Okay, so I use freecreditreport.com. No one shoot yet! I like keeping an eye on what's going on with our credit reports. At first, I thought their PLUS score was a FICO, but learned a couple of months ago (thanks to this forum) that it's not the case. Still, I thought it would be close. I mean, how different can the algorithms be?
Here's how different. Experian/freecreditreport.com had my plus score at 694. I have flawless (but short, about 2 years) payment history. Real estate mtg's in excellent standing for a year, and a truck that I haven't missed a payment on yet (19 months now). My limits on CC's were relatively low ($300-2,000), but again, good payments. I have a lot of inquiries, thanks to buying/refinancing truck and buying a house (they don't abide by the 15 day rule, apparently), and my UTL on cards was around 40%. So I figured, great, this sounds about right, especially after watching it climb from 620 over the last couple of years.
So, me being proud and in high cotton, I waltzed into a local CU with my report. She said there was no reason I shouldn't be 'A' credit (680+), but she'd have to pull her own bureau. No biggie, right? 5.5% auto loan, coming right up! So she proceeded to pull my Equifax (not Experian, obviously). Drumroll....
582!!! What on earth?! They worked with me, and I got a 7.5% rate, but come on! That's over 100 points different! What gives?