identical my Experian score shows as 658; whereas, Equifax and Transunion show as 702 and 712 respectively. Why would FICO calculate them differently? Isn't it the same formula for each?

I appreciate any info or anecdotes regarding the situation.
Thanks a million.

Anonymous · ‎11-30-2007

Keep in mind that the FICO score that you buy is not the score that the auto lenders get. There are different scores that are used solely for auto financing. See this thread:

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

Leele · ‎11-30-2007

I am having the same problem with Experian...My Experian score is 50 points lower than my other FICO scores...I have examined the information from all 3 credit reports and everything is the same...Does anyone know how to get this corrrected...PLEASE HELP!!!